History ComicBook / Micronauts

''The Micronauts'' originated as a line of action figures from Mego, actually a rebranding of Japan's ''Microman'' series of toys.

The name "Micronauts" may make reference to different comics

* ''ComicBook/MicronautsIDW

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/695daaee33f4c069b3e882b1cd0e42b0_xl.jpg]]

->''"They Came From Inner Space!"''

''The Micronauts'' originated as a line of action figures from Mego, actually a rebranding of Japan's ''Microman'' series of toys, which lasted from 1976 to 1980[[note]] (after that, Microman spawned ''New Microman'' and then ''Microchange''; many of the Microchange toys became part of the initial ''[[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Transformers]]'' range (specifically the ones that turned into objects, like Megatron (a gun) and Soundwave (a cassette player); many of the Minibots were also from this line). ''Microman'' was revived in Japan in 1999, then again in 2003 (the 2003 series has been aimed towards collectors rather than kids).[[/note]] The toys were popular, but the Creator/MarvelComics comic book series based on them, written by Creator/BillMantlo, outlasted the toyline by many years. The original series lasted for 59 regular issues (January, 1979- August, 1984), plus 2 annuals. They had a mini-series crossover with the ComicBook/XMen which lasted for 4 issues (January-April, 1984). Then their title was relaunched as ''Micronauts: The New Voyages'', lasting for 20 issues (October, 1984-May, 1986).

The comic told the story of the Micronauts, part of a resistance force that opposed an evil empire in a [[RussianDollWorld Subatomic Universe.]] Team members included Commander Arcturus Rann, the leader; Marionnette, his lover; the [[InsectoidAliens insect-like]] warrior Bug; the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy hulking warrior]] Acroyear; and the [[RobotBuddy robots]] Biotron and Microtron. They are later joined by the [[VoluntaryShapeShifting shape-shifter]] Huntarr.

The series begins with the Micronauts (and their enemy, Baron Karza) accidentally transported to Earth (where they are only as big as action figures) where a young boy is involved in their battle. However the characters soon returned to the Microverse and stayed there for most of the series, as the writer developed its impressive backstory. Eventually they kill Karza (twice) but suffer devastating loses in the process, and some team members died.

Marvel no longer owns the license to the Micronauts, but can still use all elements of the comic series that they invented themselves. That is, Arcturus Rann can still appear, as long as he doesn't call himself Space Glider or wear his Space Glider uniform; Bug can still appear as long as he doesn't call himself Galactic Warrior, etc. Bug is an interesting case, since he bears [[AdaptationDistillation so little resemblance to his toy]] that Marvel can apparently use him with complete impunity. Marionette (Princess Mari) is a completely original character created by Bill Mantlo for the comic book series. (Creator/{{Hasbro}} might own some rights, given how their MegaCrossover comic seen at NYCC 2011, called ''Unit: E'' had them in there, as central characters; Hasbro still has a close working relationship with Takara, having Takara distribute their products like ''Nerf'' and ''Jenga'' in Japan, outside of their collaboration with ''Transformers'')

Probably the series' most lasting impact on the wider MarvelUniverse was the introduction (or at least the naming) of the Microverse, an AlternateDimension that one enters if shrunk down past subatomic size. It was eventually established that the Microverse ''is'' a complete separate universe, and does not ''literally'' exist within some particular single atom somewhere; but shrinking down is the standard means of crossing into it. In the Marvel Universe in general, anyone who shrinks below a certain limit (apparantly somewhere between cellular size and molecular size) shifts into a "microverse" - the theory is that a shrinking person is actually displacing their mass extradimensionally, and when 99.99999999999999% is over there, the rest (and consciousness) follows. Among the notable inhabitants of microverses are ComicBook/FantasticFour enemy Psycho Man, Jarella (a lover of the [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] for a while), and the Micronauts. To be fair, [[Creator/StanLee Stan]] and [[Creator/JackKirby Jack]] and even Creator/HarlanEllison (creator of the above-mentioned Jarella) had done "subatomic world" stories years ago, but ''The Micronauts'' finally ''named'' the place, and standardized the rules for how it worked.

Additionally, the Micronauts are closely connected to Comicbook/CaptainUniverse: The Uni-Power which bonds with hosts in the Macroverse (the main Marvel universe) is actually a facet of the Enigma Force, and the Engima Force itself essentially ''is'' the Microverse. One of the primary functions of the Uni-Power is to maintain the Spacewall (the physical barrier between the Microverse and the Macroverse, and with it imprison a malevolent force of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s called the Whirldemons that threaten the inhabitants of both).

The team was last seen doing cameos in a couple of Marvel comics under the new alias of "The Microns" due to Marvel losing the rights to the [=IPs=] that originated in the toyline, their most recent appearance to date being in the ''Minimum Carnage'' event. Bug has also been a sometime member of the new Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy.

In 2002, Creator/ImageComics obtained the comic book license to the ''Micronauts'' franchise through then-rights holder Abrams Gentile Entertainment and produced [[ComicBook/MicronautsImage a new comic book series]] through Devil's Due Publishing, which lasted 11 issues. A four-issue miniseries explaining Baron Karza's origins and a three-issue series published by Devil's Due Publishing independently of Image were also published.

In 2015, first Creator/IDWPublishing announced comic book reboots of this series and ''ComicBook/RomSpaceknight'' (as Hasbro still owns partial rights to both of them), and in December it was announced Hasbro and Creator/ParamountPictures would create a new Hasbro movie-verse with the ''Franchsie/GIJoe'' movies as the starting point, with reimagined versions of this series as well as ''ROM'', the ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}''. 2016 saw IDW take a similar route with most of their Hasbro titles, with a new SharedUniverse being established by an event called ''[[ComicBook/Revolution2016 Revolution]]''. For tropes relating to the IDW reboot, see ''ComicBook/MicronautsIDW''. For the anime series based on the Japanese Microman toys, see ''Anime/ChiisanaKyojinMicroman''.
----
!!The comic book series provides examples of:

