Reviews Atomic Robo (Vol 2): Atomic Robo and the Dogs of War

Atomic Robo and the Dogs of WarErica Gives This Comic Four StarsAtomic Robo (Vol 2): “Atomic Robo and the Dogs of War” by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener

Atomic Robo made me cry. Actually, the introduction by the author and the artist made me cry. Atomic Robo certainly hits on the trend of people my age being fascinated with the between World Wars era and World War II. Plus, it carries some clear steam-punk sensibilities in Robo’s design and some of the monsters he fights. But I think what Clevinger and Wegener hit on in the introductions is something critics of our fascination miss: our relationship with our grandparents, who lived during that time. We were the “latch key” kids of Baby Boomers, who spent a lot of time with grandma and grandpa. (Perhaps even more than our own parents did with theirs as they grew up when Western peoples immigrated or moved across country.) Atomic Robo is a tribute to our grandfathers: of the good things and the humor. People die, but Atomic Robo isn’t here to remind us about the horrors of the war — except perhaps the steam-punk horror inserted into Robo’s villains — but celebrates the best war stories where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. It helps that Atomic Robo’s bulletproof. Continue reading “Reviews Atomic Robo (Vol 2): Atomic Robo and the Dogs of War”