If it was possible, I would type the sound of trumpet horns as they blasted away about my love for this book.  It’s a catchy, brassy tune that pierces the wind with its sonic ressonance spouting joy through the air molecules.  It would travel quickly, spreading until it found its way to the 1’s and 0’s of the digital mainframe, constructing itself to these fine words for this fine review.

Atomic Robo is a series that I’ve newly found.  After listening to gushing on the forums, I decided to pick up the first trade, and I was completely blown away by how amazing it was.  It had action and humor and a great sci-fi/pulp story to go with it.  I like to think of this book as “Hellboy-bright.”  It has the depth of the series, but it also has a completely lovable, indestructible hero that makes light of the worst situations.  But this is “Hellboy-bright” because Atomic Robo doesn’t deal with the darker side of humanity that can be found in the myths, legends, and fables of the past.  No, it relishes itself in pulpy deliciousness.  It’s a whiz bang book with quick dialogue, explosive action, and perfect comedic timing.  Frankly, it’s one of the best new series I’ve read in a long time.

Imagine my joy then, when after finishing the first trade, I saw that a new series had started.  Last week, I picked up the first issue and was loving how excellent it was.  This month’s issue is no different.  Atomic Robo is proving to be one smart hero both in combat and with his wit.  Part of the joy of this book is reading Robo’s jokes as he fights horrific machines and deals with the situation ahead of him.  He is respected by his human counterparts, but they show their love through ribbing and making light of Robo and his methods.  This issue ends with a perfect dialogue between Robo and a soldier.  In his letter to his sweetheart, the soldier closes the letter like this:

“War is like a thing you can’t imagine…and then there’s the robots.”

It’s scenes and dialogue like this that really paint the genius behind the series.  This is a series that embodies what we should all believe about comics:  that they should be well crafted, tell a great story, but most all, they should be fun.

The pencils in the book are excellent, and I really enjoy the way that the action is laid out.  I will admit that there are few panels where the layouts are kind of weird (one that springs to mind involves missiles firing from an enemy robot…the shot is framed so you can’t really tell where the missiles are coming from.)  The art compliments the excellent writing, and in a book that has humor, pacing can be a crucial component.  And the art nails it.  It’s dynamic, clean, but most of all, fun.