# Questions about the comic strip Robotman

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-the-comic-strip-robotman/45910>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 16, 2000, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-the-comic-strip-robotman/45910 "2000-12-16T16:27:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-the-comic-strip-robotman/45910/1 "2000-12-16T16:27:24Z")

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I’m an occasional reader of Robotman (alas, it’s one of those strips that _used_ to be better) and I missed some important developments. At first, Robotman was presented as a mechanical voyager from space who hung around with a sunglasses-wearing teen named Gary. Later he was seen with a kid with prescription glasses called Kevin. Now, he is friends with Monty and some fat guy in a hat, and it appears that Monty is Robotman’s creator, though if I recall correctly, Monty was originally supposed to have been a space alien from the planet Moronia (and his mom resembled a lava lamp).

So my questions are:  
[ul][li]Why and how did Robotman switch from Gary to Kevin?[/li][li]Why and how did Robotman switch from Kevin to Monty?[/li][li]Why and how did Monty’s fat friend appear on the scene?[/li][li]What is this fat friend’s name?[/li][li]Is Monty an alien or an Earthling?[/li]Is Robotman an alien robot or an Earth robot?[/ul]

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-the-comic-strip-robotman/45910/2 "2000-12-16T16:46:37Z")

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I wouldn’t worry too much about the consistency… here’s quote from the creator: “In my cartoon just about anything can happen - this way, the ideas and characters always stay fresh.”

But I can answer one of the questions!

> [@](#):
>
> What is this fat friend’s name?

Moondog.

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**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-the-comic-strip-robotman/45910/3 "2000-12-16T19:15:04Z")

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Moondog was described as an old frat buddy of Monty, so I assume that would make them both human (unless there are frats on other planets).

Wow, I guess I haven’t followed the strip for very long–I didn’t even know about Gary and Kevin.

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-the-comic-strip-robotman/45910/4 "2000-12-16T21:19:06Z")

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I don’t know how they explained away the original evidence for Robotman’s extraterrestrial origin. But later in the strip they had a takeoff on “X-Files”, where Mulder and Scully discover that Monty was originally a scientist working on a top-secret government project to create killer robots. The project was a flop, but one of the prototypes became Robotman. Montahue was subjected to brainwashing to erase his memory of the project, which transformed him from a genius to the total geek he is today.