#ro busters

After Ro-Busters is hit with a large tax demand, Quartz makes the drastic decision to stage an ‘accident’, causing an explosion on board the teams rapid response flying vehicle, The Preying Mantis, destroying all of his droids thus collecting a huge insurance payout. Fortunately, Quartz’ human secretary,Miss Marilyn tips off the droids and Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein lead an escape plot. Once free they learn that a robot underground exists and that a safe haven for free robots has been established off-world on the planet Mekka.

However, to ensure the doomed droids make a clean getaway a squad of brave robots headed up by Ro-Jaws & Hammerstein, with a dozen of their heroic comrades; including the mysterious X27?, insane surgical droid Dr. Feelygood & robot resistance leader, an automated crossing guard named Gottfried, must remain behind to hold off the authorities..

Thanks to these brave robots the others make their escape, and the remaining droids go their separate ways, with Ro-Jaws & Hammerstein singing and dancing off into the sunset..!

"The North Sea Tunnel" (by Pat Mills, with art by Carlos Pino, in Starlord No. 1, 1978)

"The Preying Mantis" (by Pat Mills, with art by Carlos Pino (#2, 4) and Dave Gibbons (#3), in Starlord #2–4, 1978)

"Midpoint" (by Chris Lowder as Bill Henry, aka Jack Adrian, T.G. Cribbling, James R. Montague, Jack Hamilton Teed, with art by Ian Kennedy), in Starlord #5–6, 1978)

"The Ritz Space Hotel" (by Pat Mills, with Carlos Pino, in Starlord #7–12, 1978)

"Farnborough Droid Show" (by Pat Mills as V. Gross, with Ian Kennedy, in Starlord #13–14, 1978)

"Massacre on the Moon" (by Chris Lowder, with Carlos Pino (#15, 17, 19), Jose Luis Ferrer (#16, 18), in Starlord #15–19, 1978)

"The Tax Man Cometh!" (by Chris Lowder, with Jose Luis Ferrer (#20, 22), Carlos Pino (#21), in Starlord #20–22, 1978)

"Death on the Orient Express" (by Pat Mills, with art by Dave Gibbons, in 2000 AD #86–87, 1978)

"Hammerstein's War Memoirs" (by Pat Mills, with art by Kevin O'Neill, Mike Dorey and Dave Gibbons, in 2000 AD #88–92, 1978)

"Ro-Jaws Memoirs" (by Pat Mills, with art by Mike Dorey, in 2000 AD #93–97, 1978–1979)

Ro-Busters (Starlord Summer Special 1978).

Above stories collected for the first time in: RO-BUSTERS: The Complete Nuts and Bolts - [Vol. 1]

RO-BUSTERS cont...

"The Terra-Meks" (by Pat Mills, with art by Dave Gibbons, in 2000 AD #98–101, 1979)

"Fall & Rise of Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein" (by Pat Mills, with art by Kevin O'Neill and Mike McMahon, in 2000 AD #103–115, 1979)

"Avalanche!" (by an uncredited author, with art by Kev F. Sutherland, in 2000 AD Annual 1980, 1979)

"Earthquake!" (by Chris Stevens with art by Dave Harwood, in 2000AD Annual 1981, 1980)

"Bax the Burner" (by Alan Moore, with art by Steve Dillon, in 2000AD Annual 1982, 1981)

"Old Red Eyes is Back" (by Alan Moore, with art by Bryan Talbot, in 2000AD Annual 1983, 1982)

"Stormeagles are Go!" (by Alan Moore, with art by Joe Eckers, in 2000 AD Annual 1984, 1983)

Ro-Busters created by Pat Mills & Carlos Pino

The old partners don’t remain together long though, with Hammerstein re-enlisting in the army, and reprogrammed, many years in the future where Earth is now renamed Termight and ruled by a despotic bigot, Tomas de Torquemada, who has managed to unite all the people of Earth by focusing on a common enemy - extraterrestrials.

