Dudley

Dudley is just a normal boy. He's obsessive about comic books, prefers the indoors, and hates the idea of lying to his mum and dad.

OK, he's maybe more of a geek than is normal. But what's important is that he's just like you, and like you, he could one day be called upon for a great adventure by beings more marvellous than even his great imagination could conjure.

Fiction

On a day in 1985, The Chromobots issue 21 Dudley was completely absorbed in an issue of The Transformers to such an extent that he didn't even hear his dad calling for his attention. What he did notice was a fast-moving object fly in through his window and upend him off his bed. Cautiously peeking over the covers, he discovered a real life space robot no bigger than a toy. Issue 12 The robot introduced himself as Mikros, a Chromobot, and apologised for dropping in. Dudley was in complete disbelief, and he was forced to hide Mikros from his dad in case he got in trouble. Dudley demanded an explanation on where Mikros was from, but Mikros' biggest concern was how he would locate his fellow Chromobots. Issue 13

After being unable to sleep for the entire night due to trying to get his head around the idea of real life robots from space, Dudley took a Saturday afternoon walk through the park with his mum's shopping list – and Mikros concealed in a carrier bag. Mikros picked up a signal from one of his comrades, briefly causing Dudley concern that the sky would be filled with diminutive Chromobots. Suddenly, Dudley was approached by an old tramp, who claimed that Dudley had something of his. The nervous boy fled. Issue 14 Mikros attempted to explain that the old man was more than met the eye, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Chromobot leader Transmute. After Dudley figured out that the tramp was Transmute in disguise, the Chromobot's psionic scan told him that Dudley could be trusted, and he beseeched him to ally with the Chromobot Empire. Issue 15

Dudley brought the bagged-up Mikros and Transmute – now disguised as a human boy Dudley named "Lenny" – back to his house, where he was forced to lie to his mum about where he'd been for the past couple of hours. As soon as they could, Dudley and "Lenny" retreated to the boy's bedroom, where Transmute returned to his regular form and explained their mission to capture or destroy the Chromobot criminal, Predator. Dudley was alarmed that, after taking the groceries down to his mum, he then had the job of saving the world. Issue 16

Transmute considered Dudley to be of great worth to their mission. Two weeks after their first meeting, Dudley and the two Chromobots were searching a city, and he wondered how he would explain his absence from his bedroom if his mum went in to check on him. A woman's scream alerted Dudley to a kidnapping in progress on top of a building. Transmute recognised the culprit as Predator and confronted the criminal. Issue 17 Dudley was helpless as he watched Predator toss Mikros off the side of the building – but Mikros was caught in a force bubble and gently lowered down by Shield, the third Chromobot in their squad. Dudley was shocked at the size of him, but Mikros interrupted, drawing their attention to the flash of energy on top of the skyscraper. Issue 19

Notes

Dudley is a noted fan of Marvel Comics. His bedroom wall is quite consistent in its appearances, featuring posters of Optimus Prime and Machine Man, a "Make Mine Marvel" flag, and a pin-up of Humph the Cat. Issue 12 The wall by his door features a poster of Spider-Man. Issue 13
- Dudley's comic collection includes at least two issues of Spider-Man, Issue 12 Issue 16 one issue of The Transformers Issue 12 and of Captain America, Issue 13 and something with a logo containing the letters "PET" and "SP". Issue 14
In issue 12, there's a toy car (a Transformers?) on the stairs. Presumably, that's Dudley's, too.