Cover: Jack Kirby & Mike Esposito

Machine Man #2

May 1978 · Marvel · 0.35 USD

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“House of Nightmares”

About this Issue

Machine Man #2 is the second chapter of Jack Kirby's ambitious solo series for Aaron Stack (X-51), a character Kirby invented — against explicit editorial instructions — inside the pages of 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 and then successfully spun off into the mainstream Marvel Universe. Titled 'House of Nightmares,' the issue deepens the series' central dramatic engine: a sentient android hunted by his own government, trying to prove he deserves a place among humanity rather than a place on a dissection table. As only the second issue of Kirby's nine-issue run on the title, it locks in the book's sustained tone of science-fiction alienation and social parable that distinguished the series from the super-hero mainstream of 1978.

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writer, artist Jack Kirby · inker, letterer Mike Royer · colorist Petra G. · cover Jack Kirby, Mike Esposito

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History

The series was a direct outgrowth of Marvel's mid-1970s strategy of acquiring science-fiction film licenses, which brought Jack Kirby back to the company to adapt Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Despite being told not to create ongoing characters — because Marvel feared losing IP ownership to MGM — Kirby introduced Mister Machine in 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 (July 1977), and the character was subsequently renamed Machine Man, reportedly to avoid a naming conflict with an Ideal Toys product called Mr. Machine. The solo series launched in early 1978 with Kirby as writer, penciller, and series editor, inked by his long-time collaborator Mike Royer; issue #2 carries the same creative team, with Petra Goldberg on colors and Frank Giacoia sharing cover inks with Kirby.

Trivia · 8 facts

Issue title is 'House of Nightmares'; it was released February 21, 1978 with a cover date of May 1978.
Written and pencilled entirely by Jack Kirby, inked by Mike Royer, colored by Petra Goldberg; cover inked by Mike Esposito.
The story continues Aaron Stack / Machine Man's arc as a military fugitive, deepening his relationship with psychiatrist Peter Spaulding and antagonist Colonel Kragg.
The issue introduces two minor supporting characters — Nurse Mary and a character named Harry — according to the Marvel Database character manifest.
The issue includes a one-page editorial column by Kirby titled 'A Persecuted Machine,' a direct authorial address to readers that reinforces the series' themes of prejudice against artificial life.
Machine Man's solo series was a direct spinoff of Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey monthly, making it one of the few Bronze Age Marvel titles to originate outside the superhero genre proper.
Kirby wrote and drew the first nine issues of this series before departing to work on storyboards for the Fantastic Four animated series; issue #2 sits in the middle of that unbroken Kirby run.
The 2001: A Space Odyssey comics that originated the character have never been fully reprinted in collected form due to ongoing copyright complexities involving MGM/Warner Bros. and the Kubrick estate.