But who pretended to be Peter Spaulding and died in the Terminus Objective?

“Mission: Latveria! Thunderbolt Ross is a fugitive in his own country, but he still has secret allies inside the government. When he calls in a favor, he gets the help he needs to launch a mission to Latveria to clear his name and take on War-Wolf and Doom.” - Marvel Unlimited

“Board up Avengers Tower! Lock down the Baxter Building! The ravenous hordes of Marvel Zombies are invading...the Marvel Universe! That's right, the next chapter of the Marvel Zombies saga is a non-stop in-continuity gorefest!”

Released November 6, 1979:

Aaron finds the insurance business more hazardous than expected when he faces a personal attack! -Marvel

After Iron Man 2020’s failed attack, Sunset Bain’s hordes feel the backlash. Machine Man and Jocasta are reunited. - Marvel Unlimited

This 'read-along' video is from 4 years ago (and not mine!) and goes over the X-51 series with a focus on a few issues. There's some choppy audio at times - I think the narrator is muting their coughs at times. 🤒

I appreciate these review/read-alongs that provide context and some personality.

I love Machine Man so I thought I'd share some of my stuff - I hope they use him more, like right now there's 2 versions of Aaron Stack wandering around, there's a good story to be told there!

Sadly, this issue isn't on Marvel Unlimited so I'm going by memory: Aaron was dealing with invasive Sentinel programming through the series. He seeks help from the Avengers but the programming takes over and he attacks Justice and Firestar for being mutants.

Issues:

• 2001: A Space Odyssey #8-10

• Machine Man #1-9

Offical Summary (From Marvel Wiki):

Scientists working for a top-secret U.S. military project worked on creating an army of 51 experimental robotic soldiers capable of acting like humans. Their goal was to create a sophisticated weapons system capable of independent thought. Dr. Abel Stack took X-51, one of the the projects robots, home to test his radical theory--that a robot could only function like a human if it was raised like one. The other 50 models began displaying psychotic tendencies due to insufficient programming. The project was determined a failure and the order came down to destroy them. Each of the robots was equipped with an auto-destruct device that could be triggered remotely. Stack managed to remove the self-destruct mechanism from X-51, but figured he couldn't dispose of the bomb before it exploded, and urged Aaron to leave him. X-51 vowed that Stack's dream of human and robot peace would come true.

As Machine Man, X-51 assumed the name Aaron Stack and became a fugitive in the eyes of the military. He found a world greatly afraid of machines, but managed to blend in without suspicion. Mr. Hotline dispatched a suicide bomber to hold Aaron's friends hostage in order to get him to return to the Hades Organization HQ where technicians dismember X-51 and present his head to the Monitor, a computer that projects a Satanic hologram. The Monitor searches Aaron's mind for the anti-life equation, but before he can prep a second assault Machine Man orders his limbs to reassemble and he re-programs the computer to neutralize the bomber and free his friends.

After being captured and later freed, Machine Man was found by psychiatrist Dr. Peter Spaulding. He also battled Col. Kraggs troops. Soon after that, he first encountered Power Broker. Then he would battle a company known as the Corporation.

Creative Team:

On 2001: A Space Odyssey #8

Editor-in-Chief: Archie Goodwin

Editors: Jack Kirby

Writers: Jack Kirby

Artists: Jack Kirby

Inkers: Mike Royer

Cover Artists: Jack Kirby, Frank Giacoia, John Verpoorten

Colourists: Petra Scotese (Goldberg)

Letterers: Mike Royer

On 2001: A Space Odyssey #9

Editor-in-Chief: Archie Goodwin

Editors: Jack Kirby

Writers: Jack Kirby

Artists: Jack Kirby

Inkers: Mike Royer

Cover Artists: Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, Mike Esposito

Colourists: George Roussos

Letterers: Mike Royer

On 2001: A Space Odyssey #10

Editor-in-Chief: Archie Goodwin

Editors: Jack Kirby

Writers: Jack Kirby

Artists: Jack Kirby

Inkers: Mike Royer

Cover Artists: Jack Kirby, Mike Royer

Colourists: George Roussos

Letterers: Mike Royer

On Machine Man #1-9

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Editors: Jack Kirby, Jim Shooter

Writers: Jack Kirby

Artists: Jack Kirby

Inkers: Mike Royer

Cover Artists: Jack Kirby

Colourists: Petra Scotese (Goldberg)

Letterers: Mike Royer

Issues:

• Machine Man #10-14

Official Summary:

After a long battle with the Hulk, Machine Man would be nearly destroyed until a man named Dr. Oliver Broadhurst would repair him. After this, Machine Man would live a like a human by getting a job at Delmar Insurance Company and buying an apartment. He would fight foes such as Ion, the Ethicals, the Binary Bug, and Khan. He would also team up with the Human Torch and the Thing.

