Real Name: None

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Sub-Atomica) robot

Occupation: Servant of the Psycho-Man

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Ted Castleand his robot army (Arsenal robots, Awesome Androids, Dreadnoughts, Humanoids, Killer Robots, Mek-Men, Punishers, Sentinels, Tomazooma, others), Psycho-Man

Enemies: Fantastic Force of Earth-807128 (Robert Bruce Banner Jr., Hooded Man/James Howlett, Lightwave, Natalie X, Psionics/Cindy, Alex Ultron), Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "My indestructible one" (as called by Psycho-Man)

Base of Operations: Sub-Atomica, the Microverse

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#76 (July, 1968)

Powers/Abilities: The so-called Murder Machine possessed the abilities of flight and superhuman durability, which rendered it virtually indestructible. It also had superhuman strength comparable to that of the Thing (class 75?), and it could become intangible.

Height: Unrevealed (7'; by approximation; see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Not applicable

History:
(Fantastic Four I#76) - When the Silver Surfer journeyed into Sub-Atomica to evade Galactus, the Psycho-Man dispatched his Murder Machine to take him captive. In the course of doing so, it encountered Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing of the Fantastic Four, who had come in search of the Silver Surfer. It assaulted the FF's Reducta-Craft, and hurled the Thing into a nearby planetoid, then proceeded to smash him about into rock faces. Finally, it stuck him into the ground just as a volcanic eruption burst from the planetoid's core.

   The Human Torch attacked the Murder Machine, but found that it was immune to his flames. He fired thermo-blasts, but the Murder Machine became intangible. Determined that they not give up, Mr. Fantastic stretched toward the Murder Machine, just as it vanished -- the Silver Surfer had witnessed their clash and disintegrated the Murder Machine with his Power Cosmic.

(Fantastic Force II#1) - While trying to arrest the time-traveling Fantastic Force, Ted Castle used a gigantic version of the Murder Machine (see comments) as part of his own army of robots.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.

The Murder Machine was not named in Fantastic Four I#76, but was given his name on the cover of Marvel's Greatest Comics#58, a reprint of the original issue.

Actually, Mr. Fantastic referred to it as such in a story panel, but the Psycho-Man never called to it by a particular name.

And Ted Castle's Murder Machine appeared to be about 30 feet tall -- assuming it was the original model created by the Psycho-Man, maybe it somehow absorbed some size-increasing Pym Particles when it was transported from the Microverse.

-- Ron Fredricks

New images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Prime Eternal. Update by Ron Fredricks (Fantastic Force).

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Murder Machine should not be confused with:


images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#76, p17, pan5 (Main Image - Murder Machine)
Fantastic Four I#76, p16, pan2 (Headshot - Murder Machine)
Fantastic Four I#76, p17, pan4 (Murder Machine turns intangible to avoid Human Torch's thermo-blasts)
Fantastic Four I#76, p19, pan4 (Murder Machine vanishes as Mr. Fantastic passes through it)
Fantastic Four I#76, p15, pan4 (Murder Machine tosses Thing, as Mr. Fantastic dubs it as a "Murder Machine" [underlined in red])


Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#76 (July, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Artie Simek (letters)
Fantastic Force II#1 (June, 2009) - Joe Ahearne (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Serge LaPointe (inks), Chris Sotomayor (colors), Rus Wooton (letters), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)


First posted: 12/10/2003
Last updated: 11/20/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters