What I Bought 11/29/2011 - Part 4

We've reached the Atomic Robo portion of our reviews. So let's not waste time gabbing.

Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #1, 3 - Like I said, not consecutive issues. The story begins with a request from NASA to save one of their orbiters which is falling out of orbit. Robo and his crack team of action scientists devise and implement a plan to do so (essentially build a functional airframe around a ridiculously powerful supersonic engine), but surprise! It was a trap, Robo's hit with a satellite, and the first issue ends with him plummeting towards the Earth.

He survives, and he and his team travel to Omaha, where the fake call appears to have originated from. Surprise! The building is empty, but is shortly surrounded by several men with guns. And tanks. And large robots. And an attack helicopter. Multiple attack helicopters, actually. In addition to this, there's a second plot about an entire building that somehow went missing England, and Robo has two of his less than favorite employees working with a member of British Intelligence to sort out where it went, and what is its significance. I assume the two stories will intersect before all is said and done, but it's also possible Clevinger and Wegner are playing the long game here.

Credit to Clevinger. Even though I have the first 5 trades of Atomic Robo, I don't remember all the details of past adventures, but he tells the reader enough to follow along. We know vaguely why those two scientists were sent to Norway on polar bear patrol. The comic also has a quick recap on the inside of the cover, so not totally lost without #2. I like Clevinger's dialogue. I wouldn't describe it as realistic, in the way that some people complain that teenagers or whomever wouldn't use certain terms. But there's wit to it, Clevinger uses it to give us glimpses of supporting characters' personalities, and I do think the way people respond to challenges and other characters is accurate. Pragmatism, anger, pessimism, mild irritation to give them time to think.

Scott Wegner's art helps. He seems like he's capable of rendering emotion or action with a relatively few lines, and yet things are clear and easy to follow. I imagine it takes a lot of work, but it looks like it's easy, which is impressive.