Atomic Robo: Revenge of the Vampire Dimension #1 (of 4)
Written by Brian Clevinger
Art by Scott Wegener
Colors by Ronda Pattison
Letters by Jeff Powell
Red 5 Comics
Price: $3.50
Release date: February 17, 2010

For three years now, Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener have been presenting us with the ongoing adventures of Atomic Robo and his fighting scientist. They’ve given us stories of giant Nazi killing machines, walking pyramids, and monsters from beyond all time and space. I’ve read this series since the beginning, and I have to say that this is the best issue of the series yet.

The mix of comedy and action has been this series strong suit from the beginning, and it remains one of the best things about this series, but artist Scott Wegener has really improved since the first series and maybe this is just the first time I really appreciated that fact. He has become a master at laying out the panels on the page in the best way to tell the joke. The layout of each page is very simple; four or five panels each page, but the images that he chooses for each page work perfectly. The storytelling is rock solid, and everything about the art makes this comic work.

Of course, the art would be nothing without the rip roaring story that goes on in this issue. The cover for the issue pretty much lets you know what’s going on. Robo’s headquarters gets invaded by vampires from another dimension, and a new scientist is shown what a normal day on the job is like. The scenario of showing a new member of the team what a normal day is like for Atomic Robo is a great way to bring new readers up to speed on what the series is like, and Clevenger uses the opportunity to tell a story with plenty of action and plenty of humor. He’s been doing the same thing with pretty much every issue since this series began, but there was something about this issue that I really enjoyed.

This is a great series, and one of the best things about it is that each volume stands up on its own, so if you haven’t been reading Atomic Robo this is a great issue to check out. If you like this issue, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the other volumes. It’s just a very entertaining series that never fails to disappoint.

This one gets a solid 5 out of 5 from me.