I was transformed!
on December 23, 2012 at 12:01 amChapter: Robo-Vac
Location: Danny and Joe's dorm room
At first I was wondering how Joe and Danny didn’t know Robo-Vac’s origin even though they were fans of the character. But then I realized that, well, this is the vintage first issue, so maybe the origin’s been rebooted and refined a bunch of times since the “classic” era. But then I counter-realized that Tom Hoover pretty obviously owns a 1997-style desktop computer right there in the fourth panel, so I don’t know anymore.
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Oh, comic book origin stories, what did science ever do to you?
Got in the way by demanding explanations for why Iron Man can fly faster on the lower of his transistors?
Maybe a scientist killed his parents in an alley, and he then swore vengeance upon science.
…Oh god, I just realized I gave the anthropomorphic personification of comic book origin stories a comic book origin story.
Quick, reboot the universe!
I don’t always laugh at comments on Roomies, but when I do, it’s to this comment.
He also owns a painting of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, so this can’t be that old.
Damnit. Beat me to that observation. >.>
Perhaps whatever company publish Robo-vac went into its own “New 52” in 1998, and rebooted the title, so this a new #1 with an updated origin story in a modern setting.
(Am I over thinking this?)
My theory is that the comic takes place in the future and whoever was doing the art was a goddamn fortune teller.
Same
My thinking is young willis was kinda stupid.
Shhhhh… he’ll hear you
I think the best thing about this site is the commentary on days like this. You can just hear the “What was I thinking? No, really, WHAT WAS I THINKING? I can’t tell from this thing!”
Obviously they got into it from the Ultimate Robo-Vac universe and the original has new and surprising revelations for them. Also, Frank Miller wrote it so their young minds repressed the memories.
That reminds me of my problems with the stupid Smallville episode where a fan of Warrior Angel finds the magic first issue, only one copy of which ever existed, and is amazed to learn that his hero even has an origin.
It was an unpublished copy of the first issue with an alternate origin that was chucked for the more well known one.
Well maybe they came in late. Or were fans of Robo-Vac the Animated Series which never delved into the origin story to deeply.
At least the Flash also had a mix of volatile chemicals combined with the lightning to give him his superpowers.
Hey, Bart and Milhouse somehow didn’t know Radioactive Man’s origin until they got a copy of #1, either. And this was still in the era when characters were expected to repeat this sort of exposition every issue.
I’ve been wondering, was it intentional that Robo-Vac and the Cheese have similar body shapes?
It’s not a 1997-style desktop computer. It’s a vintage age FUTURE COMPUTER whose aesthetics inspired young computer engineers who grew up to design computers in 1997.
Originally posted:
January 26, 1998