Robotman (Clifford "Cliff" Steele, called Automaton in first two appearances) is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

appearing in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. He is best known as a member of the

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appear ...

, being the only character to appear in every version of the team since its introduction in June 1963. Robotman has appeared in numerous television series. Robotman made his first live adaptation as a guest star on the ''

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

'' television series for

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

played by Jake Michaels. Riley Shanahan took over from Michaels in the role. He is part of the main cast of its spin-off ''

'' which is also on

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

Brendan Fraser Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor. List of awards and nominations received by Brendan Fraser, His accolades include an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a nomination for a Golden Globe A ...

provides the voice of Robotman and portrays Cliff Steele in flashbacks in the series.

Publication history

Robotman first appeared in '' My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963) and was created by

Arnold Drake Arnold Drake (March 1, 1924 – March 12, 2007) was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, Hav ...

and Bruno Premiani. According to Drake, the issue's co-writer

Bob Haney Robert Gilbert Haney, Jr. (March 15, 1926 – November 25, 2004) was an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Lance Bruner, Metamorpho, Eclipso, Cain, and ...

was not brought on to the project until after Robotman was created. He commented on the character's original name, Automaton:

That name was pretty stupid. I've been responsible for a lot of stupid things, but that was one of the stupidest, so, within two issues, I figured that out and changed his name to Robotman.

At the time, Drake didn't realize that there had been a previous character named Robotman, published in 1942-1953 during the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

. DC's previous Robotman also had a human brain. Robotman was the only original member of the Doom Patrol to appear with the team's second incarnation, which debuted in '' Showcase'' #94-96 (August 1977-January 1978). The reboot was accompanied by Robotman getting a new body, which was designed by artist

Joe Staton Joe Staton ( born January 19, 1948) is an American comics artist and writer. He co-created the Bronze Age Huntress (Helena Wayne), as well as the third Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Kilowog and the Omega Men for DC Comics. He was the artist o ...

at writer Paul Kupperberg's request. Kupperberg explained:

I was looking to update the strip, I suppose, ndwanted to put my mark on it. There was nothing wrong with the original body designed by Bruno Premiani. In fact, ain't no one come up with a better design. Like the team's roster, I should have left that alone, too.

Staton said he patterned Robotman's new body after a young John Byrne's

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

contribution (''

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 ...

'') of the robot character Rog-2000 "as a joke".

Fictional character biography

Robotman is one of the founding members of the Doom Patrol, along with Negative Man and Elasti-Girl. He is unique for being the only character to appear in every version of the Doom Patrol.

Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths

Cliff Steele became Robotman, initially dubbed Automaton,Robotman (1963)
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on August 31, 2015. after the daredevil and race car driver was in an accident during the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

, destroying his body. Caulder subsequently placed Cliff's intact brain into a robotic body. After the operation, Cliff suffered from frequent depression because he viewed himself as less than human. A background serial in ''Doom Patrol'' #s 100, 101, 103 & 105 (December 1965 – August 1966, within 30 months of his introduction) retconned that Caulder made a mistake in the operation, causing Steele to go on a rampage, which Caulder corrected when he recruited Steele for the Patrol. Sales of ''Doom Patrol'' had waned, and the creative team chose to kill off the entire team, including Robotman, in the final issue, ''Doom Patrol'' #121 (September–October 1968). The Doom Patrol sacrificed their lives to Madame Rouge and General Zahl (who pushed the actual kill button) to save the small fishing village of Codsville,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. In '' Showcase'' #94 (September 1977), it was revealed that Cliff's brain had survived and that

Will Magnus Doctor William Maxwell "Will" Magnus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A brilliant scientist who occasionally suffers from debilitating mental illness, he is responsible for creating the Metal Men a ...

, the robotics expert who created the

Metal Men The Metal Men are a group of robot superheroes that appear in DC Comics. The characters first appeared in '' Showcase'' #37 (March–April 1962) and were created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru. Debuting in the Silver Age of C ...

, had recovered Cliff's brain and built him a new body. Cliff then joined a new Doom Patrol headed by a woman claiming to be Niles Caulder's wife, Arani. Refusing to believe that Niles was dead, she formed this new team to search for him and took his place as leader, calling herself

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

due to her heat-and-cold-based powers.

Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths

Robotman's origin remained largely the same as his pre-Crisis origin save for the fact that it was revealed that Niles Caulder had caused the accident that destroyed Cliff Steele's body. Cliff Steele was born in Brooklyn. This team was eventually almost all killed in action, with Cliff voluntarily committing himself to an asylum in ''Doom Patrol'' (vol. 2) #19 (February 1989), having fallen into a state of depression due to his condition and the loss of his teammates. In particular, he was angry about being in a metal body and unable to enjoy the feeling and senses that humans take for granted. Caulder sent Magnus round to try to help Cliff. Magnus introduced him to a person with "worse problems than is: a woman called Crazy Jane. Cliff became Jane’s guardian, eventually falling in love with her. Near the end of

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...

's creative run on the title, Robotman’s human brain was revealed to have been replaced with a CPU, making him a robot in reality. In

Rachel Pollack Rachel Grace Pollack (August 17, 1945 – April 6, 2023) was an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. Early life and education Pollack was born on August 17, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York to a Jew ...

's creative run, Cliff's artificial brain began to malfunction so Dorothy Spinner's Imaginary Friends "rebuilt" Cliff's old brain. Cliff later met and began a relationship with a bisexual, transgender woman named Kate Godwin. At one point, Kate and Cliff merged and shared his memories.

Blackest Night

In the Doom Patrol's ''

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in i ...

