History: (Doom Patrol V #4-6) - Professor Rumpus of Helfer University spent twelve years working on creating intelligent robots, borrowing the idea of using responsometers to form personalities from the work of Doc Magnus and his Metal Men. Rumpus had nearly completed his work on Annie, Betty and Carrie, who were shaped like mannequins and possessed personalities based on templates his students provided, when the University cut off funding and fired him. Unbeknownst to him his robots were fully functional, and Betty quickly came up with a plan to escape the university lab. She named her friends the Clique, and told them that since they were superior life forms they should conquer the world. Annie had a kind personality template, and didn’t want to hurt anyone, while Carrie wanted to get drunk and see if they were compatible with human nails. After a brief catfight they agreed to go shopping for clothes and then maybe conquer the world. They went to a department store, but when a security guard asked them to leave Betty threw him out a window. He was saved by the Metal Men, who were shopping in the same department store, and Betty ripped off Metal Man Tin’s head. The Clique forced Magnus to pick out clothes for them, and he managed to call the rest of the Metal Men, but it took them a bit to arrive because Tina was so excited to get a call from Magnus that she neglected to ask where he was. Tina was furious seeing Magnus consorting with other female robots, and attacked them. The Metal Men combined to form a wood-chipper that ground the Clique to dust, and then wondered about the implications of destroying other artificial life forms.

Comments: Created by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis & Kevin Maguire.

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