Mike Hinge - The Warrior Robot

Last week I posted the Algol warrior robot cover published in the summer of 1975 and an unpublished version undated. I started wondering when did Mike first draw this particular robot with the arm weapon attachments and its distinctively shaped head and what might be the story behind this drawing? 

Putting aside Mike's other robot illustrations that have a similar build, I have made a chronological collection of illustrations of the warrior robot.There are quite likely a lot more but these are the ones that I know about. The robot's first published incarnation seems to have been in Amazing Stories, November 1969. Ted White had recently overtaken the role as editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic Stories and updating the look of the magazines he engaged Mike with the duty of producing a series of 10 headers for the regular features. Amongst the 10 headers (5 for each magazine) the following three images are the robots published début.

   

Published in Amazing Stories November 1969

Mike had a regular display of the 10 headers in Amazing and Fantastic up until at least 1975 although I'm not entirely sure when they exactly came to an end I'd be interested to know.

I read that Ted White shared an interest in experimental music with Mike and had also offered Mike a job as art director for Amazing and Fantastic but Mike declined the offer.

Sketch 23rd April 1970

A sketch by Mike Hinge, front and side view of  robot. White paper with black pen and yellow wax crayon. Approximately 50x70cm. Dated: 23rd April 1970. Unpublished. Signed.

Published in Algol May 1972

Algol interior header for Ted White's column. Interestingly the signature has written (C) Jones/Hinge 1970 and a nice quirky detail where it says Patent Pending. I emailed Andrew Porter former editor and publisher of Algol and he confirms that it was quite likely Jeff Jones as he remembers him living in New York at the time. Also Alex Jay believes that it is also quite likely a collaboration with Jeff Jones as he also remembers Jeff living in New York around about this time and says that Mike also spoke highly of him. Andrew also mentioned that this illustration was also used for a flyer or other printed piece. Within the spirit of collaboration the individual influences are lost over time but the final result is stunning.

Published Assignment in Tomorrow 1972,

Perhaps this robot shouldn't be included here as it hasn't the same shaped head but I have included it because of the weapon attachments.

Published front cover Fantastic Stories October 1972,

Published in Comic Media March 1973.

Alex Jay sent me this image scanned from a rare British SF publication called Comic Media edited by Nick Landau. It was used to illustrate an article "A History of Science Fiction" by Lee Hopewell. The illustration is the same as the original Algol version but now minus the credit Jones/Hinge 1970 and replaced with a large plaque with Mike's name.

It might be that the plaque was added by someone else other than Mike but saying that I do quite like the font and the detail of the screws. Alex pointed out that he hadn't seen any other art by Mike signed this way in large letters and told me that the font isn't designed by Mike but is a comercial font. Andrew Porter wasn't aware of this reproduction but it is possible that it was an official repoduction. Andrew says that there was a lot of swiping back then; people took stuff, from tear sheets or other places, and reproduced them via offset.

Published in The Mike Hinge Experience 1973
Two illustrations of the warrior with a circular saw attachment. The two illustrations are undated but are from somewhere between 1969-1973. 

Published in Heavy Metal 1979

Undated, unpublished, original art

Original art by Mike Hinge - robot "Gravimat" cyborg design on illustration board, black ink and letratone, approximately 40x70cm.Unknown date and unsigned. 

Undated sketch

A sketch by Mike Hinge - Robot Maintenance. Pencil on white paper. Approximate size 60x70cm. Date: Unknown. Unsigned.

Mike Hinge 098

Mike Hinge - Unplotted Object (original Orientation). Pencil and pen on paper. Approximate size 60x70cm. Date: Unknown. Unsigned.


This is a sketch that belongs to the series of drawings by Mike for a story that he wrote and illustrated called "OBJECT - COMPUTE...COMPUTE...READOUT...REALTIME /// 0" for the September 1982 magazine "Heavy Metal".

detail

 rotated

I have a collection of a few of a few more sketches for this story that I have already posted on the blog you can see them HERE.

With the collection of Mike Hinge photocopies, I got recently, there was a rough draft of the story OBJECT so I thought it might be interesting to compare and contrast the rough draft with finish published images.

Here are the two frames of "Unplotted Object", draft and then published.

  

Here is the front cover of the draft story and an inside page and then an inside page of "Heavy Metal" magazine.

I have cobbled together a youtube film the draft "OBJECT - COMPUTE... COMPUTE... READOUT... REALTIME /// 0"  and have combined it, to compare and contrast, with the finished illustrations that were published in "Heavy Metal" magazine.

Mike Hinge was a massive music fan and had a wide interest in music. From one  short biography he wrote, "Work to favourite New Wave Groups: Ultravox, Joy Division, Magazine and Orchestral  Manoeuvres in the Dark, with which the listening preference is headphones..." Hence the decision for the chosen sound track - Ultravox - Maximum Acceleration.


All the best.


*UPDATE* 10/04/2011


Later I realised that I have another of Mike's photocopied images from this series that shows a little more of the scene and has the difference that it doesn't have the name Barney on the space helmet.

