Rockman

Rockman may refer to:

Rockman (comics)

Rockman is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in U.S.A. Comics #1 (August 1941), published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the 1930s to 1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comics. As credits were not routinely given in comic books of this period, his writer and artist co-creators are unknown, although the first page of his debut story was drawn by Charles Nicholas (itself a house pen name) and the remainder by Basil Wolverton.

Publication history

Rockman appeared USA Comics #1-4 (Aug. 1941 - May 1942), with two stories drawn by Basil Wolverton and at least one signed by writer and future Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee.

Marvel announced in July 2007 that Rockman would appear in the 2008 limited series The Twelve. The first three 1940s Rockman stories were reprinted in The Twelve #0 (Feb. 2008) and #1/2 (Nov. 2008).

Fictional character biography

In his historical origin, Rockman was the leader of an underground race of beings who were the descendants of the first white colonists of North America. Their kingdom was known as Abyssmia, and was located underneath the country. Noticing the effects of war overhead, Rockman leaves Abyssmia to assist the United States in its war effort. He is disturbed and unable to comprehend the fact that anyone would despoil the aboveground realms with warfare.

Rockman (amplifier)

The Rockman line is a series of headphone amplifiers and other equipment, developed and produced by Scholz Research & Development, Inc. (SR&D), a company formed by Boston founder Tom Scholz. SR&D was sold to Dunlop in 1995. Tom Scholz's signature still appears on the units sold by Dunlop.

Power Soak

The first product released by SR&D was not called a Rockman. It was simply called "Tom Scholz's Power Soak". The Power Soak is an attenuator, put inline between an amplifier and its speakers. Once the guitar amplifier has the right sound, the Power Soak can be used to dial in the output level. The first commercial Power Soak was issued at the end of 1980. An updated version of the Power Soak, the model II, was issued at the end of 1981. It has an extra switch made to adapt the Power Soak to solid-state amplifiers. The Power Soak was re-issued in 1992 as a Power Soak model III, lacking the solid-state switch, though the Power Soak III can be used both with solid-state and tube amps. The jacks were also moved to the back of the unit.