Atomic Robo FCBD [Archive] - Nuklear Power Forums

Ryanderman

05-05-2009, 10:59 AM

Thanks.

One of my favorite things about the series is the side characters, and how interesting they are on their own. Jenkins, The Sparrow, Dr. Dinosaur, etc. are all great characters completely independent of their interaction with Robo.

It's just great.

Kurosen

05-05-2009, 11:08 AM

This year's story is available online (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/04/27/fcbd-09-page-1/) for everyone who missed out.

Viridis

05-05-2009, 12:41 PM

That's great. I like Dr. Dinosaur's personality. Very adamant about his ideas.

"Mammal deception!"
"I'm a robot."
"Mammal robot!"

Meister

05-05-2009, 12:57 PM

It is everything you promised and more.

The Wandering God

05-05-2009, 05:50 PM

The first thing that popped into my head:

This was a triumpth. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAnfG3KfPB0)

You are certainly keeping up the excellent work Team Robo.

The Wandering God

Kepor

05-05-2009, 06:19 PM

What specie is Dr Dinosaur?

Fifthfiend

05-05-2009, 07:25 PM

Holy fuck, Doctor Dinosaur owns.

EDIT: He's like Doctor Doom if Doctor Doom were even more painfully insecure.

AND A DINOSAUR.

Mac

05-05-2009, 07:43 PM

Dr Dinosaur is the best villain ever.

Now if he was flying an F18 it would be so much more win.

Viridis

05-05-2009, 07:54 PM

And claiming he built it using crystals.

Mashirosen

05-05-2009, 10:36 PM

What specie is Dr Dinosaur?

Velociraptor genericis popculturae, a rare yet somehow ubiquitous featherless species that stood significantly taller and brainier than its little cousins V.mongoliensis and V. osmolskae. It's not totally clear whether it was discovered in 1993 by a Dr. Alan Grant or by the Calvin-Hobbes team in the late '80s, but either way we're pretty sure that, unlike the T.Rex, they weren't able to pilot F-14s.

Viridis

05-05-2009, 10:40 PM

genericis popculturaeHeh. Reminds me of the raptor in Dr. McNinja, which is based just off the Jurassic Park type.

What is the significance of the specific date Dr. Dinosaur says the "mammal energies" came from?

Kedjoran

05-05-2009, 10:58 PM

ooo thanks for putting it online, I went to my local comic book store mid afternoon but they had apparently ran out of the Atomic Robo FCBD comics hours before T_T It was apparently quite popular.

Kurosen

05-05-2009, 11:32 PM

Heh. Reminds me of the raptor in Dr. McNinja, which is based just off the Jurassic Park type.
That's basically what we did. The real species he ought to have been is kinda boring looking and was probably feathered which, sorry, just isn't as cool as Jurassic Park style Fake Raptors.

But, hey. Maybe that just means Robo is right and Dr. Dinosaur is a genetic experiment.

Or maybe the fossil record is incomplete!

What is the significance of the specific date Dr. Dinosaur says the "mammal energies" came from?
Finally, someone asks. You'll have to look it up though. :)

Viridis

05-05-2009, 11:50 PM

Possbile reason (spoiler, I guess. And long quote): The Hadron Collider screwed up! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#Test_timeline)

Excerpt:
On 19 September 2008, a quench occurred in about 100 bending magnets in sectors 3 and 4, causing loss of approximately six tonnes of liquid helium, which was vented into the tunnel, and a temperature rise of about 100 kelvins in some of the affected magnets. Vacuum conditions in the beam pipe were also lost.[25] Shortly after the incident CERN reported that the most likely cause of the problem was a faulty electrical connection between two magnets, and that—due to the time needed to warm up the affected sectors and then cool them back down to operating temperature—it would take at least two months to fix it.[26] Subsequently, CERN released a preliminary analysis of the incident on 16 October 2008,[27] and a more detailed one on 5 December 2008.[28] Both analyses confirmed that the incident was indeed initiated by a faulty electrical connection. At most 29 magnets have been damaged in the incident and will have to be repaired or replaced during the winter shutdown.

