New York Comic con happened a short while ago, and as always I went to go meet up with all the various publishers and meet some of my favorite authors. As I have said in previous years, and will keep saying, Comic cons are meet ups for every fandom on the planet, and I firmly believe that it is difficult to not have a good time at one. If you haven’t been, you should check your local con out. You never know what you are going to see or who you are going to meet. For example, while I was wandering around NYCC I happen to bump into the author and artist of one of my favorite comics, reminding me of its existence and how much I love it.
I am not a huge comic fan myself (mostly because I could never afford them as a child) but I have really enjoyed a few over the years, In particular, I have one science fiction comic I absolutely adore: Atomic Robo. Robo tells the story of a conscious robot build by Tesla in the 1920s as he works as a sort of weird science ghost buster. He assembles a team of marines/scientists around him and travels the world solving various scientific and magical issues that crop up. The first thing you should know about Atomic Robo, is it is all online for free because it was so popular that the physical copies (which are out of print) are hard to find. I feel that sentence is telling both on how good the comic is and how great its creators, Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener, are.
Atomic Robo’s story is told mostly in vignettes and monster-of-the-week style encounters. The comic is hilarious, which is honestly a stand out quality in a sea of comics that are trying to be funny and failing. The humor revolves around scientific jokes (like a team of scientists arguing that giant ants are a physical impossibility and can’t exist while almost getting killed by giant ants), really bad puns, and Robo’s snarky and sarcastic attitude:
This kind of humor might not be for everyone, but I am willing to bet that a ton of you will love it. On top of being funny, Atomic Robo has that rare balance of juxtaposing humor and heartache that makes both stronger. Stories tackle things like how Robo doesn’t age and slowly has to watch his friends and colleagues grow old. These sections are very well written and really pull you into the comic.
However, while some of the vignettes can be very touching I do think that the comic can lack a little bit of depth. There is a somewhat central plot that runs through the various comics, but it doesn’t quite have enough substance to keep me anchored and invested in the comic at all times. One of the cool things about running into the creators of Atomic Robo was that I was reminded of its existence. While I adore the comic in the moment, I often forget about it once I finish the most recent issue. The lack of a continuous plot can leave me without a sense of urgency to keep up with it, which is a shame for all the reasons I listed above.
I really enjoy Atomic Robo, and I think you might as well. You should give it a look. If it did a better job of creating a sense of urgency it would be my top recommended comic – but second place is not bad. If you are looking for a lovable sarcastic crew who have a penchant for dad jokes and science, give Atomic Robo a whirl.
Rating: Atomic Robo – 8.0/10
-Andrew
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