Atomic Robo and the Dogs of War #2

September 20, 2008
Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #2 (Red 5 Comics)
By Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener & Derrick Fish

Facing off against the giant Nazi warbot, Atomic Robo attempts to make a daring escape, but winds up leading the enemy into battle against the Allied soldiers attempting to take Sicily away from the Axis powers. And friends, if that sentence isn’t enough to make you realize this comic book is awesome, you just don’t know what awesome is. If there’s any way to make two fighting robots more exciting, you’ve gotta make one of ’em a Nazi to root against. The book is exciting, the writing is crisp, the artwork is sharp and the comic book as a whole is more fun than anything else I’ve read all month. The back-up, featuring a more contemporary Robo fighting a giant monster in a diaper, is equally exciting and silly. This book is pure joy, and you owe it to yourself to pick it up and remember that comics are allowed to be fun once in a while.
Rating: 9/10

I, Zombie #12

March 5, 2011

Title: Next of Kin

Writer: Chris Roberson
Art: Michael Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Michael Allred
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Gwen’s latest snack has really been plaguing her. The brains she has to eat to maintain cohesion give her bits and pieces of the memories of the dead, with a compulsion to fix their unfinished business… but with her own memories scrambled since she became a zombie, Gwen didn’t realize at first that the daughter the woman in her head is bemoaning was once Gwen’s childhood friend.

Chris Roberson created a very unique, unusual status quo for the zombie character in this book, something I’ve never seen anywhere else in any form. It’s a really cool idea, something that makes you invest in this character a lot more than you would some standard, ordinary zombie. It also opens up the stories to a lot of different pathways that you never see with the typical Romero zombie, or any of the permutations that have spun out of him. The different tiers of the dead and undead in this world also makes it unique, and we see even more of that this month. Ellie the ghost starts learning some new tricks from Amon the mummy, the town’s vampires start making moves for a feast of their own, and Gwen gets a hell of a shock on the last page.

Michael Allred is one of the real greats of comic book art. His work is beautiful, evocative, full of energy and often very funny. His stuff doesn’t look like anyone else’s, and that helps the very unique story when it comes to giving this comic book its identity. What this all boils down to is this: I love I, Zombie, and I’m really excited to see where the story goes next.

Rating: 9/10

Hulk and Power Pack #3

May 18, 2007
Hulk and Power Pack #3 (Marvel Comics)
By Marc Sumerak & Andy Kuhn

When a green behemoth starts tearing up New York, the Power Pack kids think their friend the Hulk has lost control. As they set out to find him, to help him and — if necessary — to stop him, they soon discover the dangers of jumping to conclusions. As usual, one of the things I simply love about this series is how well Sumerak can slip in a moral lesson without getting preachy or heavy-handed. The same holds true here — the kids learn an important lesson, while at the same time engaging in a great old-fashioned superhero story. The ending is one of the best cliffhangers since the Power Pack franchise was releaunched a couple of years ago. As always, this is one of the best comics for young readers that Marvel — or anybody else, for that matter — is publishing.

Rating: 8/10