Review: Atomic Robo and the Specter of Tomorrow #4

It seems like all of Atomic Robo“s chickens are coming home to roost and possessing evil farm animals may be yet another violation of the HOA rules.

Robo is leading a team on a Pacific island where a self-aware super-computer has taken control of an army of cyborgs and is bent on taking over and/or destroying the world. To defeat them, Robo must join up with YET ANOTHER cloned brain of the Nazi Baron von Helsingard in a cyborg body, who is trying to recover his cyborg army from the evil supercomputer. Meanwhile in Hungary, Phil and Julie are on the run from Astra which wants to make them part of the cyborg army.

Back in New Mexico, Doctors Lang and Abasi are trying to save the Tesladyne Institute from the most insidious of all enemies, the Homeowner“s Association headed by the cruel Sir Richard Branson. Lang thinks he may have found a way out of the noise violations preventing Tesladyne from completing any of their buildings, but will have to get help from Elon Musk.

I can smell a whole lot of inevitable betrayal going on here.

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener have long settled into their five-act story structure. They know how to balance the action and comedy so that the elements don“t step on each other and ruin the beats of the story. Instead, each of the elements is brought in to heighten the stories in a single adventure that is thrilling and fun.

One of the things that is great about the Atomic Robo stories is that new readers can pick up any story and have no problems following the five issue arcs. At the same time, each of these arcs, which can stand alone, pay off for people who are more familiar with these characters. Celvinger and Wegener have practiced this storytelling skill and it really pays off. It is a shame that Marvel and DC have lost this skill and sometimes make it such a high bar for newcomers to enjoy their stories.

There is one more chapter to go in this adventure. How will it all wrap up and will Robo be shot through time – again – at the end of it? There is only one way to find out. See you in 30.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Brian Clevinger
Artist: Scott Wegener
Colors: Anthony Clark
Letters: Jeff Powell
Publisher: IDW Publishing

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!