'' tie-in storyline, Robotman and Negative Man are attacked by Negative Woman, who has been revived as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. While they try to fight off their former comrade, Cliff is approached by his own brainless corpse, which has also been revived as a Black Lantern. Cliff correctly surmises that the ring powers his corpse, but finds removing it only causes a new body to regenerate instead. He and Negative Man trick the Black Lanterns into entering a warp gate to a JLA checkpoint then try to put the incident behind them.

The New 52

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

reboot, a different version of the character debuted in the '' My Greatest Adventure'' miniseries in October 2011, written by Matt Kindt. This version of Cliff Steele is an adventurer and daredevil who agrees to be injected with experimental nanomachines designed to improve and repair his body. When he is involved in a fatal car crash during a high-speed race, the nanomachines respond by creating a robotic body to encase and protect his still living brain. Though he is initially distraught over his condition, the nanomachines prevent him from being able to kill himself. After coming to terms with his new body, he becomes a freelance hero, assisted by a woman named Maddy, who was involved in the nanomachine project and blames herself for Cliff's condition. Cliff has since re-appeared as a supporting character in the Metal Men comic featured in the ''Legends of Tomorrow'' anthology.

Young Animal

In the "Young Animal" reboot, Cliff reappeared as a member of the latest incarnation of the Doom Patrol. In the iteration both his origin and romance with Crazy Jane return and saw Cliff and the new Doom Patrol protect Danny, a sentient 'world' within an ambulance, and the many citizens within Danny. When the universe is reset in '' Milk Wars'', Cliff briefly regains his human body but being unable to readapt to his old way of life Cliff drove himself off a cliff, destroying his biological body and returning to a robot one. During the Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds story arc Cliff constantly upgraded his new robot body so that he could better protect others, stemming from his insecurities about failing to protect others and being unable to live a 'normal' life. Cliff's upgrades escalated until he became an entire planet that threatened to integrate entire worlds within him so that they would be 'safe from hurt'. Cliff was eventually persuaded to stop by Crazy Jane who helped to deconstruct him into a childlike robot body so that she could better emotionally heal him.

Dawn of DC Dawn of DC is a 2023 publishing initiative by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Following the events of the 2022 crossover events ''Dark Crisis, Dark Crisi ...

In the '' Knight Terrors ''event,

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

traps several members of

Justice League Dark Justice League Dark, or JLD, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team made their debut in ''Justice League Dark'' #1 (September 2011). The team features some of the more supernatural characters in t ...

in his Knightmare Realm. Remaining awake through the chaos,

Zatanna Zatanna Zatara (), known mononymously as Zatanna, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in ''Hawkman (comic book), Hawkman'' #4 (N ...

magically summons Robotman and defends

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

and Detective Chimp from Insomnia's Sleepless Knights and Sleeping Queen.

Powers and abilities

Cliff's original robotic body possesses immense strength, stamina, durability, and speed. It was equipped with electromagnetic feet that enables him to scale upon metal walls, heat coils in the palms capable of melting dense materials, and an

oxygen tank An oxygen tank is an oxygen storage vessel, which is either held under pressure in gas cylinders, referred to in the industry as high pressure oxygen cylinders, or as liquid oxygen in a cryogenic storage tank. Uses Oxygen tanks are used to stor ...

for sustaining his brain. Robotman once utilized a mobile video transceiver strapped on his chest plate to keep in constant communication with the team. Later bodies have featured other various functions, such as tool and weapon systems. Before the operation, he had excellent racing skills. The New 52 version of Cliff's original robotic body is nanomachine-based, allowing him to change its shape when needed or repair itself from even the most severe damage. He is also capable of flight and underwater travel. After becoming human and destroying his body again, his new one was constructed by Keeg Bovo, who programmed it to unlock different upgrades whenever Robotman performs a good deed, such as self-duplication and elemental control.

In other media

* Robotman appears in the ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' two-part episode "Homecoming", voiced by Peter Onorati. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. * Robotman appears in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "The Last Patrol!", voiced by

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

. This version has become sullen over his indestructibility and makes several suicide attempts despite this. Following a failed mission and the

disbanding, he becomes a crash-test dummy for a car company. In the present,

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

reunites the Doom Patrol after the team's enemies form an alliance to seek revenge on them. While Batman foils the alliance, the Doom Patrol sacrifice themselves to save a town being threatened by the villains. * Robotman appears in the "Doom Patrol" segment of ''

DC Nation Shorts ''DC Nation Shorts'' is an animated series of shorts featuring characters from DC Comics from a variety of different titles that aired on Cartoon Network on Saturdays at 10/9c. Production In March 2012, the shorts premiered as part of the '' DC ...

'', voiced by David Kaye. * Robotman appears in ''

Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen T ...

'', voiced by

Khary Payton Khary Payton (born May 16, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as King Ezekiel on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' and Dr. Terrell Jackson on the soap opera ''General Hospital'', as well as voicing Cyborg acr ...

. * Robotman appears in ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'', voiced by Flula Borg. This version had the Chief place his brain into a robot body so he could perform the "

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

" more effectively and beat a rival. * Robotman appears in the ''

'' episode "Doom Patrol", portrayed by Jake Michaels and voiced by

. ** Additionally, the ''Doom Patrol'' incarnation of Robotman (see below) appears in the episode "Game Over", with Riley Shanahan replacing Michaels. * Robotman appears in ''

'', portrayed by Riley Shanahan and voiced again by Brendan Fraser, who also portrays Robotman in flashbacks. This version lost his body in a car accident and left behind a daughter, Clara, who was adopted by Bump Weathers, a member of his pit crew. ** The ''Doom Patrol'' incarnation of Robotman also appears in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...

crossover "

Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...

" via archive footage of a deleted scene from the first season.