I only cover comics that are in continuity on this site, and guess what? This one is! Kind of. Marvel Treasury Special and all nine issues of Marvel’s licensed Space Odyssey book were beautifully drawn stories, full of full-page panels of Kirby at his best.
But obviously, most of this did not take place in the Marvel Universe. Then came issue #8, which introduced…Machine Man!
His story was kind of like Pinnochio: A robot who wanted to be human, and got something close to it by becoming unique.
He’s called Mister Machine in this book, which also introduces his Marvel pursuer Simon Kragg and the boy who befriends the machine, Oliver.
I don’t think this story itself is technically canon, since Marvel didn’t have the rights to use the 2001 characters in its own universe, but it certainly blurred the lines. And look how Jack Kirby planted the seed for it:
Machine Man’s solo book is totally underrated, and will be covered in full. When we hit 1978.