Ro-Jaws & Hammerstein in NEMESIS THE WARLOCK:

Earth, or Termight, has reached out into the stars and Torquemada has sworn to rid the galaxy of all non-human lifeforms - chiefly among them his arch enemy, alien freedom fighter, Nemesis the Warlock, who now on the planet Britannia, homeworld of the Goths, meets a familiar face working as a hotel porter, becoming his personal valet - none other than Ro-Jaws!

So, when Nemesis needs to reform the A.B.C. Warriors to save Mars - “seven heroes to tame a planet”, Ro-Jaws suggests his old partner Hammerstein. Whilst reprogrammed though ‘Old Red Eyes’ has committed terrible atrocities fighting for Torquemada’s hated elite squad, the Terminators - the very troops Nemesis and his allies have sworn to destroy.

Can the lowly sewer droid persuade the most powerful alien in the known universe to admit this old war-horse, who had slaughtered dozens of civilians and attempted to assassinate alien Queen Victoria of the Gothic Empire, into his heroic team…?

Nemesis the Warlock [Book IV]: THE GOTHIC EMPIRE (Progs 387-406). By Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill & Bryan Talbot.  Ro-Jaws acting as valet, and later as familiar for legendary galactic hero Nemesis the Warlock, must save a guilt-wracked Hammerstein from a rebel firing squad. He had been reprogrammed by Torquemada, because he had killed a fellow A.B.C. Warrior, Skulmo who gunned down innocent alien women & children. The newly wiped Sergeant Hammerstein is then sent on a mission - to kill the leader of an alien race, Queen Victoria, whose people, the Goths, were shape-shifters, who had modelled their whole culture around Imperial Britain after receiving radio messages from Earth circa late 19th-early 20th century. However, the arch-bigot of future Earth - or Termight - Tomas de Torquemada, and his evil hate-filled Empire aims to wage a speciesist war across the known Galaxy against all non-human beings, who Torquemada regards as "impure", and saw the Gothic Empire as a grotesque mockery of mankind. Hammerstein, sent to assassinate ‘Queen Victoria’, with an elite squad of human Terminators & A.B.C. Warriors are thwarted by Nemesis and his rebel Credo allies. The Warlock orders Hammerstein’s execution, but Ro-Jaws pleads clemency for his old friend, and when Nemesis realises that Hammerstein’s programming has been altered, bypassing his compassion circuits turning him into a soulless killing machine - literally - he relents, restoring Hammerstein’s noble persona.

So, with Sergeant Hammerstein at the helm, Nemesis the Warlock attempted to get the ‘Mek-nificent Seven‘ back together, for a new adventure..

Nemesis the Warlock [Bk.V]: VENGEANCE OF THOTH (Progs 435-45). By Pat Mills & Bryan Talbot. Ro-Jaws first mission with the ABC Warriors occurred when Nemesis despatched the warriors into the Time Wastes to repair the damage done by his son Thoth, who wants to get revenge on Torquemada for killing his mother, Nemesis’ mate Chira. Thoth used time-travel technology to pluck Torquemada out of an earlier time, before his death, so he could take his revenge for his mother's murder, but this only led to Torquemada re-seizing power. Thoth also brought Satanus, the tyrannosaur formerly seen in Judge Dredd, forward to his own time, and caused havoc on Termight, destabilising the artificial black hole that Termight's empire depended on.

