Classification: Terrestrial technology
Creator: Quasimodo (Quasi-Motivational Destruct Organism)
User/Possessors: Quasimodo
Enemies: Cyclops (Scott Summers), Marvel Girl (Jean Grey)
Aliases: "Commander of the Robot Hive" (in story title)
Base of Operations: A subterranean cavern beneath Apex Sand and Gravel Co., Inc., somewhere in New York state
First Appearance: X-Men I#48/1 (September, 1968)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: A sentient, disembodied electrical intelligence, Computo originally appeared inhabiting a thirty foot tall humanoid robot; Computo was later rebuilt in a new, smaller form (see comments).
Although inhabiting a large body, Computo never displayed the ability to move, and only acted as the intelligence behind the scenes, while its robotic agents--the Cybertrons--did its bidding.
History:
(X-Men I#48/1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in time,
Quasimodo built Computo in a subterranean cavern.
(X-Men I#48/1) - Computo sounded a "Z-Alert" and activated three of its cybernetic agents--"Therma-tron", "Vacu-tron", and "Vibra-tron"--in the "Hibernation Hive", then sent the trio to a local radio station, on a mission to steal a new transmitter that was about to be installed (see comments).
At the radio station, the three Cybertrons were fought off by the X-Men Cyclops (who had just gotten a job there as Scott Summers) and Marvel Girl. As "Vibra-tron" used its ultrasonic energy to shake apart the truck carrying the transmitter, "Therma-tron" attacked Cyclops, but was quickly destroyed by Cyclops' optic blast.
"Vacu-tron" lunged at Cyclops, but Marvel Girl caught and held it in mid-air while Cyclops blasted it to pieces. With the robbery a failure, "Vibra-tron" flew off to return to the home-base while Marvel Girl tracked its flight with her mental powers.
Cyclops and Marvel Girl followed the lone Cybertron to a suspiciously inactive work site. Cyclops blasted a hole in a sand pile and found a network of underground tunnels, and the two heroes followed a tunnel to find "Vibra-tron" and some other Cybertrons standing before the gigantic Computo. They watched as Computo sentenced "Vibra-tron" to be "executed" by the "Automatic Canceller," which scrapped the Cybertron for parts.
When Computo's bio-sensors alerted it to the presence of Cyclops and Marvel Girl, Computo sounded another "Z-Alert" and ordered the army of Cybertrons to overwhelmingly attack the two young mutants. Realizing that Computo was the guiding force behind the hostile robots, Cyclops concentrated his optic power beam at the form of Computo, hitting it continuously until Computo exploded--with their commander gone, so fell the rest of the Cybertrons.
Quasimodo stepped out of the sidelines, revealing himself as the creator of Computo to the two heroes; then Quasimodo pulled a lever to flood the chamber with an underground river as he made his escape. Cyclops and Marvel Girl were also able to flee back to safety on the surface using their combined powers.
(Captain Marvel I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Computo was apparently rebuilt in a new, smaller form by Quasimodo (see comments).
(Captain Marvel I#7) - Quasimodo inspected his "electronic slave" before embarking on another of his schemes for power.
Comments: Created by Arnold Drake, Don Heck, and Werner Roth.
Don't really understand why Computo had to steal that radio transmitter -- you'd think that an advanced super-computer with all that technology at its disposal could just build its own radio transmitter...maybe Computo wanted to send the Cybertrons out on a field-test.
Note that none of the Cybertrons was actually named in the story, I just gave them those names to identify them; the three original Cybertrons were only identified numerically as cybernetic agents 114, 78, and 19-8 -- only 19-8 ("Vibra-tron") was clearly identified (...and its name got inexplicably changed to 19-B halfway through the story (sloppy lettering)).
Note that the "electronic slave" inspected by Quasimodo in Captain Marvel I#7 was never actually identified by him as Computo, nor was there an editor's note confirming that it was the same Computo from X-Men I#48, however the Official Index to the X-Men specifically stated that it was Computo.
Computo hasn't been heard from since, but maybe it still exists behind the scenes. I'd speculate that when he rebuilt it, Quasimodo probably altered Computo's programming and took away its capacity for independent thought (not wanting to create any potential rivals for himself, of course) so that it was non-autonomous and completely subservient to him.
