Saturday, September 03, 2011

A review of Atomic Robo volume 6 number 1

Written: Brian Clevinger
Art: Scott Wegener
Colors: Ronda Pattison
Letters: Jeff Powell
Publication Date: 2011-09-07
Format: Comic, Full Color, 6.5 x 10, Soft Cover, 32 pages
Price: $3.50
Diamond Code: JUN111232
UPC: 811316010658

Seriously, Atomic Robo lives up to the billing as "The World's Greatest Science Adventure Magazine!"

We all know that is a reference to The Fantastic Four and the "world's greatest comic." We all know the importance of the FF in the comic world. Atomic Robo is that important of a comic.

Even in this sixth incarnation, and they all stand alone so don't be afraid to start right here, the comic is just a flat-out good read.

Pacing is excellent. It really reminds me of the classic 80s Justice League by Giffen and DeMatteis, with humor and realistic dialogue.

Dialogue is fantastic--I mean, when's the last time you read a book where you went back to dialogue because you wanted to know what every single line meant? As you read it, yes, you easily understand the plot and what they are doing, but the scientific jargon just makes you want to go back and actually understand it because you can tell it is based on, at least, real theories. When Reed Richards comes up with some kind of explanation, the reader just keeps reading--it's all just like "reversing the polarity," which we all know is sci-fi jargon for the writer fixing the situation without actually knowing how to do it. Here in Atomic Robo, after analyzing the dialogue, it really makes sense. I actually looked up some of these terms from the book simply because they were really cool and I wanted to know more. When's the last time a comic made you go look something up?

Atomic Robo has never disappointed. And it isn't starting now as this adventure is well under way. I know we all have a bunch of new #1s that we somehow hope may be good, but here is a #1 that is truly good. Plus, this is a mini-series--what are you going to do, buy 52 comics every month to keep up? And go back and get the other Atomic Robo series. If you like comics, trust me, you'll love Atomic Robo.

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