Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox comics character Rog-2000 (pronounced "Rahj-two-thousand", and sometimes spelled "ROG 2000") is a fictional robot that was the first professional creation of comic book artist-writer John Byrne. Rog-2000 serves as the mascot of Byrne Robotics.[1]
Publication history
The character began life during Byrne's fan-artist days in the 1970s, as a spot illustration for Roger Stern and Bob Layton's fanzine CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature).[2] Layton gave the character a name (riffing on the amount of "Rogers" – specifically Roger Stern and Roger Slifer – who contributed to CPL), and he and Stern began using him as a magazine mascot, with Byrne supplying additional art.[2] 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", including Byrne and fellow CPL contributor Duffy Vohland.[3]
On the strength of that fan piece, Charlton Comics writer Nicola Cuti contacted Byrne about drawing the character for professional comic books.[4] During this same period, the CPL Gang was producing the officially sanctioned fanzine Charlton Bullseye.[5] Written by Cuti, "Rog-2000" became one of several alternating backup features in the Charlton Comics superhero series E-Man, starting with the eight-page "That Was No Lady" in issue #6 (Jan. 1975).[6] This marked the color-comics debut of future industry star Byrne,[7] who'd previously drawn a two-page story for Skywald Publications' 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 #44 (Jan. 1975).
As Byrne recalled the character's origin in a 2000 interview: Template:Quote
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' ROG 2000 #1 (June 1982), as well as in A-Plus Comics' Hot 'N Cold Heroes #1 (1990) and Herbie #4-4 (1991).[6]
In a 2000 interview, Byrne recalled that: Template:Blockquote
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.[4]
References
External links
- Rog 2000 at An International Catalogue of Superheroes. WebCitation archive.
- Archive of Alec Tronn's E-Man Fan Page. Some graphics missing; scroll down and links still work. Original page.
- Byrne Robotics (John Byrne official site). WebCitation archive.
- ↑ Though the character's chest plate reads "ROG 2000", the name is generally spelled at Byrne's website, Byrne Robotics, with an uppercase "R" and lowercase "og" along with a hyphen.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:Cite journal
- ↑ The Charlton Bullseye (CPL/GANG Publications, 1975) at the Grand Comics Database.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rog 2000 and Rog-2000 at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Template:Cite web