Nemesis the Warlock [Bk. VI]: TORQUEMURDER Pts.1 & 2 (Progs 482-87, 500-04).By Pat Mills & Bryan Talbot. Torquemada pursues Thoth into the Time Wastes, accompanied by Nemesis and the ABC Warriors. Nemesis and the Mek-nificent Seven have made a deal with Torquemada to guide them using one of the gigantic ‘scoopships’ that tunnelled out the artificial black & white holes that made Termight’s incredible bypass to the stars. Spewing out tachyon particles that flow through the vast Time Wastes - overflow pipes from the black and white holes - creating entrances to Earth’s past, present...and future... Somewhere amongst the maze-like passages is the young Warlock, Thoth, nearly as powerful as his father already, with the means to destroy not only Termight but the Galaxy as well! Nemesis, Purity Brown, Torquemada, his wife Candida, and the ABC Warriors, must go right until the ends of the Earth, ten thousand million years in the future, where they would meet the Primords, who had given up on their material form millions of years previously, having evolved complete control over their minds and bodies with vast psychic powers. Perhaps, tired of fighting, striving, searching for a ‘better’ world, they only wanted to sleep...Life had begun in the sea and here it ended.. It entered the oceans and dissolved into the water, becoming a vast, peaceful liquid consciousness, finally at peace. Then Torquemada arrived... he found the Primords were made of hydrocarbons similar to oil and were burned alive in Torquemada's 'purification plants' to fuel his engines of destruction, but did not die. Their 'useless' spirits flared off into the atmosphere to form a vast intelligence... A huge mind-cloud of electromagnetic energy... The Monads! An evil intelligence, twisted by the pain of purification - jealous of their 'brothers' who escaped, whipping up savage electrical storms against them, forming grotesque images of hate and death from the human subconscious to rend the the Primords' state of nirvana. The human race had found Heaven at the end of the world...until Torquemada brought them Hell!! These terrifying apparitions attack Nemesis and co., virtually destroying the ABC Warriors, the Monads shorting out the robot’s circuits.  Nemesis conjures up his own demons to fight the Monads, giving himself and the team time to get back on the ship.

Ro-Jaws & Hammerstein in A.B.C Warriors:

THE BLACK HOLE by Pat Mills, with art by Simon Bisley (Progs 555-566, 573-581). Ro-Jaws became an official ABC Warrior after their mission into the Time Wastes to repair the damage done by Nemesis’ son Thoth; the Warlock pursues his offspring further back through time, leaving the warriors to secure the control of the cosmic subways. When the Warriors part company with Nemesis, they travel back in time (via the time-tubes) to a period slightly prior to Termight – the Terran Empire, a much more technologically oriented society –  during Terra’s Classical period, the Emperor Zalinn ordered the construction of an artificial black and white hole on the planet itself...to provide a highway to the heavens! Enabling the Terran armies - his Eternal Soldiers - to conquer a thousand planets. The Terran Empire believed it, like most powerful dynasties, would last forever and called themselves the Eternals. Vast subterranean cities were built around the Black Hole Bypass: Mausoleum, Necropolis and the Eternal city of Agartha. Inevitably the Empire fell into decay, under the weak Emperor Thano the Third they grew worse, permitting alien and human intermarriage and the ‘purity’ of mankind was threatened. The fall of Thano’s Empire was followed by a Dark Age of even greater excesses, perfectly paving the way for a strong leadership to bring order to the Terran Empire, and in a particularly bloody coup an ex-slave-turned Chief of the Tube Police, with a hate-filled heart for his alien captors and all like them, took control with the slogan: “Be pure, be vigilant, BEHAVE!” As Grand Master of the newly-named Termight, Tomas de Torquemada instilled his evil, brutal regime; anyone “having truck with the extraterrestrial” went straight into his ‘vaporisation vats'! Those who secretly feared their new dictator looked elsewhere for deliverance, and only one being in the galaxy dared stand up to him: a mysterious alien known as Nemesis the Warlock, arch-enemy of the Grand Master. Ironically, it was the demonic-looking extraterrestrial who sent his heroic robots into the depths of the Earth, to save the human race. Once down in the catacombs in the bowels of the planet, the Warriors encounter the Mekaniks, an elite Iron-Caste of machines... the Guardians of the Time Wastes. To do the day to day labour they kidnapped human infants & kept them in pens grown for artificial breeding purposes and had a branch of killer robots to patrol the tunnels on fast two-wheeled vehicles: the Rim Riders. When the Warriors encounter these Psycho Bikers they meet a Grade 1 human breeder, or Terr-1, who falls for Hammerstein’s noble bearing, believing him to be “Craig” the imaginary father of her young child, Wayne! Convinced her robot masters would spare the lives of “Craig”, Wayne and herself if she led the intruders into a trap, Terri betrays the remaining Warriors. However, the Mekaniks kill her child anyway, causing her to overcome her ‘programming’ and help Hammerstein and the others, now joined by Deadlock, who had been sent by Nemesis (on his own mission for their master - Khaos), to defeat the Mekaniks. With their spiritual leader reunited with the squad, Deadlock makes Terri an honorary A.B.C. Warrior, fulfilling Nemesis’ insistence that there should be seven warriors to draw upon the mystical power of the number.. Ro-Jaws therefore loses his place as an official member, but he’s not bothered - although brave and anarchic the sewer droid is a pacifist at heart, although he stays with the Warriors providing comic relief by winding up the treacherous Blackblood and psychotic Mek-Quake, until the end of the mission and beyond...