 A3 photocopy  

A3 photocopy 

Mike Hinge 080

Mike Hinge - Three Bears and Zebra Pizza. Pencil on tracing paper. Approximate size 70x60cm. Date unknown. Unsigned.

Mike Hinge 070

Mike Hinge - Lock On. All Systems Reading. Pencil on tracing paper. Approximate size 70x60cm. Date unknown. unsigned.

Mike Hinge 069

Mike Hinge - Lock On. All Systems Reading. Pencil on white paper. Approximate size 70x60cm. Date unknown. unsigned.

This artwork is a colour version of an image that featured in a story called "Object" written and illustrated by Mike Hinge published in "Heavy Metal" Sept/1982.

Mike Hinge 057

Mike Hinge - FLT LT Jaimie Gordon - Omega 22. Pencil on white paper. Approximate size 60x70cm. Date unknown. unsigned.


This artwork is very similar to an image that featured in a story called "Object" written and illustrated by Mike Hinge published in "Heavy Metal" Sept/1982.

Mike Hinge 034

Mike Hinge, Spaceman and ladder sketch, pencil on white paper. Approximate size 70x60cm. Date unknown. Signed.

This preliminary artwork is very similar to the final piece that featured in a story called "Object" written and illustrated by Mike Hinge published in "Heavy Metal" Sept/1982.

Mike Hinge 026

Mike Hinge - Policeman with Tasser Gun. Pencil on white paper. Approximate size 70x60cm. Date unknown. Unsigned.

Analog July/77, interior illustration, pages 10&11. Illustrating short story Nation without Walls by David Drake.

The published image is the same composition but is rendered in pen & ink instead of pencil with some slight variation in detail.

Mike Hinge 011

Mike Hinge design: Object-Compute-Compute-Readout-Realtime-///0. Pencil on white paper. Approximate size 50x60cm. Date: 16th Apr/80?. Unsigned.

This preliminary artwork is very similar to the final piece that featured in a story called "Object" written and illustrated by Mike Hinge published in "Heavy Metal" Sept/1982.

Mike Hinge 010

An unfinished sketch of what looks like an electrical circuit labyrinth. Pencil and grey ink with correction whitener on white paper. Approximate size 60x50cm. Date: 2nd & 3rd Sep/78. Unsigned.

A version of this sketch turned upside down was used in the story "Object" by Mike Hinge published in "Heavy Metal" Sept/1982.

Mike Hinge 006

The Mike Hinge Enterprise - I like to imagine that Mike Hinge was an eccentric, maverick entrepreneur dreaming up new projects and getting fired up with enthusiasm and working prolifically. I don't have much evidence that he was a driving ambitious entrepreneur but I believe that like most artist he wanted his work to be more widely known and he was indeed prolific in his work producing hundreds of illustrations and paintings. Through out his life he believed that artists should be paid well for their work and campaigned for such.

With Hinge's entrepreneur hat on he produced a collection of posters, possibly t-shirts, at least one fanzine and joined an art group and had various exhibitions of his work and of course had the legendary book the "The Mike Hinge Experience" that he produced with Jim Steranko's publishing company Supergraphics.

I think that there are certainly T-Shirts, Art Shows, Posters, Fanzines that Mike Hinge would have initiated and produced that I do not know about. The search continues...

Fanzine - The only fanzine I know of, at this time, that Hinge produced, illustrated and wrote is called "Time" I have one copy and i believe that it was produced on or around July 1954 in New Zealand. It has writings including short stories and illustrations. Curiously he has signed one illustration as Michael B Hinge but the rest (6 more) are signed as Mikeo.

Posters - "Plug Into The Mike Hinge Electric Poster Trip". I only know of 7 posters that were produced and I have 3 of them. The three that i have come up quite regularly on ebay at the moment and are currently cheap as micro chips, get them if you haven't already! The Three that I have are "Area 5 Viewscreen", "Deck 4 Zero" & "Onyx Cube", i'd love to find the other 4 if anyone can help. Below is an advert advertising the posters from Algol magazine Summer 1975.

Art Shows - Hinge was involved with an artist group called "E. A. T." (Experiments in Art & Technology or... Engineers, Artists and Technology) the group was formed by engineers and artists alike including Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman...I know very little about this group but I know that they had shows and Mike Hinge was involved and that Hinge also produced some electronic sculpture. I'd love to acquire more information on this arts group and to be able to acquire the catalogues and Hinges work from the shows.

T-Shirts - I have never seen a Hinge T-Shirt and at this moment where vintage T-shirts are all the fashion, i imagine that such an item would be extremely popular. Although I haven't seen a T-shirt I do have a design of one and it's called "Atom Heart Mother #2" and it is similar to an image which appears in the "Mike Hinge Experience" and the front cover of "Amazing Science Fiction" Dec/74. "Parsec T-shirts", wow! I'd love to see the other designs, this is the only one i have.

Hinge T-Shirt Design, "Atom Heart Mother #2", 3 ink colours on white paper. Date unknown. Approximately 40x70cm. unsigned.