History

  When businessman Thayer Jost created his own version of the Doom Patrol, he assigned Robotman Cliff Steele to train the younger heroes. What none of them - including Cliff himself - knew at the time was that he was not really Cliff Steele. Rather, he was a mind-construct created by his former teammate Dorothy Spinner. She had felt deserted by her friend and, after she had apparently killed him by accident, subconsciously created a new Cliff who was more like she wanted him to be. This Robotman perished into thin air after realizing that he was supposed to be dead. (Later, the other Doom Patrol members resurrected the real Cliff Steele.)