Review by Frank Plowright
Whether or not it was the original intention, Atomic Robo doesn’t follow a chronological continuity, and here we jump around for five feature length bouts of excitement occurring over a few weeks in 1999, beginning with a vampire infestation. As explained on Scott Wegener’s sample page they’re not the traditional vampires, just inter-dimensional beings who behave in much the same manner, but lacking the traditional weaknesses. Still, that doesn’t prevent them being pretty much cannon fodder for Tesladyne action scientist Jenkins, his bloodthirsty competence now developing into a series running joke.
Brian Clevinger follows that with a big robot in Japan, which is good, but nowhere near as good as the appearances of Dr. Dinosaur on a Pacific island. As presented here, it actually combines two stories, the first of which was included in earlier editions of Dogs of War, but it’s better placed here. As many other reviewers will tell you, encounters with Dr. Dinosaur are highlights of a generally excellent series, and so it proves. Let’s start with the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, which is a small dinosaur with a gun claiming they’ve created a time machine. They also claim to be a genius, and have nothing but contempt for mammals. Clevinger conceives an entire (baseless) scientific theory backing up the claims as the dinosaur shoots at Atomic Robo while boasting about their superiority. It’s a pastiche mash-up of so many pulp stories, and Wegener’s art ensures the success by not tipping into exaggeration. It’s a cartoon riot.
The preposterous situations and daft conversations continue in the second part, in which Atomic Robo continues to punch holes in the dinosaur’s logic, and this is even funnier as Clevinger has to think a little harder because he used so many good lines in the first part. Wegener ends the madness with a homage illustration you may or may not recognise.
New employee Bernard tips up in the opening story, learning on the job as the vampires invade, and he’s back for the finale in which the team attempt to figure out why a ghost has appeared in the building. That’s them at the top of the cover. It turns out to be someone known to Atomic Robo and to a lot of readers, but rendered as ridiculous as H.P. Lovecraft was in The Shadow From Beyond Time.
Atomic Robo began well, and just keeps improving, and this makes for a good sample of the madness on offer. Next is The Deadly Art of Science, or alternatively that and this can be found in The Crystals Are Integral Collection.
