Digitally Speaking...50

This column features an ongoing tour of material I've read from my comiXology account...

The Trial of Atomic Robo (Tesladyne)
From 2015.

For the first time since Red 5 has existed and participated in Free Comic Book Day, it didn't feature Atomic Robo in its release.  No 2015 FCBD Robo.  That may have something to do with the fact that creators Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener are migrating Robo to a new publishing platform, which is to say, he's becoming a webcomic.  Apparently that's how Clevenger started out his career, and so that's where he's returning, and he's taking Robo with him.  Trial is part of this transition, and as part of the festivities Doctor Dinosaur returns.  Atomic Robo is one of many, many comics that heavily feature absurdist humor, and there's no character in its history that better features this instinct than Doctor Dinosaur.  The title is somewhat misleading, since it's in fact a Doctor Dinosaur trial (which rapidly degenerates and is resolved in typical blunt Robo style).  The whole thing explains the appeal of Atomic Robo in one of its more charming aspects, but doesn't necessarily translate the overall thrust of Clevenger's storytelling, which is not always so absurdist.  Still, if you like your comics absurd, then Trial makes an excellent argument for joining the ranks of Robo's fans.

Descender #3 (Image)
From 2015.

The previous issue introduced emotional depth to the story, and so it was a matter of building on that for the follow-up, and not just the apparent death of the lead character...This issue manages to pull off such a difficult task by introducing new depth to the story itself, giving Tim a quest and even additional wrinkles to the existential matters inherent to Jeff Lemire's little robot.  Descender isn't the first story to tackle the rights of artificial life, but it's doing so with uncommon nuance, which once again is down to not only Lemire's writing but Dustin Nguyen's art.  Recently I became aware of the fact that the series launched to a sizable audience, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Fighting Stranger: Chapter Two (HicksVillain)
From 2013.

By the end of Chapter One, we learned somewhat unexpectedly that Stranger's day constantly repeats.  Chapter Two explains how this is an entirely orchestrated spectacle, and how a few citizens of the city Stranger escapes each day band together to change Stranger's day, break the loop, and hopefully one day overcome the mutant overlords that keep them all oppressed.  Fighting Stranger remains a pleasant discovery, filled with excellent storytelling and the occasional killer line, and this second installment enriches the whole thing even as the title character takes a backseat to help accomplish it.  The movie Edge of Tomorrow, I'm told was something like this.  If you were one of the people pleasantly surprised by that movie, you might enjoy Fighting Stranger as well.  The story continues here.

Swamp Thing #40 (DC)
From 2015.

The final issue of the series and also Charles Soule's last work for DC (for however long that lasts; at least Marvel had the good sense to let him write the Lando comic in its Star Wars line), something I'd hoped to read in print, had the local shop order me a copy when it sold out on original release, still haven't seen, gave up waiting for, and so I bought it digitally...I hopped around Soule's run and was always playing catch-up anyway, so it's only appropriate that I'm a little late to the conclusion.  Soule once again pulls off the unthinkable: imagine if Grant Morrison didn't go full meta in Animal Man and instead left it simply at Buddy Baker only realizing he was a fictional character.  That's what Swamp Thing discovers when he hides in the pages of a book.  By the end of the issue, he's seen reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is a novel about cyclical life that eventually ends.  It's clear that Soule parted with Swamp Thing reluctantly, but he also recognizes that above all else he was part of a whole tradition, and that regardless of what happens in this issue, Swamp Thing's story continues.  It's a fitting way to go, with far more grace than creators tend to exhibit, taking the ego out of the proceedings where it's far more common (even though this is usually pretty enjoyable to read) for the departing writer to weave some clever metaphor about why it's such a bittersweet if not outright bad development.  I may lament DC's loss, but it's not as if Soule hasn't left a lot of great storytelling behind.  That's a legacy, folks.

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.

