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The Awesome Android, later known as Awesome Andy, is a fictional artificial lifeform in the Marvel Comics universe. First appearing in Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963), it was created by writer Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby.

Publication history

Following its debut as "the Mad Thinker's Awesome Android", the creature returned in Fantastic Four #28 (July 1964) in an encounter with both the title superhero team and the X-Men.

In The Avengers #288 (Feb. 1988), the mimicking robot called the Super-Adaptoid found and reprogrammed the abandoned Awesome Android to serve under him in a group of robotic and similar beings, Heavy Metal. Following that group's attack of Avengers Mansion, Namor, the Sub-Mariner removed the Awesome Android's head, leaving the body to sink into the ocean. He was next seen, salvaged and having gained sentience, as an office worker in She-Hulk Vol. 1 (2004-2005).

Fictional character biography

The Awesome Android is a synthesis of ape DNA and unstable molecules incorporated into an almost indestructible android body with a microcomputer and a solar-power source. A creation of the Mad Thinker, the Android has confronted the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Rom, and the Avengers..

In the mid-2000s, having gained sentience and becoming independent of his criminal creator, the Android resurfaced as an office gofer at Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, the law firm at which Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk, works. The firm had legally emancipated the Android from the Mad Thinker, making it an American citizen under the name "Awesome Andy" and officially considering him male. Communicating by writing on a chalkboard hung around his neck, Andy became a general office worker for the firm, finding this more fulfilling than doing the Mad Thinker's bidding.

Powers and abilities

The Android is tall, hulking creature with a malleable body and a head it can set as rectangular or as a cube. It has with no eyes, nose, or visible ears. The Android can mimic certain abilities after touching its opponent. It has, for instance, taken on the strength and epidermis of the Thing, the ice-creating power of Ice Man, and the silver shell of the Spaceknight Rom. The Android can also emit close-range blasts of gale-force wind from its mouth.

Its weakness is a fail safe built into it by the Mad Thinker: a collection of nerve ganglia underneath the left armpit that if struck will cause the Android to shut down.

Personality

As the Awesome Android, the creature was a tabula rasa with no personality. After gaining sentience and being dubbed Awesome Andy, he has shown that he cares deeply for his friends and coworkers and is willing to fight to protect them. He also has several interests and hobbies, such as tai chi and baseball — specifically, as a New York Mets fan. As the Mad Thinker did not give him the ability to speak, Awesome Andy communicates through hand-gestures, body language, and a chalkboard that he has strung around his neck.

Despite his lack of facial features and a voice, Andy can be emotional at times, having displayed feelings for co-worker Mallory Book, who was left confined to a wheelchair when the law offices were destroyed. He also was visibly upset after seeing her flirt with the Two-Gun Kid. Andy subsequently began a relationship with Book, but later discovered Book's feelings for him were the result of his having inadvertently absorbed the pheromone-like powers of the alien Starfox. Not wanting the relationship to be based on false, manipulated emotions, Andy shut off the Starfox power, after which Book ended the "relationship".

Alternate versions

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, the android is only referred to as Robbie Burchill, the younger brother of Rhona Burchill (this parallel universe's Mad Thinker). When they were young, Rhona took part of Robbie's brain matter and transplanted it into hers in order to increase her brain power. This left Robbie mentally handicapped. It has not been revealed what other processes Rhona performed on Robbie to turn him into the android-like creature he became. Robbie possesses superhuman strength and his body is made of a black, malleable metal which he can use to create various weapons.

Footnotes

1. Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #15 (June 1963)
2. Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #28 (July 1964)
3. Rom Vol. 1, #14 (Jan. 1981)
4. The Avengers Vol. 1, #286-289 (Feb.-May 1988)
5. Avengers Vol. 1, #286

References

• Awesome Andy Bio on Marvel.com
• Marvel Directory: Awesome Android
• Awesome Andy at Marvel Database Wiki
• The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Heavy Metal

• Fictional robots
• Marvel Comics robots
• Fantastic Four supporting characters