* TwentyFourHourArmor: Acroyear, according to his people's custom, removes his armour only for reproductive purposes. Fortunately, their [[PowerArmor highly advanced armours]] are closer to MiniMecha.
* ActionGirl: Marionette
* AdaptationDistillation: The toy line initially had no associated plot. When Mantlo gave his son a set as a Christmas present, he was inspired to create a story to go with them, and convinced Creator/JimShooter to get the license.
* AlternateUniverse
* AlbinosAreFreaks: Acroyear's twin brother Shaitan was born with albinism and is on Baron Karza's side partly because of how the other Acroyears shunned him.
* BigBad: Baron Karza is the main threat of the series, as the conflict arises from him conquering Homeworld and the Micronauts trying to end his tyranny.
* BodyHorror: Karza's Body Banks, where innocent people's organs and limbs are stolen and stored to use as transplants for society's elites, granting them immortality. This was Mantlo's take on the toyline's [[EasilyDetachableRobotParts interchangeable parts]] feature.
** When Mari was young and still living as a naïve princess, she was horrified to learn that the wonderful new legs she received after an accident were forcibly taken from one of her best friends, the court dancer, leaving the young woman maimed and unable to ever dance again.
* BrassBalls: The Micronaut once stated that it has literal brass balls.
* CaptainErsatz: Baron Zebek for Baron Karza.
** Karza himself is kind of an example; thanks to toy recycling, he's effectively a black evil [[Anime/KotetsuJeeg Jeeg]]. [[http://i41.tinypic.com/35193yw.jpg See here.]]
* CerebusSyndrome: As with ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'', the series took a much darker tone later on.
* ComicBookLimbo: This is where the Micronauts spend 99.99% of their time.
* ConstructedWorld: An impressive combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy; like Star Wars, only more so.
* ContinuitySnarl: In relating a [[BeAllMySinsRemembered deed from his past that has come back to haunt him]], Rann claims to have visited Jarella's world K'ai prior to his 1,000 year voyage through the Microverse. K'ai was originally in a separate microverse from the one occupied by Rann and his people. His visitation would have predated the merging of the microverses, which is a fairly recent event. Since this merging occurred in an unpublished story, one can pretend that there was always ever only one microverse and that these were simply different regions. However, the backup article in the trade paperback for ''Realm of Kings: Enigma Force'' clearly states that the different microverses were merged recently due to Thanos' battle with a certain Homeworld despot.
* CrossOver: Many, but the ones with the Comicbook/ManThing and ComicBook/XMen are probably the most memorable.
* CypherLanguage: Invented by Michael Golden, who put a huge amount of energy into WorldBuilding this series, the Homeworld alphabet was based on Devanagari and had a mostly one-to-one English correspondence. It was considered beautiful and fascinating by many fans.
* DoomedHometown: The story begins with the Micronauts escaping Homeworld after Baron Karza's forces take over.
* EmpathicWeapon: The Sword in the Star (part of the Microverse's mythology involving Wayfinder)
* EmperorScientist: Karza, who was originally Homeworld's Chief Scientist.
* EnergyBeings: The Time Travelers.
* GreatOffscreenWar: Whatever it was that occurred to merge all of the microverses into one. Rumor has it that it's from a story that was completed but cannot be published due to licensing restrictions.
* HeroicSacrifice: In the GrandFinale of ''Micronauts: The New Voyages'',[[spoiler: The Micronauts all sacrifice themselves so that their destroyed Homeworld may be reborn anew. The later cameos of Rann, Bug, and Mari contradict this or just don't bother to explain why they are still around.]].
** Earlier, [[spoiler: Microtron and Nanotron sacrifice their lives, and Arcturus sacrifices part of his [[OlderThanTheyLook unnatural youth,]] to resurrect Biotron as Bioship.]]
* HumanPopsicle: Arcturus on his thousand-year voyage
* HumongousMecha: Bioship
* IncredibleShrinkingMan
* InsistentTerminology: Since he becomes absolute ruler of the Microverse, Baron Karza should probably be Emperor Karza. "Baron" is actually the lowest rung on the aristocratic ladder. Mantlo probably knew this but was following the wishes of the licensor Mego.
* InterspeciesRomance: Bug is very much a ladies' man, regardless of species.
* LaResistance: On Homeworld, Slug leads a resistance movement towards Baron Karza's rule.
* LifeDrinker: Of a sort, via the Body Banks. It's kept Karza alive for a thousand years.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: The first issue of the ''New Voyages'' series has Arcturus Rann forced to remove his hand to avoid certain death.
* {{Lilliputians}}
* LivingShip: Bioship
* ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway
* MerchandiseDriven: The main reason the comic existed in the first place was to promote the ''Micronauts'' toyline.
* {{Mooks}}: The [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Psycho-Man's]] Antrons, among others.
* MouseWorld: Stories taking place on Earth naturally have the Micronauts in an environment where everyone and everything else is much larger than they are.
* MsFanservice: Mari.
* MythologyGag: Might be unintentional, but Acroyear's name was used in ''Microman'', as the name of the enemy faction who the Micromen fought against.
* NiceHat: Acroyear's helmet. Bug's helmet is just as iconic, if not quite as cool. Arcturus starts out with a helmet too, but he eventually stops wearing it.
* PhysicalGod: The Time Traveller(s) are pretty much this.
* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race:]] The Acroyears
* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler: Karza is defeated but Homeworld is destroyed.]]
* RememberTheNewGuy: In ''Realm of Kings: Son of Hulk'', a wacky robot named "Carl" is hanging out with Rann and Mari.
* RoboRomance: The robot Microtron gains a love interest in the equally robotic Nanotron later in the comic's run.
* RobotBuddy: Biotron and Microtron are both robotic companions to the Micronauts.
* [[RecursiveReality Russian Doll World]]: The MarvelUniverse's TropeCodifier.
* SapientShip: [[RobotBuddy Biotron]] was at one point rebuilt into a LivingShip-slash-HumongousMecha called Bioship. Bioship was a cyborg, utilizing OrganicTechnology in his workings.
* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: In the 37th issue, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} mentions at one point that he wants to go see ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. Colossus replies by implying that this will be the 14th time Wolverine has seen the movie.
* ShoutOut:
** Mari’s hair is visibly inspired on [[Series/CharliesAngels Farrah Fawcett’s]].
** The story featuring Comicbook/ManThing is named "Adventure into Fear", after the magazine where he made most of his early appearances before getting his own book.
** In the 17th issue of the ''New Voyages'' series, Bug taunts a revived Devil by saying "[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries]]".
* SpaceOpera
** For issues 1-58 (Mantlo's tenure), the format was clearly inspired by StarWars.
** In the immediate follow-up series, ''Micronauts: The New Voyages'' (written by Peter B. Gillis), the mood shifted and more closely resembled ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. Due to the absence of a villain character, the stories became more cerebral, focusing on introspection, metaphysics and cosmic themes.
* SplitPersonality: The main villain of ''X-Men and The Micronauts'' was the dark side of Professor Xavier.
* SuperheroesInSpace: The series is set in the alternate dimension, the Microverse.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: The BigBad of the ''X-Men and The Micronauts'' was the dark side of ComicBook/ProfessorX.
* TurbineBlender: [[TheEmpath Attracted]] by Steve's courage, Comicbook/ManThing's threat to the cast ends when he steps in the blades of a swamp buggy and his muck-encrusted form splatters around the swamp.
* TranshumanAliens: The many races of Creator/MarvelComics' Microverse are all descended from a [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/earthswordinthestar.htm future humanity]] which fled through time, space and dimensions to escape a genocidal war.
* UnexplainedRecovery: The original series ended with [[spoiler: all our heroes making a HeroicSacrifice to revive Homeworld,]] no doubt written with the idea that once the license expired, Marvel would never be able to use the characters again anyway. When it became clear they ''could'' legally revisit the characters and their world, then everybody was just... back. We still don't know exactly how.
* WorldShapes: The planets in the Microverse resemble molecules.
* WritingAroundTrademarks: Marvel only retained the rights to Micronauts characters that were created explicitly for their comic, so appearances well after the end of the original comic had the team's name changed to "the Microns" and the characters Baron Karza and Acroyear could not be fully shown and only addressed respectively as a "ruthless Baron" and a "stoic king of Spartak".