Arhra

05-05-2009, 11:52 PM

Hmm, you know, the 'You'd end up in space' argument against time travel always annoys me slightly because it assumes there's some absolute frame of reference. And Einstein was against that sort of thing! I, for one, would not like to go against a man with hair that crazy.

It's not like when you let go of a ball, it goes flying off into space and past Pluto in the blink of an eye after all.

Dr Dinosaur is a wonderful man-lizard. I wonder what he did when it rolled around to September 19, 2008.

Probably threw a big party.

If he had anyone to invite...

Poor Dr Dinosaur, you are doomed to fight your noble struggle alone!

EDIT: Curse you Viridis! Curse yoouuuuuu!

Viridis

05-05-2009, 11:53 PM

See, now I'm guessing his attempt to stop the LHC is what messes it up in the first place, causing the 'energies' to go off. One of those annoying closed loops.

Kepor

05-06-2009, 12:04 AM

Hmm, you know, the 'You'd end up in space' argument against time travel always annoys me slightly because it assumes there's some absolute frame of reference. And Einstein was against that sort of thing! I, for one, would not like to go against a man with hair that crazy.

It makes sense if you consider that you would be remaining in place relative to your past self, while the earth, solar system, and galaxy had all gone their separate ways, leaving you in hard vacuum.

EVILNess

05-06-2009, 12:05 AM

Robo's look on the last page is truly priceless. The amount of emotion you guys put out through eyes and speech is really amazing.

EDIT: Im gonna edit in this question instead of just starting a new thread, but does Robo know enough about his own workings to do more than just fix himself? Could he make another one of himself if he wanted? Or was that something only Tesla could really do?

Mashirosen

05-06-2009, 12:33 AM

"Whatcha doing, Bender? Building yourself a wife?"
"Part of one."

Arhra

05-06-2009, 12:43 AM

It makes sense if you consider that you would be remaining in place relative to your past self, while the earth, solar system, and galaxy had all gone their separate ways, leaving you in hard vacuum.
I'm remaining in place relative to my past self right now.

Kurosen

05-06-2009, 12:43 AM

Hmm, you know, the 'You'd end up in space' argument against time travel always annoys me slightly because it assumes there's some absolute frame of reference.
Not necessarily. Time and space are linked, yes, but it's not altogether clear how one would physically travel through time. Teleporting from one moment to another could very easily involve disassociating oneself from space while you're disassociated from time. You'd arrive at the right moment, but the rest of the universe expanded without you.

Of course, there's another perfectly good relativistic objection: how do you set your time machine accurately? I mean, what's 20 years "really"?

Robo's look on the last page is truly priceless. The amount of emotion you guys put out through eyes and speech is really amazing.
Yeah, I get a lot of credit for this story, but it is 100% Scott's expressions on that last page that make the whole thing click.

does Robo know enough about his own workings to do more than just fix himself? Could he make another one of himself if he wanted? Or was that something only Tesla could really do?
Robo has figured out enough to fix/replace/upgrade things, but the big stumbling block is his brain. No one really knows how that works.

Ironically, I think it's his vanity that keeps him from pursuing what you suggest. Robo enjoys being one-of-a-kind.

EVILNess

05-06-2009, 01:11 AM

Ironically, I think it's his vanity that keeps him from pursuing what you suggest. Robo enjoys being one-of-a-kind.

Ahh, nice to know. I wasn't really asking why he didn't build another Atomic Robo, it was more of a probing question. Not to gush or anything, but I really do find the character and world fascinating and was really just asking one of those stupid fan questions that people ask when they get the creator on the line.

No one really knows how that works.
Did Tesla even know? Or was it an accident? Or am I just asking a futile question because you won't tell me?

Also, what kind of stuff has he upgraded on himself? He looks pretty much the same cosmetically in every comic. Lighter Alloys maybe?

Arhra

05-06-2009, 01:12 AM

Not necessarily. Time and space are linked, yes, but it's not altogether clear how one would physically travel through time. Teleporting from one moment to another could very easily involve disassociating oneself from space while you're disassociated from time. You'd arrive at the right moment, but the rest of the universe expanded without you.

Of course, there's another perfectly good relativistic objection: how do you set your time machine accurately? I mean, what's 20 years "really"?
Hmmm, you're right. I should clarify by saying it's when it happened 'because the Earth moved'. If it is established that you always have to get the coordinates right, then I don't mind it. I have no better idea for how you'd actually set a time machine than the next person.

