Broken Frontier

This has got to be the funniest, most quotable issue of Atomic Robo yet, and that’s high praise, to be sure. Since its debut this series from Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener has always had a sense of light hearted adventure about it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. Just like Robo in times of battle.

So who is Robo you ask? Atomic Robo is the product of genius inventor Nikola Tesla and is essentially a robotic fighter of all manner of odd entities. He also seems to possess the wit of Spider-Man, if not his handy superpowers.

This issue in the new "Shadow from Beyond Time" mini-series is the most wordy yet. It doesn’t exactly encroach on Bendis territory, but for a fun series like this, it has a lot of dialogue and very little punching. However, with Clevinger’s razor edged humour behind the keyboard, too many words is not enough. The whole issue pretty much consists of Robo, in a rather fetching hat, driving around town in 1926, with Charles Fort as his passenger, as the unlikely pair chase a huge tentacled alien creature menacing hapless citizens, and causing much property damage, as tentacled menaces often do.

This issue actually had me laugh out loud, which is a rarity in any comic these days. It’s obvious that Clevinger and Wegener are enjoying creating Robo’s various escapades, and the metallic hero is the perfect funnel for their charming humour.

Wegener has art that is never exaggerated, but suitably cartoony for a fun series like this. He manages motion, and emotion very well, and knows how to pace a comic to get the full extent of laughs. Pacing is the key to humour in comics and Wegener handles it like a master. The highlight here would have to be the frantic discussion when Robo is talking with his creator Tesla on the car phone and trying to discreetly gather clues as to how to destroy the creature before him. The banter makes it seem like Robo is the naughty child who’s just taking his parent’s beloved car out for a spin while they’re away, and it works splendidly.

There’s pretty much a chortle on every page here and this issue brings back the fun and funny to comics in a big way.