They came from Inner-Space
      It started as a bunch of Toys… Excuse me “Action Figures” liscenced from Japan…  But it became an American part of the background of the cultural matrix in many a kids mind.      I won’t write an essay on the origins and what company - Wikipedia already has a good breakdown and list.  Please support Wikipedia  like a $5 donation on the Holidays!  How much TIME alone did they save you for that argument, discussion, bar bet, trivia, school report…?     But, originally started as a Japanese thing…      Same basic premise - warriors from another world but overall their size when they come here is action figure size so kids can pretend their toys “Action Figures” (anything to NOT say “Doll”!!!) are really warriors that duke it out when they aren’t around.  Nope, Toy Story was NOT original in that issue - wonderful movie, but nope, toys being ‘living’ but only moving when the kid isn’t around is hardly original, like think “Velveteen Rabbit”.  Well they “Westernized” it and sold the toys for a while.  Mediocre success but the company kept pushing till it went bankrupt.  I got a
“Time Traveller” figure and played with it till it fell apart but kept the remains…  So?  This is where it should have joined the huge PILE of failed toy lines, even in good times, right?  Well, what saved it is that they had liscenced the brand to Marvel on a real long term generous contract - I think for a one-time payment versus royalties.  Marvel was able to
make up ANY story as long as they used the toys and kept it kid marketable… So, you had some now past 30 ex-Hippies with art degrees sitting at Marvel.  And the toy line they were doing comics to promote went bankrupt… Well, there’s a cool thing, don’t know if from early Muppet show or from one of those Rocky & Bullwinkle things - imagine a wrecked theater… “The Show must go on!” someone yells… “Why….?” the lead asks, despairing at the wreckage, like mabye Crazy Harry used too much explosives to launch Gonzo… “Well…  If it doesn’t, we don’t get paid…”  After all, actors, like pornstars, are paid AFTER the performance… “The SHOW must GO ON!!!” shouts the lead with vigor to impress the Bard himself…!     So the guys at Marvel ran with it.  Make the best D--- comic they can, make $ and hopefully it won’t get cancelled or if it does they can argue they were making tons of money so they get re-assigned, not a pink slip.  And they had what was the cliche “Pot-Head” statement:  “What if our Solar System was but an atom in some giant’s
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finger and in our body each atom is a solar system?”  “Huhuuuuh….Deeeeep….” - right out of Animal House, but only because it was heavily cliche for the time, countless real life instances of similar bursts of ‘genius’ during inebriated/intoxicated states.      But - they ran with it, and they made it WORK.  By the time Marvel realized Micronauts toys were no more they looked at the books and only short of top tier sellers like Spider-Man and Daredevil under Frank Miller were they making sales less than awesome.  Certainly enough to justify the salaries and make a good profit.  Again Marvel had more or less bought the “Comic Book” rights under a sweet, long lasting deal to a now dead toy line.  Closing the thing down would have only thrown away an opportunity to make more money.  They had a similar thing going with ROM the SpaceKnight - which I’ll get to later. But - oh, the story they wove…!
They came from Inner-Space
They came from Inner-Space They came from Inner-Space They came from Inner-Space MICRONAUTS