Manix was both the title and main character of a comic strip published in the British comic book Eagle, from issue 24 (dated September 4 1982) to at least issue 93. It was written by Alan Grant and John Wagner, initially with photography by Sven Arnstein and after Eagle reverted to a drawn format, art by Manuel Carmona .

Manix was a robotic secret agent (and, originally, assassin) for British Intelligence. Manix was seen to be the ultimate agent - not only was he programmed to obey any issued order without dissent, he possessed superhuman strength, speed, and durability. He also possessed extensive sensors inside his artificial eyes, internal cavities to hold weapons and equipment, extensive data banks (ranging from designs of security systems to hand-held combat techniques), and was covered in synthetic skin which gave him the appearance of a normal man. In fact, his outer appearance could be modified from one mission to the next.

His first mission after being activated was to assassinate his creator, Professor Manix. This was because his controller, Colonel Cameron, wished for only one such robot to exist, which he could the monopolise for his own self-serving ends. Manix undertook various missions, all designed to subtly entrench Cameron's position. Manix realised that his long-term survival was jeopardised by Cameron's actions, but found himself unable to disobey them. Therefore, by deliberately letting his own survival impulse override over pats of his programming, he became a "rogue robot", and managed to remove the self-destruct device Cameron had implanted, and narrowly managed to delay his assassination of Sir William Orville (or "O"), the head of British Intelligence, long enough for Cameron to be defeated.

Thereafter, Manix undertook further missions directly underneath O himself, including eliminating a clone of Adolf Hitler living in South America and impersonating the footballer Maxwell Johns during a tour behind the Iron Curtain. A persistent opponent proved to be the terrorist organisation S.M.O.G. (or Society for the Militant Overthrow of all Governments).

During the course of the strip, the original Manix robot was destroyed by falling into Mount Etna whilst pursuing a Mafia don, prompting British Intelligence to build a replacement. In turn, this replacement was captured and re-programmed by S.M.O.G., causing a third Manix, 12% stronger and 7% faster, to capture and destroy the "brainwashed" second robot. There was also a Mini-Manix, a foot-high miniaturised version of Manix complete with dragon tattoos and extensive Kung Fu knowledge.

The strip ended with Manix completing a mission involving Russian death squads, with him returning to Britain to await another assignment.

External Links

• Profile on International Hero