Atomic Robo: The Knights of the Golden Circle #2 (Red 5)

writer: Brian Clevinger
artist: Scott Wegener

via comiXology

Hey, so I love Atomic Robo.  This is his ninth mini-series.  Yeah!  The only one I haven't caught at least one issue of is the previous one, Atomic Robo and the Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur, which sucks, because Dr. Dinosaur is easily the second best thing about Atomic Robo other than, of course, Nikola Tesla, I mean Atomic Robo!

The draw of this particular arc is, besides a Western gimmick (most of Robo's stories are centered on genre gimmicks, which is fine, because being an ageless artificial lifeform, he not only can be in pretty much any setting, but this is a concept that readily embraces the strange), is that it is, to my mind, the first time our hero has been in an actual life-threatening scenario.

Now, Robo's actually in the past.  He's been thrust into the past.  Just to make that clear.  But he's been cut off from anyone or anything that can sustain his robotic body.  If he's somehow damaged or runs out of power, that's it.  One of the many, many Free Comic Book Day releases Red 5 has put out over the years (Robo is this publisher's bread and butter) hinted at dire possibilities once, but this is a departure from the usually lighthearted, brainy-but-in-a-fun-way adventures he and his fans have enjoyed in the past.  Not a huge departure, because it's still a wonky idea, but in the world of Atomic Robo, that's an exceptionally, reliably good thing.

Because he's the star of a tiny publisher, Robo doesn't have near the exposure he deserves.  Anywhere else he'd be a household (a geek household, anyway) name by now.  He'd have a cartoon.  Maybe even an extremely awesome movie!  But here he is, the star of Red 5.  This is his ninth mini-series, and he's at sixty issues, mini-series and FCBD releases considered, which is quite an achievement.  He's becoming a legitimate icon, even if in a minor context.  I'm proud to call myself a fan.