Heh, I was half expecting that eskie to really contain a time machine. But what Robo found within was so much better.

Kurosen

05-06-2009, 01:21 AM

Did Tesla even know? Or was it an accident? Or am I just asking a futile question because you won't tell me?
It's a topic we may yet explore. There's a storyline we won't get to for years that could answer that question.

Also, what kind of stuff has he upgraded on himself? He looks pretty much the same cosmetically in every comic. Lighter Alloys maybe?

Internal components mostly. I think Robo's list of senses by the modern era consists of: infrared, ultraviolet, the visual spectrum, wi-fi, bluetooth, radio, cell, GPS, a compass, and slightly above and below human hearing range. He doesn't have all this on all the time, but it's all available when he needs it.

Beyond that, y'know, better wiring, redundancy, new materials, etc. Again, internal stuff. Robo's pretty vain, so he has no interest in changing his external appearance. Although we'll never do future comics, as far as I'm concerned in 3037 there's tons of cyborgs and robots running around looking all futuristic and designed in ways we can't imagine because the material engineering of that time will make us look like cavemen...and Robo will still be chugging along looking the same.

Mashirosen

05-06-2009, 01:21 AM

Y'know, Dr. Dinosaur might be more cunning than Robo suspects -- the spookily appropriately-named Dinosaurs and Robots (http://www.dinosaursandrobots.com/search/label/cocopunk?max-results=20) blog thinks frond-and-rock or "cocopunk" technology is the wave of the futurepast.

Kurosen

05-06-2009, 01:26 AM

Viridis

05-06-2009, 01:31 AM

Did Tesla even know? Or was it an accident? Or am I just asking a futile question because you won't tell me?

It's a topic we may yet explore. There's a storyline we won't get to for years that could answer that question.
Prediction: Lightning. If science fiction has taught me anything, it's that lightning+science=sentient technology. Or maybe the Flash.

Kepor

05-06-2009, 01:40 AM

I'm remaining in place relative to my past self right now.

Sort of. Within a room, a house, a town, your position is relatively the same from moment to moment. Compared to the earth's rotation, or the orbit around the sun, however, your position is constantly changing. Because it matches velocity with the earth and all that, everything is dandy.

Now, if you were shifted across time, comparing the instant before the transfer to the instant after, you would be in the same location relative to before and after. However, in the time between transfers, the earth was still moving and covering distance. So while you physically would be in the same location before and after, the earth would have increased its distance relative to you.

Basically, distance traveled = velocity x time. When you time travel, you cut out a portion of time, while the earth does not. Meaning that overall, the earth travels a greater distance than you do, meaning that you end up not on the earth.

Meister

05-06-2009, 07:18 AM

wi-fi, bluetooth, radio, cell, GPS
Robot Tom Noir?

Kurosen

05-06-2009, 10:43 AM

I don't know who that is!

But I think that list of extra-sense is basically what most people would have if we could solve the power supply and infection problems that Robo doesn't have to worry about.

Meister

05-06-2009, 11:09 AM

Guy from Warren Ellis' Black Summer who, in a nutshell, can tap into surrounding information streams when he's wearing his special hat.

Come to think of it I'd love an Ellis-style information technology-exploration story starring Robo.

Kurosen

05-06-2009, 11:23 AM

An upcoming volume will be perhaps as close to that as we'll get. Robo has to fight to stop the future! (dun dun dunnnnnnnn)

pakopako

05-06-2009, 11:43 AM

Velociraptor genericis popculturae, a rare yet somehow ubiquitous featherless species that stood significantly taller and brainier than its little cousins V.mongoliensis and V. osmolskae. It's not totally clear whether it was discovered in 1993 by a Dr. Alan Grant or by the Calvin-Hobbes team in the late '80s, but either way we're pretty sure that, unlike the T.Rex, they weren't able to pilot F-14s.

Oh good, I wasn't the only one thinking of this (http://www.qwantz.com) when I was reading it.
(If it was a nod, it was a good one. If it wasn't, it was still funny.)

-=PakoPako=-