Monday, February 24, 2014
Comic Book Robot of the Month: Mr. Goon-Child
Here's a terrific little robot that made a single appearance in Weird Fantasy #15 [3] in 1950. The Goon-Child is the creation of Henry, who constructs this rather simply robot to do menial chores around this house. It turns out that the Goon-Child isn't all that keen on being a slave and upgrades his design to the point where he can revolt against his slob of a master. There's a terrific 'They call me Mr. Tibbs' moment and I find it quite comical that Henry is overpowered by a robot who looks like an ancestor of Johnny Five. All of this is handled beautifully by Harvey Kurtzman who balances humour with a sense of threat. A true classic.
I always loved this story. As you said, a great job by Kurtzman, who actually had me laughing out loud by the sense of humor of how nasty Henry is to The Goon-Child when we all suspect his insults will come back to haunt him. I love Weird Fantasy, Tales of the Unexpected, Strange Adventures, etc. This story was one of the best.
ReplyDeleteI also love, "Calling Space Doctor Duncan" (with The Roarers), "The Man Who Could Breathe Air" (with Paul Browning), etc.