By: Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Ronda Pattison (colors)
The Story: The Tesladyne folks are getting closer to learning who is trying to kill Robo.
Four Things:
1. This was the dreaded “transitional issue”. – Things have been busy here at WCBR and we can’t always get to writing reviews of every issue we’d like to shine a light on. That’s a shame because issue #3 of this Ghost of Station X kicked ass. So, wouldn’t you know that when I finally have a slot in my reviewing schedule to work in Atomic Robo, the guys hit me with an issue whose story is kinda transitioning between the set-up and finale. And that means that I can’t gush on and on about the fun and the bombs and the humor the way I usually would (and would have for almost every issue of Robo to date).
2. A little long winded, but very funny still. – Even as this issue was transitioning, it was a little long winded because there was so much ground to cover. This arc wraps up after issue #5 and it was a little like Clevinger realized that he had to hurry up, but still had a pretty complex plot to tie up. It isn’t bad wordiness because Clevinger is a talented writer and he can mostly power through those big word balloons, but it does affect the humor of Robo. So much of his humor is tied up in the timing of funny moments and lots of words make it harder to appreciate the hilarity of Atomic Robo busting through the doors of a truck stop diner and telling the assembled truckers that he “needs a convoy” to disguise him as he tries to sneak into the bad guys’ lair. Still…there is a lot of humor in this issue of Robo. I actually snickered aloud a few times and not many comics can do that.
3. Wegener gets so much personality out of Robo. – Part of what makes this series fun is the way Wegener wrings so much personality out of Robo. Robo is a pretty basic design, but Wegener doesn’t have to worry about drawing muscles or breasts on him so he can just focus on the body language elements of the character: eyes, tilt of head, shoulders, etc. to communicate who Robo is and how he feels. It’s really impressive and I wish more artists would focus on these elements before focusing so much on Wolverine’s biceps (especially since most artists draw biceps wrong anyways). All the other characters have similar amounts of personality and it makes Robo a really fun comic.
4. Still a fun series to read. – This series isn’t losing any freshness after ~6 volumes. This wasn’t the snappiest issue ever, but the rest of this arc has been A-list stuff. It’s generally funny and action packed.
Conclusion: Not the strongest issue of Atomic Robo, but that’s more of wrinkle in the pacing of the story arc than anything technically “wrong” with the story or art. Looking forward to the finale in a month or so.
Note: One of the highest compliments I can give Robo is that I’ve gone 100% digital on this series and I still read it the week it comes out. My pull list get’s pretty extensive and I’ve found that as I switch titles to the “digital” side, it’s easy to defer them because I also have OGNs and back issues I’d like to read and those digital issues will never “sell out” and necessitate hunting on eBay. And once you defer a comic, it’s amazing how few you truly miss. Atomic Robo is never in that category. I always download it and enjoy it shortly after it comes out…. not because it’s on my pull list at the comic shop and the owner will think I’m a dick if I don’t buy it, but because it’s good and I really enjoy it. A LOT of superhero comics are going to struggle in digital for this precise reason, but Robo will be fine.
Grade: B-
– Dean Stell
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