Armoured Gideon is a comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 character (and their eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous story) who first appeared in British science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 anthology 2000 AD

2000 AD (comic)

2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...

. The stories were written by John Tomlinson

John Tomlinson (comics)

John Tomlinson is a British comic book writer known for his work on various 2000 AD strips.-Biography:Tomlinson worked at Marvel UK in the early 1990s and helped nurture various talents, including Matthew Bingham and John Freeman. He has co-written strips with Nick Abadzis.He was editor of 2000 AD...

, with art by Simon Jacob.

Fictional character biography

Armoured Gideon is a robot created by a race known as The Silent Ones to prevent evil beings escaping from a parallel dimension to that of Earth's. Gideon is armed with a wide variety of weaponry to destroy anything it finds trying to escape the dimension known as "The Edge". When Gideon attacks, he does so uttering the word "Annihilate!"

Other major characters

A counterpart to Gideon was created called Armoured Jerubaal. Jerubaal was meant to carry out the same task as Gideon (using its own catch phrase, "Obliterate!"), but disabled Gideon to win the favour of their creators, The Silent Ones, by guarding "The Edge" itself. Jerubaal was however, overcome by the beings inhabiting "The Edge" and buried on Earth. When it re-emerged in Gideon's debut story, damaged heavily and bent on revenge, Gideon came to Earth and destroyed it.

Gideon was pursued and disabled once more by photographer Frank Weitz, once again in the debut story. Beings from "The Edge" are invisible to photographic film, but Frank is in possession of psychic powers that enable him to capture Gideon's image which spurs him on. His editor rejected his stories, driving Frank to "The Edge" again where he disables Gideon to take better pictures of the robot but is knocked unconscious and transported back to Earth whilst photographing Gideon before it is completely disabled.

Publication history

Gideon has appeared in 2000 AD and most recently, in a 2000AD Extreme Edition no. 23:

• Armoured Gideon (by John Tomlinson
  John Tomlinson (comics)
  John Tomlinson is a British comic book writer known for his work on various 2000 AD strips.-Biography:Tomlinson worked at Marvel UK in the early 1990s and helped nurture various talents, including Matthew Bingham and John Freeman. He has co-written strips with Nick Abadzis.He was editor of 2000 AD...
  
   and Simon Jacob):
  • "Armoured Gideon" (in 2000 AD #671-681, 1990, reprinted in Extreme Edition #23, 2007)
  • "Starhavon's Edge" (in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1990)
  • "No, No, Nanette" (in 2000 AD #722, 1991)
  • "Armoured Gideon Book 2" (in 2000 AD #828-840, 1993)
  • "The Collector" (with Mike White (9), in 2000 AD #889-899, 1994)
  • "Trading Places" (in 2000 AD #928-935, 1995)

External links

• Official 2000 AD Web site
• 2000AD character profile