As seen time and again in SHOWCASE PRESENTS METAL MEN: VOLUME 1, playboy inventor Dr. Magnus’ team of robots has to be DC Comics’ most dysfunctional family of the 1960s. Clearly, their bickering outdoes that of The Fantastic Four, whom I believe the Metal Men’s creators were trying to emulate.
Magnus is the father figure, the only human among a group of his own design: each with his or her own characteristics: Gold, super-intelligent; Iron, super-strong; Lead, also super-strong, but way dumber; Mercury, reacts to temperature; Platinum, super-stretchable; and Tin, not good for much, and suffers from acute insecurity as such.
Together, these Metal Men – and Woman, as Platinum (aka Tina) is the lone female – take down various monsters from outer space, the villainous Gas Gang and a recurring chemical creature amusingly named Chemo. That’s pretty standard stuff as far as superhero comics go.
But this isn’t: The Metal Men are constantly dying – either getting killed or sacrificing themselves to save humanity – in the line of duty. No worries, as Doc Magnus just rebuilds them in the next issue. But the suicide theme is bizarre, if not a tad unsettling.
Proving that METAL MEN was a title for its time, every issue has Magnus belittling Tina for “acting like a woman” instead of a robot. She’s head over heels for him; love seems to be her one and only goal in “life,” and her fantasies show her more than willing to become a homemaker/servant to her pipe-smoking sugar daddy.
This is all played for laughs, and the series doesn’t take itself seriously at all, death be damned (however temporary). In fact, on several occasions in the 19 issues collected here, the gang breaks the fourth wall to face the reader and pose a direct question, i.e. “Should I bring the Metal Men back to life?,” “Want to see us in our own magazine?” and “What should we name Tin’s girlfriend?” Write in, kids! (Actually, don’t; 40 years have passed.)
It’s enough to make you wonder if writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru had any inkling where they were going to take the team with each successive issue. Since so many stories fall into a cozy template, I’m guessing not, but sometimes it’s fun just to watch a hamster wheel go round and round. This is one of them. –Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS ADAM STRANGE: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATGIRL: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATMAN: VOLUME 2
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: VOLUME 1
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT: VOLUME 1