KHRONICLES OF KHAOS Pts.1 & 2 by Pat Mills & Kev Walker (Progs 750-57, 780-90). Ro-Jaws cheerfully gave up his position on the team, after a human woman, Terri, under the delusion that she was a robot, took his place and he continued to be a hanger-on for some time. After Hammerstein finally reciprocates the beautiful Terri’s love, she is unceremoniously crushed by a huge boulder, at the end of the Black Hole storyline. The Warriors, including Ro-Jaws, despite saving Earth, become the most wanted robots in the galaxy, so on the run from the Terran Empire, they follow Deadlock’s plan to spread anarchy throughout the stars. His first mission leads the ABC Warriors to the planet Hekate; here, they will kill seven figures of Order and harvest their heads as part of a ritual. As well as recruiting Morrigun, a female agent of Khaos, who replaces Ro-Jaws as the new seventh member. On Hekate, the mystical robot knight Deadlock, seeks to immerse the Warriors in the ways of Khaos. Following the mission, Ro-Jaws left the team with Deadlock to work at the Kollege of Khaos – Deadlock considers Ro-Jaws to understand the nature of Khaos even better than he does!

THE VOLGHAN WAR [Vol. IV]: (Progs 1668-71).  By Pat Mills & Clint Langley. After many personnel changes and a return to Mars, a newly reformed Steelhorn - a member of the original ‘Mek-nificent Seven’ - re-joined the ranks of The ABC Warriors in place of the deceased Morrigun, in a bid to increase the peace on Mars after human President Cobb's transformation into a three-legged Martian, by Medusa (the ‘Red Planet’s consciousness), sparked a civil war. The Warriors then admit the increasingly unhinged Mek-Quake to the Broadband Asylum, where their hated enemy - Volkhan, leader of the robot Volghan Army is being held. Afterwards they reflect on their war memories, and each reveal their dramatic rescue by a flamethrower unit known as Agent Orange, aka Zippo. When the Warriors find he is imprisoned, awaiting execution for a sustained anti-government graffiti campaign, on Marineris City, they vow to return the favour and save him. Zippo had met with his mentor, the insane ‘tagger’ "Kroll", and discovered that Kroll was being manipulated by Medusa into defacing the city as punishment for creating it. Detective inspector Sturn arrives with a squad of "G men", killing Kroll and capturing Zippo, bringing him to the police headquarters "Der Kran". Resisting interrogation, Zippo is sentenced to execution. The Warriors succeed in rescuing Zippo despite losing Blackblood and Mek-Quake to the Volghans, after Volkhan succeeds in convincing the the vicious-but-dim Mek-Quake to aid his escape from Broadband, by promising him a new body - a giant excavator unit - which he promptly delivers. Meanwhile the Warriors take Zippo to his fellow protester and tagger - the "Urban Fox", who turns out to be none other than everyone’s favourite anti-authoritarian figure... Ro-Jaws (Yay)!  As U-Fox, he'd racked up a reputation as an outlaw graffiti artist, but he once again assisted the Warriors against Volkhan and his armies, distracting Mek-Quake with a series of jokes about his “mother”(!) and leading the bulldozer away from the larger battle. Afterwards, he remained in Marineris City.

