Rober Mannling

Origin
Tyna Starr is a lab assistant working for Professor Hal Garth. Professor Garth is developing robots, which he thinks usurp the position of dogs to become "man's best friend". Tyna is a thrill-seeker, quitting her position with Garth to pursue adventure on Ganymede, a moon of Saturn. She seeks a manly man, not a boring thinker like Hal.

Landing on Ganymede, she soon meets Rober Mannling, who soon fulfills her expectations of a space hero of the type she is seeking. His first task is to defeat a group of Ganymede Thugs in protection of Tyna. He handily defeats the attackers, and impresses Tyna.

At night, Tyna is surprised to find herself dreaming of Professor Garth. The next day, Rober saves the Earth colony from a rock the natives rolled off a hill. He stops the boulder from causing any damage, again impressing Tyna. Later, a primeval Ganymede Monster attacks. It attempts to eat Rober, but Rober breaks its jaw and sends it fleeing.

Tyna continues to dream of Garth, but attempts to reveal her feelings. He's about to reveal something to her when an meteor shower interrupts him. Heroically, he mans the "atomic disintegrator" gun. The final meteor gets through and explodes where Rober is. Tyna is distraught, and perplexed to discover only mechanical parts. The governor of the expedition explains that Rober Mannling was an X-5 type robot designed by Professor Garth.

Tyna realizes the space hero ideal was an impossible one, but she dreamt instead of Hal Garth. Tyna returns to Earth, offering to continue employment with Professor Garth indefinitely, and likely build a more intimate relationship.

Public Domain Appearances

 * Fantastic Worlds #5