He is a robot, the only survivor of a series, raised as a human son of scientist Abel Stack, who was killed removing his auto-destruct mechanism, and further evolved to sentience by a Monolith.

Jack Kirby wrote and drew the first nine issues, which dealt with the title character's status as a fugitive from the military after the death of his creator, and his first interactions with mankind.

Machine Man appeared next in a three issue story arc within the pages of The Incredible Hulk vol.

By the end of the storyline, he incurred a complete system shutdown, leading to the events portrayed in his relaunched monthly series.

Status quo in the book changed with Machine Man now living amongst humanity, and dealing with his own new-found emotions.

Marv Wolfman came aboard as the new writer, partnered with artist Steve Ditko, which helped set a different tone from Kirby's previous stories.

Characters from this alternate future have made appearances in other Marvel books, namely Arno Stark, the mercenary Iron Man 2020.

The series lasted twelve issues; in the final one, he was 'recovered' by a Celestial, as the Celestials—revealed to be the power behind the Monoliths—had become interested in Machine Man.

[15] In a meeting with the Thing of the Fantastic Four, Machine Man also first met and fell in love with another sentient robot, Jocasta.

[19][20] As a consequence, he was infected by Sentinel programming, assuming a more robotic look in the subsequent series X-51, and losing self-control whenever he was faced with a mutant.

[21] Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's Nextwave series sees Machine Man join a team formed by the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E.

[volume & issue needed] Now preferring simply to be called Aaron, Machine Man is partnered with Monica Rambeau, Tabitha Smith, Elsa Bloodstone, and The Captain,[22] and the team soon discovers that H.A.T.E.

[volume & issue needed] Calling humans "fleshy ones" and expressing a degree of pride in his "roboty parts" — which he uses to kill Fin Fang Foom[23] — Aaron has developed a fondness for alcohol, stating "My robot brain needs beer" on regular occasions.

[25] He later uses his knowledge of Dirk's quarters to steal Anger's mother's dress and hold it hostage in exchange for the safe escape of Nextwave.

[26] However, later issues of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, as well as Civil War: Battle Damage Report, consistently place Nextwave's activities in mainstream continuity.

[29] His appearance is entirely in keeping with Nextwave: he wears the same costume and displays the same nonsensical and zany personality developed, in place of his previous logical and friendly self.

to accompany Jocasta to retrieve a blood sample from a living human from the Marvel Zombies universe, and the two are transported there by Portal.

[40] Machine Man and Red Hulk arrive in Sharzhad where they find Dagan Shah in the disguise of Arabian Knight, who lets them through the force field and leads them to his palace.

Machine Man reveals to Red Hulk that Sultan Magus has used Rigellian technology to manipulate hydrogen, which involved providing a supply of water and terraforming a part of the desert for Sharzhad.

[45] Machine Man and Red Hulk arrived in Hawaii to fight a genetically-engineered Hydra that was created by Zero/One.

Machine Man's robotic materials, design, and construction (titanium alloy) provide him with a number of abilities, as does his adamantium composition.

He possesses an above normal intellect, with a capacity for unlimited self-motivated activity, creative intelligence, and human-like emotions.

His fingers contain a different variety of devices, including: gas chromatograph, laser interferometer, micro-pulse radar, audiometer, seismometer, gravity-wave detector, pulse-code modulator, standard-computer input/outputs, radio beacon, all-wave transceiver, laser-cutting torch/weapon, and projection of heat, cold, or electricity; one of his fingers has been shown to contain a bullet-firing mechanism that uses .357 Magnum ammunition.

[volume & issue needed] In Nextwave, he has become a living Swiss Army knife of sorts, containing various tools and weapons for a multitude of situations, both useful and esoteric.

Also, his nanotechnology allows him to transform and rebuild every piece of machinery he comes in contact with, such as building an anti-gravity vehicle out of a motorcycle.

Tricking Uatu, who had attempted to force Machine Man to reject his humanity, Machine Man managed to use his access to Watcher technology and data to help humanity defeat the coming Celestials, by revealing to Earth's superhero community the true origins of mankind.

[volume & issue needed] Aside from his mainstream version having travelled to this universe, Machine Man and his Nextwave counterparts are also a team in this reality; they are destroyed off-panel by the zombie Power Pack.

[55] Machine Man was reactivated in the year 2020 by a group of outlaw scavengers called Midnight Wreckers (led by X-51's old friend Gears Garvin), and forced to battle his old enemy, the industrialist ice queen Sunset Bain, as well as mercenary Arno Stark, the amoral Iron Man of 2020.

[59] The Ultimate Marvel version of Machine Man is Danny Ketch, who sacrificed his life during Galactus' assault on Earth via MODOK.

Danny Ketch's consciousness is later revealed to have survived inside a robotic body formed from salvaged Gah Lak Tus tech and is dubbed "Machine Man" by Phil Coulson.