RETURN TO EARTH (Progs 1800-11).  By Pat Mills & Clint Langley. Once more Hammerstein relates his memoirs, this time as part of his assassination attempt on manufacturer, Howard Quartz, however due to his ‘prime directive’ finds that he cannot do it. Instead he is sentenced to be recycled. Hammerstein escapes, is given a new head by his U.N. contact, and is instead drafted into the robotic disaster relief squad, Ro-Busters with his buddy, Ro-Jaws.

RETURN TO MARS (Progs 1862-73). By Mills & Langley. This book focuses mainly on original member Happy Shrapnel and his time on Mars, as Mekanik Tubal Caine since the Warriors left him behind, but with Happy back onboard, the team sets out to kill Howard Quartz. In order to overcome their prime directive which prohibits this, Hammerstein suggests they find Ro-Jaws, the only machine to ever show signs of being able to negate the prime directive.

RETURN TO RO-BUSTERS (Progs 1961-). By Mills & Langley. Once more we travel back with Hammerstein, as he relates the true story behind the time he spent at Howard Quartz’ ,”Disaster Squad of Distinction”.. Ro-Busters™, and how it nearly tore him and Ro-Jaws apart - forever!

As well as their adventures together Ro-Jaws & Hammerstein have also had several solo outings, especially the loveable but outspoken sewer droid who played host to a number of cautionary tales involving the dangers of abusing machines imbued with artificial intelligence...

Ro-Jaws’ Robo-Tales:

The Inside Story (Prog 144). Script: Pat Mills. Artist: Kevin O'Neill. Worth a mention as this tale, unlike the others, actually features the Ro-Busters squad. Ro-Jaws complains that his G.U.T.S. (Garbage and Useless Trash Scruncher) are playing up, giving him discomfort. Hammerstein wants to smash open his abdominal hatch, but Ro-Jaws doesn’t want a war droid with a combat hammer anywhere near his chest locker! So, he heads off to the robo-garage to locate the problem. The robotic mechanics decide to send in miniature, flea-sized nano-droids, known as the Thunder-Bots to locate the problem. Amongst the unpleasant detritus you’d expect to find inside a sewer droid, there are also some larger metallic objects that can’t be broken down, amongst a few tin cans and nuts & bolts is a more precious cargo. Utilising very small explosives, the Thunder-Bots cause Ro-Jaws to regurgitate the items causing the blockage. Amongst the scrap metal to be dislodged were Hammerstein’s prize war medals - his most treasured possessions. Needless to say, the war veteran is less than pleased, savagely beating Ro-Jaws, leaving him in a dustbin. However, the cheeky robot doesn’t understand Hammerstein’s “overreaction”, complaining that they didn’t even taste that good!

Damian, Child of Tommorrow  (Prog 147). Script: Kelvin Gosnell and Wilf Prigmore, Artist: Mike White

It's a Knockout (Progs 148-49) Script: Oleh Stepaniuk. Artist: Jose Casanovas.

Revolt of the Tick Tock Monkey Bomb (Prog 157). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Dave Gibbons.

Droids are Dispensable (Prog 161). Script: Gary Rice.  Artist: Brett Ewins.

Ye First Robote (Prog 166). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Brendan McCarthy.

Killer in the Cab (Prog 170). Script: Alan Moore. Artist: John Richardson. Classic short story from the king of the medium; Moore.

The Dating Game (Prog 176). Script: Alan Moore. Artist: Dave Gibbons. Letters: Tom Frame. The dream team of Moore & Gibbons work together for the first time to lift this great little short story into the realms of legend..

The Robo Shrink (Prog 176). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: John Higgins

The Tidy Up Droid (Prog 181). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Dave Gibbons.

Tomorrow Brings Doom (Prog 183). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Dave Gibbons

Night of the Werebot (Prog 184). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Dave Gibbons

Miracle in Slum Alley (Prog 188). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Ian Gibson.

