Rog-2000 (pronounced "Rahj-two-thousand", and sometimes spelled "ROG 2000") is a fictional robot that was the first professional creation of

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist-writer John Byrne. Rog-2000 serves as the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of Byrne Robotics.

Publication history

The character began life during Byrne's fan-artist days in the 1970s, as a spot illustration for

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfor ...

and

Bob Layton Bob Layton (born 1953) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles such as '' Iron Man'' and ''Hercules'', and for co-founding Valiant Comics with Jim Shooter. Early life Bob Layt ...

's fanzine ''CPL (

Contemporary Pictorial Literature The CPL Gang was a group of comic book enthusiasts who published a number of fanzines in the mid-1970s, including ''Contemporary Pictorial Literature'' (''CPL'') and '' Charlton Bullseye''. Founded by Roger Stern and Bob Layton, the CPL Gang eventua ...

)''. Layton gave the character a name (riffing on the amount of "Rogers" – specifically Roger Stern and

Roger Slifer Roger Allen Slifer (; November 11, 1954 – March 30, 2015) was an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer who co-created the character Lobo for DC Comics. Among the many comic-book series for which he wrote was DC's '' O ...

– who contributed to ''CPL''), and he and Stern began using him as a magazine mascot, with Byrne supplying additional art. A Rog-2000 story, "The Coming of the Gang", appeared in ''CPL'' #11 (1974), written by Stern with art by Byrne and Layton, and featuring caricatures of "the

CPL Gang The CPL Gang was a group of comic book enthusiasts who published a number of fanzines in the mid-1970s, including ''Contemporary Pictorial Literature'' (''CPL'') and '' Charlton Bullseye''. Founded by Roger Stern and Bob Layton, the CPL Gang eventua ...

", including Byrne and fellow ''CPL'' contributor Duffy Vohland. On the strength of that fan piece,

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

writer

Nicola Cuti Nicola Cuti (October 29, 1944 – February 21, 2020), known as Nick Cuti, was an American artist and comic book writer-editor, science-fiction novelist; he was the co-creator of ''E-Man'' (with artist Joe Staton) and Moonchild, Captain Cosmos, a ...

contacted Byrne about drawing the character for professional comic books. During this same period, the

was producing the officially sanctioned fanzine '' Charlton Bullseye''. Written by Cuti, "Rog-2000" became one of several alternating backup features in the Charlton Comics

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

series ''

E-Man E-Man is a comic-book character, a superhero created by writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton for the American company Charlton Comics in 1973. Although the character's original series was short-lived, the lightly humorous hero has become a cu ...

'', starting with the eight-page "That Was No Lady" in issue #6 (Jan. 1975).Rog 2000
an
Rog-2000
at the Grand Comics Database This marked the color-comics debut of future industry star Byrne, who'd previously drawn a two-page story for

Skywald Publications Skywald Publications was an American publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the horror anthologies ''Nightmare'', ''Psycho'', and ''Scream''. It also published a small line of comic books and other genre magazines. Skywald's or ...

' black-and-white horror-comics magazine ''Nightmare'' #20 (Aug. 1974). The character also appeared the same month in the small-press hobbyist magazine ''

The Comic Reader ''The Comic Reader'' (''TCR'') was a comics news- fanzine published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre- direct market era (before the proliferation of comics retailers), ''TCR'' was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, a ...

'' #44 (Jan. 1975). As Byrne recalled the character's origin in a 2000 interview: Three additional, seven-page "Rog-2000" stories – "Withering Heights", "The Wish", and "Rog. vs. The Sog", all by Cuti & Byrne – appeared in ''E-Man'' #7, 9–10 (March, July–Sept. 1975), respectively. All the Charlton stories were reprinted in

Pacific Comics Pacific Comics (PC) was an American comic book publisher that was active from 1981 to 1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began at a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes. Alo ...

' ''ROG 2000'' #1 (June 1982), as well as in

A-Plus Comics Charlton Media Group (CMG) is a Montreal-based publisher owned and operated by Canadian entrepreneur Roger Broughton. CMG has published Charlton Comics and American Comics Group reprint comics, under several names, including Sword in Stone, A+, a ...

' ''Hot 'N Cold Heroes'' #1 (1990) and ''Herbie'' #4-4 (1991). In a 2000 interview, Byrne recalled that: Stern was reunited with Rog-2000 when Charlton accepted two of his scripts for the feature, but the company then canceled ''E-Man'' the following workday.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Rog 2000
at An International Catalogue of Superheroes

*Archive o

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Byrne Robotics
(John Byrne official site)
WebCitation archive
Pacific Comics titles Charlton Comics superheroes Comics characters introduced in 1974 Fictional robots Magazine mascots Comics by John Byrne (comics) Characters created by John Byrne (comics) Male characters in comics Male characters in advertising 1974 comics debuts Mascots introduced in 1974