Atomic Robo is a serious that, strangely, I only read every now and then missing quite a few issues. I say strangely because the series is just so good I should really read it more. Even though I haven’t read Atomic Robo for a while was it an enjoyable read? 

The answer is hell freaking yes. Atomic Robo is a series that’s just so much fun and has such great characters and writing that regardless of whether you follow it issue to issue or are picking it up for the first time you’ll love it, no doubt.  

In this issue Robo is taking some time out from his study with Mr Tesla and is attempting to moonlight as a vigilante with the local crime fighter, Jack Tarot. While Robo may grate on his nerves the conclusion to this issue hints that having Robo along may have been a very wise move.  

A lot of what makes Robo so fun is his almost childlike innocence. It was quite funny seeing Robo run off question after question about who Tarot’s nemesis was because he’d read it in a comic book and what all the stuff in his secret hid out was. In this series Robo is quite new to adventuring and he really just wants to get some excitement in his life. His amazement provides a lot of the comedy when he’s with Tarot but then Clevinger does a good job of showing two sides to Robo. When he’s back with his creator Tesla he seems bored and distracted, like a bored teenager just looking to rebel, and his dismissive attitude towards Tesla’s science and the apparent adventures it brings is also quite funny and gives depth to the character.  

It always amazes me that Scott Wegner is able to get so much expression and emotion into the faces of his characters especially when one of them is a robot. Robo doesn’t even have a mouth but the way Wegner draws the eyes tells me everything I need to know and Wegner’s art really helps to sell the many quick witted jokes in Clevinger’s script. I did find Tarot’s daughter’s face a little bit odd and abstract compared to everyone else in one or two panels, the eyes seemed off, and Tarot himself seemed to have the same expression, like he doesn’t have any lips, for most of the issue. Still it’s a very bright and cleanly drawn issue that works well for the series and I was really digging the 1930’s setting.  

I would really like to pick up the next issue of Atomic Robo but I know that even if I don’t the next time I come back to the series the same good natured fun and humor that peppers this issue and past issues is sure to greet me.