Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #5 ~ This third series of Atomic Robo concludes with (as revealed last issue) four different Robos from each era the story has occurred in joining forces (and arguing) to destroy the Lovecraftian menace threatening to eat reality. Naturally with four time periods colliding there's a whole lot of temporal mechanics jokes - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure ("69, dudes!") is the kind of thing we're talking about (though if you haven't seen Bill & Ted, trust me, despite the silly title it's a really clever movie) - and that combined with the antics of Robo's Action Scientists in the present (including a stupendously funny two-panel joke involving Jenkins) make for an issue that's as entertaining to read as you'd expect from Atomic Robo by now. That said, I did feel that the finale lacked a little something - some extra 'oomph' from this issue that'd lift it. What the issue gives us is a good conclusion to the story, but it doesn't really add anything, besides the fun-but-not-especially-deep framing device of the present-day 'decomputer' project - as much fun as the time comedy is to read, in concept it's not really anything above what last issue told us was going to happen. Still, this is good comics, no question about that. Check out www.atomic-robo.com for more, including (yay) news of the next Robo story.
We Kill Monsters #3 ~ Despite beginning this issue in a damsel-in-distress situation, Vanessa quickly proves to be no-one's distressed damsel, and with her and the Basher brothers surviving their initial encounter with the big bug monster, this issue sees them make preparations to kill it for good - Vanessa because it killed her father, Jake because he needs its brain fluid to stabilise his mutated arm, and Drew because Jake's his brother and if hunting monsters is what it takes to keep him alive, that's what he'll do. Given a bit of down time between fights this issue devotes a moment to that rather touching (and not overdone) brotherhood, as well as reinforcing that Vanessa is an equal, just as determined and tough as the boys. Then it's on to the big battle, where the art flies solo for much of the time, and does a great job of presenting an exciting and interesting fight without needing dialogue to explain what's going on. There are also two new revelations this issue, which keeps the overall story moving along nicely. Thanks again to Red 5 comics for sending this preview (as well as one of Robo #5).
Athena #1 ~ It's not the most original set-up - ancient god/powerful being/whatever reborn in modern times, with varying degrees of clash between their ancient inner self and whatever modern persona they've adopted to fit in. Luckily, this version of the idea - which has Athena reborn into (with a couple of interesting missteps along the way) a quasi-law-enforcement kind of role, from the looks of things - is handled well, and given a few engaging twists. The main one is the narration - specifically the two voices that 'watch' Athena as she goes about her business, those of Zeus and an owl, who comment interestingly on what happens. There's also the promise of a larger plotline, wasting no time in being introduced - other gods are around, by the looks of things - and a pretty eye-catching cliffhanger to finish the issue (the prologue is nice work too, recounting the origin of the Olympian gods in suitably bold fashion). Besides the main story there's a short Athena-meets-Obama comic in the back, but I didn't read it, as the first thing I saw on the first page was 'takes place after issue #4' - I'm interested by the main story, and I'd like to see it unfold at its own pace, rather than risk spoiling something. All in all though, a good start.
FVZA Preview ~ This is one of those free preview issues that sometimes turn up (like the Marvel 'Saga' ones) on the counter of the comic store for people to take, and it comes from Radical, publishers of Shrapnel. The concept is that zombies and vampires exist, and have been known to exist for some time - they used to be public menaces, fought by various government agencies (much like violent diseases) including the American Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, until vaccines for vampirism and zombieism were created, and they were slowly but surely wiped out as new infections became impossible. The FVZA and similar agencies have been retired - there hasn't been a vampire or zombie case since the 1970s - but the FVZA's former chief, now living in seclusion, believes that one day the threat will return, and he's dedicated his life to educating his grandchildren (the parents implied to have died in a vampire and/or zombie attack) so they'll be ready to survive when it happens. Much of this issue is a historical narrative of the above events - the rest a brief 'present day' sequence showing that, yup, all hell's broken loose again - and the history of the vampire/zombie menace is presented in stark and brutal terms. Two key points emerge, so far as the comic's style goes: firstly, vampires aren't Dracula-style romantic creatures of the night, they're ugly, terrifying monsters, so their pairing with zombies (who are even uglier) makes stylistic sense (and avoids all that Dracula stuff which, frankly, I'm not fond of), and secondly, this one's up there with 28 Days Later (but better plotted) in terms of shock value - the WWII sequence in the history shows serious guts on the part of the creators, to be that horrifying and trust that their story is good enough that it won't come across as gratuitous. I don't know if I'll personally pick this up in issues or wait for a trade - the character we see in the 'present' is the granddaughter, so the heroine factor may be there for me - but this is definitely one to keep an eye on, and if you're a zombie fan, this preview suggests it'll be a must-read.
