ULTRON's DRONE
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 Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Terrestrial robot
Occupation: Agent of Ultron
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Ultron
Enemies: Wasp (Janet Pym; nee and subsequently Van Dyne);
indirectly Jocasta, Hank Pym and the Avengers (notably Captain
America/Steve Rogers, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Iron Man/Tony Stark,
Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Thor Odinson, Vision/"Victor Shade")
Known Relatives: Ultron (creator);
on some level, it could be considered a brethren of other Ultron creations, such as Jocasta and the Vision;
and by stretching farther, you could consider Henry Pym as the grandfather, and extended relatives ad nauseum
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
presumably formerly Ultron's base (possibly formerly the Davreaux
Heavy Metals Plant), Neville Island, amidst the Ohio River, Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania
First Appearance: Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes (September, 1979);
(comic book form; pictured) Avengers I#201 (November, 1980)
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Powers/Abilities:
Apparently possessing an Adamantium shell, the drone was virtually
indestructible, susceptible only to internal damage or certain attacks
such as magic and/or a molecular rearranger.
It was large and almost certainly superhumanly strong to an unrevealed degree.
It could fire blasts from its optic unit able to shatter a seemingly "impregnable" vault created by Hank Pym.
The drone appeared to be
programmed and/or following Ultron's instruction. There is not evidence
that it was sentient.
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Height: Unrevealed (approximately 8-10' tall)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately several hundred pounds, at least)
Eye: Silver (glowed red when preparing to fire)
Hair: None
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  History:
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes (fb) - BTS / Avengers
I#202 (fb) - BTS) - Via a post-hypnotic command from Ultron, Tony Stark
re-created the sentient, Adamantium-shelled robot Ultron.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes (fb) - BTS / Avengers I#201 (fb) - BTS / Avengers
I#202 (fb) - BTS) - Presumably aided by Stark (who was initially
unaware of the manipulation), Ultron stole some Adamantium resins from
Stark International Long Island facility and used them to build a drone
robot to steal more resins. Ultron intended to form an army of drones
to facilitate his destruction of humanity.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes (fb) - BTS / Avengers
I#201 (fb) - BTS) - Suspecting he was under Ultron's influence, Tony
Stark created a device to track his armor's energy aura.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes (fb) - BTS / Avengers I#201 (fb) - BTS) - While
Ultron's creator, Hank Pym, was away at an electronics symposium in
Tokyo, Ultron sent his robot to Pym's home in suburban Cresskill, New
Jersey to acquire more Adamantium resins.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes - BTS / Avengers
I#201 - BTS) - The sounds of the robot breaking into Hank's "impregnable" security awakened his wife, Janet Pym, who rushed toward the vault.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes / Avengers
I#202) - Having acquired two large canisters labeled "Ad Resin X" and
Ad Resin Y," the robot fired a powerful blast that stunned the Wasp and
shattered the room around her.
Seeking to get past the robot so she could summon help, the Wasp
fired a bio-power sting into its chest, but it bounced off of the robot
harmlessly. The robot fired another blast that shattered her
surrounding and left her left arm and leg numb. She watched, seemingly
helplessly, as its eye glowed again, and it fired another blast that
seemingly disintegrated her.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes (fb) - BTS / Avengers
I#202 (fb) - BTS) - At the last second, the Wasp shrank to insect-size,
dodging the blast, and she flew back to Avengers Mansion in Manhattan.
(Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes - BTS / Avengers
I#202 - BTS) - The Wasp informed the Avengers about what had happened,
and they correctly suspected Ultron's return. Before falling fully
under Ultron's control, Iron Man placed his tracking device in the
Avengers' vault and had Jarvis summon Thor. Using the tracking device,
the Avengers tracked Iron Man to Ultron's base in Neville Island, and
they knocked a vat of molten Adamantium on top of him, which cooled and
trapped him within it.