I would argue that the thing seen in Captain Marvel I#7 is not actually Computo: The panels from that story seemed to be used just to demonstrate Quasimodo's newfound ability to reshape and control electro-mechanical devices (a power which he used later in that issue against Mar-Vell), and the "electronic slave" only "spoke" because Quasimodo relayed his own voice through it. But since it happened in what appeared to be the same network of subterranean tunnels, maybe that "electronic slave" was formed from some of the remains of the original Computo.--Ron Fredricks
And a big THANK YOU to Chadman, Snood, and Elf with a Gun for their help with the info/scans from Captain Marvel I#7!
Profile by John Kaminski. Expansion (and new images) by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Computo has no known connections to:
The "Hibernation Hive" has no known connection to:
"Therma-tron" has no known connection to:
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A large structure housed in an underground cavern, it was where the various Cybertrons stayed in an inert fetal-position state of electronic hibernation until they were activated by Computo with a reviva-ray. The Hive held the forms of at least thirty-one Cybertrons, each one in its own spherical cell. --X-Men I#48/1 |
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The humanoid robotic agents of Computo, they were semi-autonomous mechanisms under the control of Computo. --X-Men I#48/1 |
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One of Computo's cybernetic agents (designated either 114 or 78), it had proportionally large hands and possessed a searing thermal touch. On its first mission, it was blasted by Cyclops and destroyed. --X-Men I#48/1 |
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One of Computo's cybernetic agents (designated either 114 or 78), it had a mighty internal bellows that allowed it to inhale great quantities of air to inflate itself, and it could exhale the air with hurricane force. As it leapt to attack Cyclops, it was levitated by Marvel Girl and suspended in mid-air, then Cyclops destroyed it with his optic beam. --X-Men I#48/1 |
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Officially designated Cybertron 19-8 by Computo, it could project ultrasonic energy that caused destructive vibrations, and could also use its energy to fly. One of the first three Cybertrons to be activated by Computo, it was tracked back to its home-base by Cyclops and Marvel Girl, where it fled after the other two Cybertrons were destroyed. When it reported its first mission a failure, Computo sentenced it to the "Automatic Canceller," a device that destroyed it so that its dismembered scrap could be used to build another and better Cybertron. --X-Men I#48/1 |
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A horde of Computo's automatons (none identified), each one had a distinctive appearance and powers. Computo activated them when Cyclops and Marvel Girl infiltrated its subterranean lair. Some of the Cybertrons were destroyed as they fought the heroes, but all were deactivated after Cyclops blasted and destroyed Computo. --X-Men I#48/1 |
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images: (without ads)
X-Men I#48/1, p12, pan1 (Computo addressing Cybertrons)
X-Men I#48/1, p14, pan5 (Computo explodes)
Captain Marvel I#7, p9, pan4 (Quasimodo forms his "electronic slave")
Captain Marvel I#7, p10, pan1 (Quasimodo speaks through his "electronic slave")
X-Men I#48/1, p5, pan1 (various Cybertrons in "Hibernation Hive")
X-Men I#48, cover (Cybertrons emerge from "Hibernation Hive" to attack Marvel Girl and Cyclops)
X-Men I#48/1, p7, pan1 ("Vibra-tron", "Therma-tron", and "Vacu-tron" emerge from truck)
X-Men I#48/1, p12, pan5 (other activated Cybertrons)
X-Men I#48/1, p8, pan4 ("Therma-tron")
X-Men I#48/1, p8, pan5 ("Therma-tron" attacks Cyclops)
X-Men I#48/1, p9, pan5 ("Vacu-tron" lunges at Cyclops)
X-Men I#48/1, p10, pan1 ("Vacu-tron" suspended in midair by Marvel Girl)
X-Men I#48/1, p7, pan2 ("Vibra-tron" uses sonic energy to attack man)
X-Men I#48/1, p12, pan2 (Computo orders for "Vibra-tron" to be cancelled)
X-Men I#48/1, p12, pan3 (unidentified Cybertron throws "Vibra-tron" into automatic canceller)
X-Men I#48/1, p13, pan1 (other Cybertrons attack Marvel Girl)
X-Men I#48/1, p13, pan3 (other Cybertrons attack Cyclops)
Appearances:
X-Men I#48/1 (September, 1968) - Arnold Drake (writer), Don Heck & Werner Roth (pencils), John Verpoorten (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Captain Marvel I#7 (November, 1968) - Arnold Drake (writer), Don Heck (pencils), John Tartaglione (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First Posted: 08/09/2007
Last updated: 09/18/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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