G.I. Robot

G.I. Robot
G.I. Robot, art by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Star Spangled War Stories #101 (February–March 1962)
Created by	Robert Kanigher (writer) Ross Andru (artist) Mike Esposito (artist)
In-story information
Species	Robot
Team affiliations	United States Army Rangers Suicide Squad United States Marine Corps Creature Commandos Checkmate
Notable aliases	Joe, Mac, J.A.K.E., J.A.K.E. 2, J.A.K.E. #6.1, Lord Job
Abilities	Superhuman strength Bulletproof casing Mechanical stamina Built-in machine gun arm.

G.I. Robot is the name of a series of six fictional robots that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics. The very first G.I. Robot, nicknamed Joe, first appeared in Star Spangled War Stories #101 (February–March 1962), created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru, with a second one named Mac in Star Spangled War Stories #125 (February–March 1966), by Kanigher and Joe Kubert.

The better known J.A.K.E. 1 first appeared in Weird War Tales #101 (July 1981), created by Kanigher and Pepe Morino Casaras. J.A.K.E. 2 first appeared in Weird War Tales #113 (July 1982), by Kanigher and Fred Carrillo.

A newer model of G.I. Robot, designed by fictional character Lex Luthor for use by the United States military, was introduced in Batman Confidential #4, by Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio. Subsequently J.A.K.E. #6.1 appeared in Checkmate Vol. 2 #24 (May 2008), created by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann.

During World War II, "Joe" the G.I. Robot is handed over to a Ranger unit to be tested in the field. Humanoid, with smooth features, no mouth and a control panel on its chest, Joe is assigned a human "buddy", a Corporal named Mac. In three stories from Star Spangled War Stories #101—#103, Joe and Mac end up fighting "The War that Time Forgot" against prehistoric creatures (and a giant German robot soldier) on Dinosaur Island.

Star Spangled War Stories #125 introduced another G.I. Robot (this one with a visible mouth) nicknamed "Mac" and his human partner Reed as part of the war-era Suicide Squad, a "top secret Ranger outfit" specially trained for missions no ordinary soldier was expected to survive. In this story, the first G.I. Robot and its human buddy are described as having also belonged to the Squad but are missing in action. Mac sacrifices itself on its first mission to save Reed and another soldier from a Tyrannosaurus.