Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #1 Review

ATOMIC ROBO: DOGS OF WAR #1
Written by Brian Clevinger
Art by Scott Wegener

The first Atomic Robo mini-series was one of my favourite minis last year and it dominated every Moments of the Week on the weeks it came out. I even spotlighted the series in my first contest and have had nothing but good things to say about it.

So, why, then, is this review so late after it came out? It's not because it wasn't a good issue, but, with such lofty expectations after the first series, I was a little disappointed at just how average this issue was.

This second outing ignores most of the events of the first issue and dives right into a flashback tail to WWII, which has lots of potential for fun nazi jokes, similar to the first series' first issue.

However, that's where the similarities ended with the humours debut of the first mini. Dogs of War forgoes the things I loved about the first series - mainly the humour and dialogue - and focuses primarily on an action oriented infiltration story where Robo is sent to destroy some hi-tech robotic walker tanks the Germans have been using.

Don't get me wrong, I don't regret this purchase and will gleefully await the next issue, but, at the same time, Clevinger and Wegener set the bar pretty high in the first series and I'm measuring the success of this issue against those. For this issue to spend the first several pages with generic WWII action shots of people storming the beach and planes flying overhead and then finish up with Robo just blowing up cannonfodder nazi with the odd quip didn't cut it for me.

Verdict - Check It. Fairly standard action story with few of the trademark quips and humour from the first series. However, the backup was a little closer to the original series, but is far too short to really make the issue a Must Read. With most of the setup done, things should quickly return to form with the next issue.

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