Creators: Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener
If you don’t know what Red 5 Comics is, you may be missing out.
Let me start by just sharing this exchange with you from the third issue of Atomic Robo and the Shadow from Beyond Time:
Carl Sagan (yes, that Carl Sagan): “And you’ve been fighting this being since 1908.”
Robo: “No, Mr. Tesla stopped it then. I wasn’t introduced to this thing until it came out of H.P. Lovecraft’s head in 1926.”
First, understand that Robo is not talking figuratively. The creature in question came out of Lovecraft’s head. Second, see how you feel. If you read that and said to yourself, “That’s ridiculous,” then stop reading right here. Atomic Robo is not for you.
If, on the other hand, you said, “That sounds kind of awesome,” then let’s talk. (Oh, and you’re right. It is awesome)
Red 5 Comics specializes in books like Atomic Robo. Their stories are over the top: just silly enough that you have fun, but just serious enough that you don’t lose interest. The page layouts are simple and easy to follow (issue 3, for instance, has only one page that isn’t composed entirely of page-wide panels). The art is expressive without being cluttered. There is very little of the linework that makes some mainstream books so dense. The dialog is witty, and free of the too-serious narration boxes that predominate in modern comics.
Robo is an “automatic man,” a thinking robot created by Nikola Tesla. The title chronicles his adventures throughout the 20th century, which see him veer through a wide array of circumstances. His exploits see him cross paths with all sorts of actual historical figures, as well as his fair share of colorful fictional ones. Through it all, Robo’s witty and quirky personality focuses the action down to a personal level. You can’t help but root for Robo.
Both Robo the character and Robo the book owe a lot to Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. The soft-spoken, capable hero with the devil-may-care attitude fights a dizzying array of outlandish baddies. But the setting is different enough that the similarities aren’t that noticeable. One thing that makes Robo stand out is the great job Clevinger does of integrating real historical figures into the story. Biographers of people like Tesla, Edison, FDR, and Sagan might disagree with the particulars, but each seems to be doing and saying the things you’d expect of them. It adds an odd depth to the story.
Shadow From Beyond Time, the third volume of Robo’s adventures, takes place in several different eras as he fights a time-shifting monster intent on (what else?) consuming the whole universe. As we meet Robo in several different eras, we get a glimpse of the phases he goes through. A lot of this has been sketched out before, but it’s still interesting to see. Again, while you can’t accuse the story of being incredibly deep, it’s obviously better planned than just throwing a monster on the page.
The loose and open art style really do a lot for this tale. We get a great sense of the action all the way through, without getting ourselves caught up on details. The open spaces on the page make the action easier to pick out. Robo is a machine of few words most of the time, which opens the visuals up even further. But well as it’s drawn, if the story were a clunker, we still wouldn’t care. Just like in the art, simplicity rules the story. We don’t get a lot of nuance (giant monsters destroying things do not count as “nuance” in most people’s books). What we get instead is a great vehicle for a great character. The plot bounces along at a good clip, keeping us focused on Robo and his plan to beat the baddie.
If Robo has a hard time piecing his plan together, he doesn’t let on outwardly. Part of the appeal is the understated coolness that Robo exudes. Yes, he’s an action hero. But he is also a dutiful lab assistant, a carefree university student, a ’50s businessman who looks great in a suit, and a (mostly) competent CEO. He may not be very smart with people, but he’s smart enough to save the day.
This third series might be the best place yet to get started reading Atomic Robo. I look forward to plenty more Robo from Clevenger, as well as plenty more pure-fun comics from Red 5.
Michael is old enough to know better, but still reads comics. He writes about them to make himself feel less nerdy. 