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Comments: Created by Jim Shooter;
adapted to comic book form by David Micheline and George Perez.
Jim Shooter was the writer for the first Marvel Comic I ever read, Avengers I#188, featuring the Elements of Doom.
Soon after, my brother Greg got me a subscription to the Avengers,
which started with #197. Avengers I#201 was the fifth issue in my
subscription, and it blew my mind to see the visually dynamic robot, as
rendered by the masterful George Perez, and its power and Wasp's fear
were palpable. I was shocked when the Wasp (seemingly) was incinerated
at the story's end.
The next issue showed that she had narrowly escaped
by shrinking out of sight and flying away, and she informed the
Avengers about what had happened. That was my introduction to Ultron.
I believe Avengers I#202 noted the story to be based
on a short story by Jim Shooter. I got the Marvel Super-Heroes
novel/collection containing that story a few years later, and the comic
followed the original pretty closely, particularly in the interaction
between Wasp and Ultron's robot and the final battle. There were more
details in the novel, of course, especially the build-up to Stark/Iron
Man realizing what he had done.
In the short story, for example, the Wasp realized
that she should contact the Avengers for help before confronting the
robot, but it detected her and attacked her before she could do so.
Additionally, in the short-story, the
robot's chest had a short-barreled weapon mounted on a ball turret that
angled down at Wasp when she was on the ground following the robot's
first blast.
Get the short story...it's a cool read!
The original text described it thusly, "It was a robot, an angular, ugly, gray-metal mockery of man. In its clawlike hands, it held the fruits of its plundering..."
Anyway, a LOT
of my early years of comics, from when I was 10 into my late teens,
were shaped by Shooter's involvement. And then I eventually bought
copies and read all of the great stuff he had done before, like the
Korvac Quest.
You can look up Jim Shooter and see all of the great
stories he wrote and the great series that he presided over as
editor-in-chief, including, just to name a couple, the original Secret
Wars and the creation of the creator-owned Epic Line, from which my
favorite series, Dreadstar, sprung.
Rest in Peace, Jim!
To the best of
my knowledge, this drone has not ever appeared again. Maybe the
Avengers found it, and the Scarlet Witch used a hex to destroy it...or
they used a molecular rearranger to do so.
But, perhaps it is lies in somewhere, awaiting its
master's call...or perhaps it would just seek out the Wasp to destroy
her...it might make a good story for both the Janet Van Dyne and Nadia
Van Dyne Wasps.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ultron's drone should be distinguished from:
other Ultron robotic or android creations, including
- ALKHEMA -
robot, constructed by Ultron-13
as another attempt to create a mate, based on the brain
patterns of Mockingbird/Bobbi Morse--Avengers West Coast I#90
- JOCASTA - Avengers, robot built by Ultron in semi-humanoid female form to serve as his bride, based on brain patterns of
Wasp--Avengers I#162
- REX - robot dog of Ultron, destroyed by Sparrow--Blackwulf#3/2
- VISION - synthezoid created by Ultron
from temporal counterpart of Human Torch; aka "Victor Shade"--Avengers I#57
- other drones, robots, etc...
images: (without ads)
Avengers I#201, pg. 12, panel 3 (full);
pg. 13, panel 2 (deflecting Wasp's blast);
panel 3 (blast from robot shattering the wall by Wasp);
panel 5 (glowing eye);
#202, pg. 2, panel 7 (full; in profile);
Appearances:
Marvel Novel Series#9: Stan
Lee Presents: The Marvel Super-Heroes: "This Evil Undying" (September,
1979) - James Shooter (writer), Len Wein and Marv Wolfman (writers);
published by Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster division of
Gulf & Western Corporation
Avengers I#201 (November, 1980) - David Michelinie (writer), George Perez (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Avengers I#202 (December, 1980) - Jim Shooter (plot), George Perez (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Jim Salicrup (editor)
First posted: 07/01/2025
Last updated: 07/01/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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