Atomic Robo Vol 5: The Deadly Art of Science #5 (Red 5 – Clevinger / Wegener / Pattison / Powell)

A mad scientist’s quest for immortality has reached its zenith and put the entire island of Manhattan in danger! It’s up to Atomic Robo and the vigilante gunfighter/incredibly reluctant mentor Jack Tarot to put a stop to it. Too bad they’re already captured!

When I sit down to read Atomic Robo – my expectations are that I will get action, comedy, awesome character shtick and a great story all wrapped inside a sci-fi pulp clam-shell.  And not once in the five volumes or in the four years that I have been reading Robo has the creative team failed me.

This issue closes out volume 5 which serves as an origin to how Robo got involved with crime-fighting, where Robo first learned to shoot and why you can’t judge a book by it’s cover or an old scientist by his lab coat (Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are both way more than they seem!)

As usual, in short – this book is Brilliant!

Brain Clevinger (author) intimately and intuitively knows what makes a great adventure story.  From the overall push of the volume (Robo acting on his instincts and moving out of the lab and into the field) to the supporting details surrounding the characters (dialogue, interactions, nuances) – Clevinger nails every piece of it and makes Atomic Robo the most consistently well-written book in my memory. The art team does an equally phenomenal job framing the author’s work, giving flow and atmosphere to the top-notch pulp story.

If you happened to miss this last volume of Robo – first, you should go ask at your independently owned-comic shop and see if they have the back issues.  If it has already sold out, never fear the collected Volume will be out in July!

Publication Date: 2011-07-13
Format: Trade Paperback, Full Color, 6.5 x 10, Soft Cover, 152 pages
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-0-980930

The Bottom Line: This issue of Robo, the upcoming trade and every other issue that I have ever read of Atomic Robo is well worth it’s cover price. Atomic Robo is perfect geek book that many other sci-fi type superhero titles wish they could be.

Grade: A