Reviews- Atomika Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

ATOMIKA VOL. 1: GOD IS RED (Mercury, 2006; Softcover)

Collects Atomika Nos. 1-6 (cover dates March, 2005- January, 2006)

Writer: Sal Abbinanti and Andrew Dabb

Artists: Sal Abbinanti

I really enjoyed this the first time that I read it, and I had to pull it out and re-read it since so much time has passed between volumes. This was every bit as good on the re-read. I love the cold, oppressive feel of Sal Abbinanti's artwork. He's not Russian, but his art sure makes it look like he is. Atomika looks and feels like nothing else on the market today.

The OCD zone- The paper stock is nice, but the covers in the back of the book rather than chapter markers makes my OCD signals turn yellow. This is fortunately rectified in Vol. 2. 

ATOMIKA VOL. 2: GOD IS RED BOOK TWO (Mercury, 2012; Softcover)

Collects Atomika Nos. 7-12 (cover dates December, 2006- 2011)

Writer: Andrew Dabb

Artist: Sal Abbinanti

After a few years, I finally got to read the second half of the first arc! It was worth the wait. (Mild spoiler-ish snippets ahead.) Atomika believes himself to be a God, and he may well be, but he was a God without wisdom or humility (if Gods can be said to have humility). He learns humility, compassion, and the wisdom that can only come by being a parent. This is both heady stuff and a fun, punch 'em up superhero-esque romp. The concept of a God growing up and maturing is interesting to say the least.

I can only hope that both trade paperbacks get reissued as a deluxe hardcover down the road. I recommend Atomika to the connoisseur of fine comic books as well as the comic book layman who prefer their funny books to be more mainstream. It works as both.

This book was not released through Diamond due to their unfair, anti-competitive discrimination of small press publishers. Monopolies suck. It can be ordered online here. My copy arrived in just a few days, and in prefect condition. 

The OCD zone- Not only are the covers in their 'proper' chapter marker locations, but they have the actual trade dress on them! I love it when they show the logo and cover price. In this day of digital separations, trade dress for covers are typically not shown on collections of modern comic books. Most people that I have talked to prefer the latter, but I'll take the authentic comic book look over that any day.

The paper is a nicer stock than Vol. 1, and has more of a sheen to it. It captures the color better than the paper in Vol. 1. 

Junk Food For Thought (From Another World)

CITY OF OTHERS (Dark Horse, 2008)

Collects City of Others Nos. 1-4 (cover dates February- August, 2007)

Vampires, werewolves, zombies, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and it was in the half off box at the Motor City Con. We have a winner! This would have been good even at full price.

IRON MAN: DOOMQUEST (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects Iron Man Nos. 149, 150, 249, 250 (cover dates August- September, 1981 and Mid-November- December, 1989)

Excellent stuff by David Michelinie and the team of John Romita, Jr. and Bob Layton. Doctor Doom is a great foil for Iron Man, and the time travel aspect of each arc is great. I would love to see more '80s Iron Man collected in trade or hardcover. Janice Chiang does the lettering on 249 and 250, and it is horrible. Her hand lettering totally detracts from the reading experience. Aside from that, my only gripe is the fact that this book has perforated glued binding, which is total, utter garbage and has no place in hardcovers. I got this brand new for half price at the Motor City Con in May.

BLADE: BLACK & WHITE (Marvel, 2004)

Collects Blade: Crescent City Blues No. 1, and selections from and Marvel Preview Nos. 3, 6 Marvel Shadows and Light No. 1, and Vampire Tales Nos. 8, 9 (cover dates December, 1974- March, 1998).

Like the title states, this a collection of black and white Blade stories. These are solid, enjoyable reads loaded with '70s smack talk. I love '70s jive fool comic book smack talkin'. I would like to see Marvel do a hardcover collection of Blade at some point in time.

WILDGUARD VOL. 1: CASTING CALL (Image, 2005)

Collects Wildguard: Casting Call Nos. 1-6 (cover dates September, 2003- February, 2004)

Good, fun, lighthearted stuff by Todd Nauck. I hope that the rest of the issues published since this book are collected in a trade paperback.

ROAD TO WAR OF KINGS (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Secret Invasions: War of Kings, War of Kings Saga, X-Men: Kingbreaker Nos. 1-4 and a selection from X-Men: Divided We Stand No. 2 (cover dates July, 2008- May, 2009).

This was a great read. It's nice to see comics that cover all of the bases, i.e. character development, a healthy dose of action, tying in to continuity, etc. Props to all of the creators involved! Now I want to get War of Kings hardcover, though...damn it! My only gripes are the fact that A) Vulcan is another Summers brother/relation; it is unnecessary and adds nothing to the character and B) there is a female version of Gladiator. Why O why is Marvel so interested in making female versions of everyone these days? It's so DC.

ATOMIKA VOL. 1: GOD IS RED (Mercury, 2006)

Collects Atomika Nos. 1-6 (cover dates March, 2005- January, 2006)

Wow, this title looks like nothing else on the market, both in look and feel. Sal Abbinanti and Andrew Dabb deserve mountains of praise for seeing this through to fruition. The tone of this book is oppressive and melodramatic, and I love it in spite of, or perhaps because of, it. I am very interested in seeing how this turns out, and with the next batch of six issues being nearly done, this will hopefully be collected in trade sooner rather than later. I give this title my highest recommendation. 10/10

X-FORCE VOL. 2: OLD GHOSTS (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects X-Force (Vol. 3) Nos. 7-11 (cover dates November, 2008- March, 2009)

Mike Choi is one of the finest artists working in comics today, and this is among the better titles being produced by Marvel today. It's extreme and over the top, but I find myself loving it nonetheless. I am ticked that the next 5 or so issues are contained in crossover trades/hardcovers. Vol. 3 will jump ahead 5 issues! I really don't want to read some dumb ass Cable Messiah War or Dark Avengers/X-Men hardcover just for these issues. Maybe I should (gasp!) buy the floppies!?! Nah.

THE DEATH-DEFYING ‘DEVIL VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2009)

Collects The Death-Defying ‘Devil Nos. 1-4 and Project Superpowers: The Death-Defying ‘Devil Free Comic Book Day Special (cover dates May, 2008- March, 2009)

This has everything that a fan of superhero comics could want. I am loving the Project Superpowers universe and can't wait to see what happens next.

UNCANNY X-MEN: LOVELORN (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 504-507 and Uncanny X-Men Annual No. 2 (cover dates January- May, 2009)

Decent, entertaining stuff by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson. Fraction seems to be trying to move the team in a new direction, with mixed results. While this won't be looked back on as the worst era of the team, it also won't be mentioned among the best.

UNCANNY X-MEN: SISTERHOOD (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 508-512 (cover dates June- August, 2009)

Wait a minute, Psylocke was dead? I mean, I knew that she was dead at one time, but didn't they already resurrect her? Did she die again? I'm confused! The X-Men are such a convoluted clusterphuck of deaths/resurrections that it has become a joke. At least they explained how she went from being a British telepath to an Asian ninja (thanks a lot for that suckiness, Jim Lee!). I haven't read much '90s X-Men, and with garbage like that, Cable, Bishop, and art by Rob Liefeld, why would one want to? Much of Matt Fraction's dialogue has a cheesy one-liner, made for a Michael Bay movie quality to it here. He is also bringing back many unwelcome aspects of the series. All is not lost, though, because Issue 512 is the best of the bunch. I would like to see a Hellfire Club mini-series further exploring the origins of the organization.