Biotron

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Biotron
Micronauts character
Biotron-box.jpg
Mego Biotron toy box
First appearance

Micronauts volume 1 number 1, January 1979 by Marvel Comics
Created by

Mego
Japanese name

Robotman
Release number

71053
Information
Aliases Bioship
Species Robot
Abilities

Affiliation

Micronauts (Marvel Comics)
Baron Karza (Image Comics)
Alternate mode

Biotronic tank and 2 vehicles

Biotron (Robotman in Japan) is a fictional character from the Micronauts series introduced in 1977. He is a heroic robot character.

Micronauts

Biotron is a heroic robot member of the Micronauts. He can turn into a tank (and sometimes his legs become additional vehicles). He can fly, has superhuman strength, can stretch his limbs and fires energy blasts.

In Microman fiction Robotman was a robot vehicle created by the Micromen for their human friend to join them on adventures. Instructions for Robotman included illustrations on how to combine it with various other Microman vehicles and characters, including Escargo, Formula Z, Mad Acroyear and Micro Robot.

Development

The Biotron toy was designed by Iwakichi Ogawa and was filed for US patent in 1976.[1]

Biotron was released by Mego in 1976. He was also released by Airfix.

According to Bryan Wilkinson on Facebook, when Palisades Toys was first planning on Micronauts toys to release they had hoped to release Biotron. This toy was never released by Palisades Toys.

Concept art for a new version of Biotron was done by Mike Bazzell as part of Palisades wave 3, although the figure was never produced.[2]

In 2011 ATR Hobby released Roboid, a 3 3/4 inch tall figure inspired by Biotron.

In 2018 several parts for Biotron were released on Shapeways by Mathew Robert Ignash.

In May 2019 Mathew Robert Ignash released Microclone Biotron on Shapeways.

Reception

Animated series

2005 Eagle One Media

Biotron was featured in the 2005 Micronauts Revolution DVD digital comic by Eagle One Media which was based on the first 5 issues of the Image Comics Micronauts comic series.

2019 Hasbro

In 2019 Hasbro teased an upcoming Micronauts animated series. Characters included Acroyear, Biotron, Oberon, Quin-Tillis the Time Traveler, Space Glider, Xant the Antron. The characters are a radical redesign of the originals.

Comics

1979 Marvel Comics

Micronauts volume 1 number 2 by Marvel Comics

Biotron was one of the main cast in the Micronauts series by Marvel Comics. Biotron is a robot from the planet Homeworld. He has a telepathic link Commander Arcturus Rann.

Commander Rann's roboid copilot during his 1,000 year sojourn through the Microverse, Biotron served as Rann's telepathic eyes and ears while his physical body was kept in stasis. Biotron continued to serve as Rann's copilot aboard the HMS Endeavor in their war against Baron Karza. Biotron was an unflappable foil for Commander Rann. Biotron's model series had long since become obsolete and, of course, he took this in stride with his trademark dry, erudite wit.

When the Micronauts breached the space wall to escape Baron Karza they arrived on Earth, where they discovered they were about 6 inches tall compared to the native human population.

Tragically, Biotron was the first major casualty among the Micronauts in the Karza War, killed in issue 27

The Bioship in Marvel Comics

Biotron was somewhat reborn as the Micronauts second ship, the Bioship, in issue 46. This Bioship's personality was based on Microtron, Nanotron, and Commander Rann's memories of the original Biotron.

A second Biotron was later created in issue 58 to accompany the Micronauts on their new voyages, though it had none of the original's personality or memories.

When Marvel lost the license to Micronauts it included losing the rights to Biotron, and he has not appeared again the Marvel Universe. His place was taken by a new character named Photon appeared as a member of the Ant-Men.

2002 Image Comics

Biotron appeared as a regular character in the 2008 Image Comics reboot of the Micronauts. In this series he is depicted as a large and powerful cyborg created by Baron Karza who turned against his creator and joined the Micronauts.

2004 Devil's Due Publishing

The Devil's Due Publishing Micronauts stories continued those from Image Comics with Biotron continuing as a regular character.

2016 IDW Publishing

Biotron was constructed at a Yomi Factory on Micropolis-10 for use by the Ministry of Science. After his pilot died, he was left in a storeroom on Valtricos Research Station, dormant but still activate. He was still able to monitor the Ministries activities, including the destruction of Biotrons on Saqqura by the Entropy Cloud.

2018 Micronauts Protectors of Inner Space

Biotron appeared in the 2018 art series Micronauts Protectors of Inner Space by Brian Vox. He formed the Rescue Pod with the Astro Station and Microtron. He appeared on the cover of issues 11 and 19.

Toys

  • Takara Microman Robotman (1975)
  • Mego Micronauts Biotron (1976)
A 1:18 scale robot toy by Mego Corp. Based on the Takara Microman Robotman toy.
Came with 2 white wheels and a set of green adapters for alternate modes.
A recolored Biotron toy with a new head was used to make Phobos, recolored into Cosmobot and given another new head as Terrobot.
  • Airfix Micronauts Biotron (1978)
A release of Biotron in Europe by Airfix.
  • ATR Hobby Roboid (2011)
  • Hasbro Revolution (2017)
A box set of figures appearing in the Hasbro stories by IDW Publishing comics.
Includes tiny figurines of classic characters of Acroyear, Baron Karza and Biotron. There is an Antron called Xant, a female Space Glider named Phenelo-Phi, a Time Traveler named Quin-Tillus and new characters using the classic Micronauts names Oberon, Betatron and Gammatron.
  • Shapeways Microclone Biotron (2019)
1:72 scale figure based on Biotron released on Shapeways.[3]
  • Biotron inspired the Microborgs character Bioguy and Biomaster.

Gallery

References

External links

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