Final Solution (Progs 189-90). Script: Alan Moore. Artist: Steve Dillon. Featuring: Abelard Snazz - “the man with the two-story brain” / ‘the double-decker dome’: a self-proclaimed genius, whose harebrained schemes - designed to prevent epic world-threatening disasters - often create more problems than the original threat!

Spirit of Vengeance (Prog 196). Script: Gary Rice. Artist: Dave Gibbons.

The Pirate and the Polydroid (2000AD Annual 1982) Script: Steve Parkhouse, Artist: Ewan Smith

Human on My Back (2000AD Annual 1981) Text story Script: Unknown

Silicon Soul (2000AD Annual 1983) Script: Gary Rice, Artist: Alan Langford

The Wanderer (2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1980) Script: Kev F Sutherland. Artist: Steve Kyte

The Robot Revolution (2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1980) Script: Gary Rice, Artist: Trevor Goring

‘Ol’ Red Eyes’ the grizzled veteran of centuries of warfare has had less solo titles, but still has his own stories to tell - most of which have been told in the A.B.C. Warriors framework, but there has been a few excellent examples..

Hammerstein:

"Hammerstein's War Memoirs" (Progs 88-92) Script: Pat Mills, with art by Kevin O'Neill, Mike Dorey and Dave Gibbons.

"Old Red Eyes is Back" (by Alan Moore, with art by Bryan Talbot, in 2000AD Annual 1983, 1982)

Red Planet Blues (2000AD Annual 1985, 1984) Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Steve Dillon/John Higgins

Judge Dredd: Hammerstein (Progs 960-63). Judge Dredd comes across some decommissioned war droids - first encountered at the end of his heroic quest across the Cursed Earth - that come back online when engaged. Led by the insane robot, General Blood ‘N’ Nuts there ensues a war of attrition between the brave Judges and the Mark IV A.B.C. war droids, until eventually just two combatants are left standing on the field of battle. Then a rogue fusion missile intervenes killing the Judge instantly and burying Hammerstein beneath the debris. There he lies motionless for many years, his sensors telling him he must guard the hill that he was holding, and would have remained beneath the Cursed Earth desert for centuries until his battery ran down. Unfortunately, a dog-vulture pecking at the clean-picked bones of the long-dead Judge accidentally discharges his Lawgiver sidearm hitting Hammerstein, bringing him back online - in full battle-mode! Opportunistic scavengers constantly checking the Cursed Earth for salvage recognise the patterns of a war droid and think they can make some money from this piece of surplus military hardware. After capturing Hammerstein, Markus the hi-tec arms dealer, who already owns a similar unit sets his other war droid on Hammerstein, but reckons without Ham’s eighth generation thought processes and reboots the other A.B.C. Warrior’s original programming. However, Markus is not without his own surprises and uses it to detonate a ‘mind bomb’, effectively putting the war droids out of action. After hauling Hammerstein back to his workshop just outside Mega-City One, Markus sets about dismantling the war droid. He reassembles the robot, but removes his head, replacing it with an old decrepit model so as not to raise suspicion. Unfortunately for Markus whilst downloading the ABC droid’s files he must hook up Hammerstein’s ‘brain’ to his computer system, thus allowing the robot to access the workshop’s basic functions. Now, with Hammerstein in control of the facility he threatens the owner by sealing the doors, pumping nerve gas into the building, raising the temperature by 100C and taking control of the air supply. Markus tries one last desperate gambit by attacking Hammerstein with his old body attempting to smash his head with his own combat hammer, but once his body is in close enough range the former A.B.C. droid is able to regain control of both, and reattaches his original head. Hammerstein swiftly ends the murderous scavengers unsavoury business; including arms dealing, swindling and murder (to name but a few!), in a swift, decisive manner. When he leaves the building, Hammerstein is confronted by an awesome sight - the huge, sprawling megalopolis that is Mega-City One: the ‘Big Meg’! But what would happen next...?

Judge Dredd: The Movie (1995). The above story explains how an A.B.C. Warrior appears in the first Judge Dredd film, and I think we can all agree that he is probably the best thing in that movie!