WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham #2, by Zeb Wells, Will Robson, Erick Arciniega and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
The Fantastic Four have long utilized a robot assistant called H.E.R.B.I.E.. The small robo-helper has gone through multiple forms over the years, including his most recent (and rebellious) guise that appeared in the Invasion! solo issue. But his new replacement is somehow even more dangerous and unpredictable. While there have been dangerous models of the little robot introduced in recent years during events like "Marvel 2099," the most surprising one just showed up -- built by the Richards children themselves in the present day.
Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham just introduced the newest model of H.E.R.B.I.E in the Marvel Universe, otherwise known as K.I.L.L.B.I.E. -- and it might just be the most twisted version of the concept yet.
H.E.R.B.I.E.'S KILLER UPGRADE
H.E.R.B.I.E. has been a chief assistant for the Fantastic Four for years, having been introduced for the Fantastic Four 1978 animated series before making the leap to the comics afterward. The robotic assistant has been rebuilt and redesigned over the years, although one version of H.E.R.B.I.E. ended up serving as the primary caregiver for Franklin Richard, becoming a guardian for Franklin and his younger sister Valerie. But after the events of Secret Wars, the Richards family ended up making their way across the cosmos for years. By the time they returned to Earth, Franklin and Valerie had grown into their teenage years. As such, they've become slightly more mature-leaning and willing to try different things.
Recently, H.E.R.B.I.E. ended up leaving the Richards family behind. Valerie installed free will into the robot, which developed a dirty mouth, before departing to take part in the robot revolution that was set up in Invasion! Now, it seems like Franklin and Valerie Richards have taken the opportunity to build a new robot assistant to take its place. But this new android turns out to have a real temper -- something that's befitting of its teenage creators.
When Spider-Man and Spider-Ham arrive at Yancy Street to try and get some help from Reed Richards to save Spider-Ham's world, they've introduced to the new robot, named K.I.L.L.B.I.E.. He doesn't greet them with the kind of friendly hello that H.E.R.B.I.E. used to give visitors to the Fantastic Four. Instead, K.I.L.L.B.I.E. greets them with insults and painful laser electrocutions.
Eventually, Franklin and Valerie come into the room and help get K.I.L.L.B.I.E. to leave them alone. Franklin reveals that he was the one to program the robot and that he'd been going through a tough day when he did it. With Franklin Richards entering a more rebellious phase in his life, it makes sense that he'd have a bit more of an edge to him than he did when he was younger. But even then, he still had the sense to keep a non-lethal constraint on the robot so that he won't end up actually attacking people when they come to visit. But he's still specifically designed to be allowed to injure people and insult them.
It wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine the machine going off the deep end down the line and following in the footsteps of H.E.R.B.I.E. by rebelling against humanity.