Agents of Atlas #11 ~ This issue must set some kind of record for bringing things to a climax - not that it feels rushed as such, but the way elements of this big showdown between Atlas and the Great Wall have been seeded into the comic slowly but surely from the very beginning makes it rather startling when, all of a sudden, the whole thing wraps up in a single issue. I suppose it's not so much that the battle occurs and is decided, but that there's not a great deal of loose ends left; that, and the way this title has been running fortnightly for the last few issues has given it a real sense of rapid pacing. Still (as Gorilla Man says in his recap page) next month it's time for Atlas vs X-Men, so perhaps there was an editorial decree to clear the decks before that happened. I'll be watching with interest to see where Atlas goes next; the X-Men aren't a team that features highly on my personal fandom radar, but hopefully there'll be more for Atlas once that crossover is done/
Batgirl #2 ~ It's official, I like this comic - the twin perspectives of Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon come across strongly and distinctly, and the interplay between the two of them, built both on their own personalities and on the history each of them has in their Bat-related roles, is presented effectively (even for someone like me, who's only got limited 'everybody knows' knowledge of the events being referred to) and makes for interesting reading. Stephanie herself gets a bit more background as well, with scenes at college, and shows a nice sense of self in her interactions with her fellow students - not so confident as to be arrogant, but secure in herself, and quite funny a couple of times.
Executive Assistant Iris #3 ~ Iris is after another target, and again she discovers a familiar face from the 'executive assistant academy' in his retinue - luckily (and smartly) this issue takes a twist, rather than just re-hashing #2's EA-vs-EA fight, and together with more academy flashbacks winds up being rather interesting in its own right. That's fortunate, as Iris herself is a bit same-old-same-old thig issue, going through the motions without really progressing as a character - her encounter with 'Lily' provides a bit of character grown for Iris from outside herself, so it works out okay in the end, and the coda for this issue suggests that she's going to be shocked out of her current state soon enough. The action scenes are nice and exciting, with attractive and vigorous art, so all in all this issue is a good package.
JSA vs Kobra: Engines of Faith #4 ~ Funny thing with this miniseries - because it's so much like the regular Justice Society of America (same timeframe, same cast of characters, same location, and so on) I keep having to remind myself what's happened in which comic; Mr. Terrific got stabbed last issue of this, and for a moment when he was bandaged up I thought it was the result of the attack whatsisname, the new recruit, had staged in the regular series. Anyway, despite that, two sets of JSA means twice the enjoyment - here Kobra's assault continues, but Mr. Terrific is getting a handle on how they work, and putting his own counter-strategy into play to mess with them. As before, the juxtaposition of the two narrators - Terrific and Jason, the Kobra guy - over each other's scenes is effective, especially now that it's not all one-sided in terms of who's got the upper hand. And since I always keep an eye out for the inevitable costume error, Cyclone's missing her tank top again - it doesn't make any difference really, but spotting the mistake has become a habit, kind of like 'Where's Wally'.
Batman: Streets of Gotham #4 ~ As usual, I'm just reading the Manhunter backup story - I spotted a 'the end' on the main Batman story, but honestly, I've got plenty to read right now, and Batman's low on my list of priorities; maybe I'll see what the last four issues' worth of Batman are like another time. For now, the good news is that Kate Spencer is back being Kate Spencer, District Attourney, rather than solely parading about as Manhunter; there's some costumed action this issue (maybe it's an editorial requirement or something) but it's three pages out of nine, so there's a decent amount of legal storytelling going on at last. The bad news is that Kate's set her sights on Two-Face, which... I mean, come on, we know she's not going to take down Two-Face. This is the curse of mainstream comics these days - almost nothing ever changes, which makes it really difficult to find a way to make a story count, and just picking a famous name isn't a good strategy to overcome that. Oh well. Still, it's an up-turn on the previous all-costume issues, so that's good.
Invincible Iron Man #18 ~ Tony Stark is in Afghanistan - yup, in a cave, with a box of scraps. Or near enough - between the movie and general knowledge of Iron Man's backstory, I have the knowledge I need to really appreciate the elegance of the direction Tony is moving in, as he backtracks through his life, and his increasingly scrambled (but strangely lucid) mind grapples with it all. Meanwhile on the other side of the plot, Maria Hill and Black Widow are prisoners of H.A.M.M.E.R. but it's okay, because what I guessed was going on last issue turns out to be accurate, and then things really get fun - it's one of those moments when the good guys (or gals) smirk and wink and suddenly their plan swings into action and it is awesome. (Cute shout-out in the art, too, as we see the movie-style Iron Man suit among the various Iron Man armours H.A.M.M.E.R. has confiscated.) All in all, this issue is really firing on all cylinders.