Digitally Speaking...#3: "Atomic Robo"

Atomic Robo #1 (Red 5)
From 2007.  This is the very first Atomic Robo appearance.  I fell in love with this guy immediately, and remain perpetually perplexed that everyone else hasn't either by now.  I think it remains a problem of being published by an otherwise completely pointless comic book company.  As far as I'm concerned, Robo is the Hellboy model improved, which I know is a kind of heresy among third tier comic book icons, but based on comparisons and execution of the concept, that can be my only conclusion.  Hellboy and Robo are both fairly exceptional individuals who are nonetheless presented in situations not of their own making, where they are agents of some other entity.  Hellboy is a member of the B.P.R.D.  You know him from a couple of movies.  His secret origin is not completely different from Spawn's, actually.  Robo is a creation of Nikola Tesla, the great forgotten scientific genius.  He (Robo) is entirely fictional, of course, but he's the rare effort to present scientific genius, much less Tesla (Jeff Smith's RASL is the other), credibly.  I know, this is a comic book staple, especially in Marvel storytelling (which may explain why I am generally not a Marvel guy), but it's usually done so poorly.

The difference when Robo does it is that his adventures approach science the same way they approach everything else.  And reading this debut over again, it's striking to realize that he's basically Superman.  Seriously.  Brian Clevinger, genius creator and writer of these adventures, should have been given all kinds of work once everyone discovered how great he was, and here and there he's been given opportunities, but mostly for Marvel (I guess it kind of figures) when it's DC that should be scooping him up, even if he's only given as a trial run a completely out of continuity tale of Superman.  That should happen.  The whole point of Robo is that he thoroughly outclasses all his opposition, and his stories are always still completely fun to read.  It's the execution.  Isn't the knock against Superman that he's too powerful to be a credible read?  Robo has been proving that argument a joke since 2007.

Atomic Robo FCBD 2008
The genius of Red 5 is that it has been presenting Atomic Robo adventures on Free Comic Book Day since 2008.  Even if you haven't somehow discovered Robo yet on your own, Red 5 is confident enough to keep giving you the free option, like clockwork, every year.  You will enjoy Atomic Robo, damnit!  And these freebies are no cheapies, either.  They're just as awesome as the regular comics.  This one, which once again exploits the great artwork of Robo stalwart Scott Wegener, also helps demonstrate another of Robo's unique characteristics, that he can be presented at any point in history after his creation, which is why the previous story is set during WWII and this one in 1961, and Robo himself doesn't change at all.  He's still an agent of the US military, just as ambivalent about that now as then, but just as willing and capable of throwing himself into a crazy situation, which here involves another scientific genius who the Russians hid for years, who gets to deliver an epic speech that in many other hands would have been wordy-wordy-wordy but in Clevinger's play to all conventions and still works, just like everything else about Robo's adventures.

Atomic Robo FCBD 2009
Witness the hilarious debut of Dr. Dinosaur!  In order for any character to truly become a classic, they need at least one more classic character next to them.  That's Dr. Dinosaur, and this whole issue is dedicated to explaining how perfectly awesome he is, and how he helps explain the great appeal of Robo's adventures.  And it was free!  This story takes place in 1999, by the way.

Atomic Robo FCBD 2010
This one's comparatively lightweight, just a fun lark with "the least extinct birds" you'll ever meet, which has some fun with Robo as part of a team.

Atomic Robo FCBD 2011
This one's set in 2011 (and 2021), and features Robo attending a school science fair.  But it gets better!  Dr. Dinosaur better!  And the best part isn't even Dr. Dinosaur, but rather gifted young Emma, who might be a great way to sell Atomic Robo to kids (or in this instance, give it away!) through her sheer enthusiasm, and of course love for Robo and how he tells her to wait until she's old enough to join him and then she does and then does.  It's classic Robo.  Also, if you like Doctor Who there's a good bit in this one for you!

Atomic Robo FCBD 2012
"Because I am the wizard of all spreadsheets!"  Robo has a couple of unlikely allies in this one, including...Dr. Dinosaur!  Until Dr. Dinosaur turns the tables!  This one is written and drawn by Wegener.  No discernible loss in awesomeness!

Atomic Robo FCBD 2013
This one rather ominously presents a real threat to Robo, another robot who is far less easy to beat than his other foes so far.  (Although it should be noted that like the last issue, this one's set in 2010.)  Some evil military types realize that because this robot was stopped not by Robo but by a weapon, can probably be used as a weapon against Robo, especially if there are more of them.  Is Atomic Robo in trouble???  Perhaps only Free Comic Book Day 2014 (May 3!) will know for sure!!!  (Although the preview doesn't suggest so.)