!!The toy line provides examples of:

* ChromeChampion: All of the "human" figures still had shiny metal faces.
** When the toyline was briefly revived by Palisades in the mid-2000's, a special edition of the original Space Glider figure was produced, colored to match his comic book counterpart -- with a blue jumpsuit and yellow stripes, and a flesh-colored head with brown hair.
* EasilyDetachableRobotParts: The toys' main selling point was their modular parts. It was "The interchangeable world of the Micronauts!"
* MechanicalMonster: Ampzilla, the Hornetroid, the Terraphant, and others.
* PaletteSwap: Baron Karza is pretty blatantly Anime/KotetsuJeeg, except black and red and with a slightly different head. The comic design is somewhat different, but the toy is for all intents and purposes a repainted Jeeg, down to the magnetic joint-based DetachmentCombat and a centaur mode.
* SpiritualSuccessor: In the form of Revell's Robolinks, which was an export of Japan's Blockman toyline. Like the Microman toyline that Micronauts is based off of, Blockman was also produced by Takara.
** Parts of the toyline were revived both by Mego and other companies for years. There were the Interchangeables, just a PaletteSwap of the original toys. There were the Lords of Light, which included reissues of several of the Micronauts' "Aliens" subline of figures, with the gimmick that you could put a glowing lightstick in their chests. And several of the Micronauts' vehicles wound up recolored for Mego's Pocket Super Heroes line. And, as mentioned above, Palisades briefly brought the original line back in the mid 2000's. It should be noted that the original Japanese Microman toyline on which all of this (and many of the original Franchise/{{Transformers}} as well) is based is [[LongRunner still going strong in Japan.]]

* SplitPersonality: The main villain of ''X-Men vs. The Micronauts'' was the dark side of Professor Xavier.

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: The BigBad of the ''X-Men vs. The Micronauts'' was the dark side of ComicBook/ProfessorX.

* DarthVaderClone: Baron Karza.

* CerebusSyndrome: As with ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight, the series took a much darker tone later on.

* WritingAroundTrademarks: Marvel only retained the rights to Micronauts characters that were created explicitly for their comic, so the team's name was changed to "the Microns" and the characters Baron Karza and Acroyear could not be fully shown and only addressed respectively as a "ruthless Baron" and a "stoic king of Spartak".

* EvilAlbino: Acroyear's twin brother Shaitan was born with albinism and is on Baron Karza's side.

* BigBad: Baron Karza

In 2002, Creator/ImageComics obtained the comic book license to the ''Micronauts'' franchise through then-rights holder Abrams Gentile Entertainment and produced a new comic book series through Devil's Due Publishing, which lasted 11 issues. A four-issue miniseries explaining Baron Karza's origins and a three-issue series published by Devil's Due Publishing independently of Image were also published.