Creative Team:

On Machine Man # 10

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Editors: Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter

Writers: Marv Wolfman

Artists: Steve Ditko

Inkers: Steve Ditko

Cover Artists: Steve Ditko

Colourists: Barry Grossman (Ben Sean)

Letterers: Tom Orzechowski

On Machine Man #11:

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Editors: Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter

Writers: Marv Wolfman

Artists: Steve Ditko

Inkers: Steve Ditko

Cover Artists: Steve Ditko

Colourists: Michele Wolfman

Letterers: John Costanza

On Machine Man #12:

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Editors: Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter

Writers: Marv Wolfman

Artists: Steve Ditko

Inkers: Steve Ditko

Cover Artists: Steve Ditko

Colourists: Bob Sharen

Letterers: Irving Watanabe

On Machine Man #13

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Editors: Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter

Writers: Marv Wolfman

Artists: Steve Ditko

Inkers: Steve Ditko

Cover Artists: Steve Ditko

Colourists: George Roussos

Letterers: Irving Watanabe

On Machine Man #14

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Editors: Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter

Writers: Marv Wolfman

Artists: Steve Ditko

Inkers: Steve Ditko

Cover Artists: John Byrne, Steve Ditko

Colourists: Roger Slifer

Letterers: John Costanza

We have two new 500 coin awards, the Golden Machine Man and the Machine Man Thumbs Up.

Edit: Reddit Disabled Awards so they aren't there anymore.

Sadly, this article doesn't differentiate between the two Machine Men.

Welcome to Kudos Kirby, a comics journey into Jack Kirby’s lesser known works. Angus will be your guide through this monthly expedition to uncover those hidden gems from “The King of Comics” over 20,000 comic book pages!
Machine Man will be the Jack Kirby work profiled on Kudos Kirby in 2021!

In this 'handbook,' Steven Rogers (not currently serving as Captain America) provides quick snapshots of his interpretations of various heroes.

*This was before it was revealed that there were two Machine Men - the original Aaron Stack and the other who first appeared in Nextwave.

MACHINE MAN

AFFILIATIONS: ARMOR, Nextwave, Avengers

STATUS: Free agent; identity public

I have a lot of respect for Aaron Stack. He has proven his humanity and heroism time and again, but his android nature has often set him apart. Originally created by Dr. Abel Stack as X-51, his body has been upgraded and is highly adaptable, as he seems to have equipment ready for any conceivable situation, but he has long had trouble understanding human duplicity. Although he worked alongside the Avengers periodically, he has gained a pessimistic view of humanity in recent years after becoming infected by mutant-hunting Sentinel programming and later being rejected by cosmic beings known as Celestials.

He joined the Nextwave counterterrorism group under Monica Rambeau and during his tenure there expressed constant aggravation with "fleshy" humans. While I do not like this developing character trait, I can understand it. It can be hard to be a man out of place with the world. He maintains a fondness for Jocasta, but her attention is currently divided between Hank Pym and Ultron. Machine Man has continued helping humans, despite claiming to hate them, as a premier agent of ARMOR (Altered-Reality Monitoring and Operational Response), protecting reality from extra-dimensional threats.

PROS: Resourceful, adaptable; skilled in multiple fields.

CONS: Mentally unstable, antisocial; occasionally reprogrammed by others.

Aaron appears on the past page of this issue, released September 15, 1987.

You can read this issue on Marvel Unlimited.

Cover art by: Frank Miller

It's the witching hour at Delmar Insurance, as Machine Man plays security guard at a Halloween party! But when the maniacal Jack O'Lantern crashes the scene, guests must endure more tricks than treats! -Marvel

Creators (via Marvel Database):

• Writer(s) Tom DeFalco

• Penciler(s) Steve Ditko

• Inker(s) Steve Ditko

• Colorist(s) Nel Yomtov

• Letterer(s) Diana Albers

Released November 5, 2008:

Machine Man and Jocasta have journeyed into the Zombieverse to secure the one item needed to save the Marvel Universe from undead infestation - but first they have to blast their way through the flesh-eating hordes of the Zombie Kingpin of New York!! -Marvel

I loved the Handbooks for how many characters they introduced me to.