Atomic Robo

Since 1923, a nigh-unstoppable robot has been working, first with inventor Nikola Tesla, and then the fighting scientists of Tesladyne Labs, to protect the Earth from weird science menaces like giant monsters, ancient robots, vampires from another dimension, giant insects, gangsters in the Old West, ancient conspiracies, artificial intelligences, Nazi mad scientists, and dinosaur mad scientists. (Among others.) He’s been assisted, at various times, by spies, action scientists, masked crime fighters, and a squad of female fighter pilots in the South Pacific during WWII. Atomic Robo is one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite comics, told by the same writer and artist team since 2007. And it’s all available for free.

The Shadow

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”

I first encountered the Shadow, the pulp hero, in the pages of Comics Scene Magazine, I think. They had a new item about a movie in development, accompanied by a reproduction of one of the pulp covers. I couldn’t tell you which one. It doesn’t matter; it was the look of the Shadow that caught my imagination—that face with the intense eyes, the eyebrows and aquiline nose, both of which went on for miles, the rest of the face hidden by the broad-brimmed hat and the red scarf, the only color in an otherwise black costume—and I was hooked.

Marvels Snapshot: Sub-Mariner and 2000 AD Regened!

It’s been three weeks since my last post, and I feel like the entire world has changed during that time. As I write this, my wife and I are in our seventh day of self-quarantine. My work is closed until at least mid-April, although my wife is able to work from home. While sometimes it feels like there’s too much big, crazy stuff going on to talk about comics and stuff, I’ve been finding that I need to find whatever corners of normal and familiar that I can. For me, that means watching a TV show with my wife, playing with my kitties, walking on the treadmill, listening to audio dramas, and reading comics. So I thought I would talk about a couple of those comics this week, starting with Marvels Snapshot: Sub-Mariner, drawn by Jerry Ordway and written by one of my favorite writers, Alan Brennert.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

Several months ago, I wrote about the books and comics set at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I’m pleased to say that this past week, my wife and I visited the town of Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu for ourselves, and it turned out to be just as much fun as I had expected after reading the stories. (In other words, we took a trip to Disneyland.) 

Booster Gold

Last time around, I talked about how I’m not feeling particularly interested in reading contemporary superhero comic at the moment. My focus seems to be more on reading new creator-owned or creator-driven comics, rather than corporate-owned ones (with some exceptions; Star Wars, Doctor Who, Conan, and Immortal Hulk, I am looking at you). So, ironically, this week, I am going to talk about a character who has become one of the most mainstream of mainstream superhero characters. But he arguably wasn’t always that way, and that’s what I was reminded of when I recently read a collection of the first 12 issues of Booster Gold, written and drawn by his creator, Dan Jurgens. That, and how much I enjoyed these comics when they were first released.

Trekker: Battlefields, New Kickstarters to Back, and Comics

Last November, comics creator Ron Randall released Battlefields, the latest volume in his long-running series, Trekker, about future interplanetary bounty hunter Mercy St Clair. I have written many times on this blog about how much I enjoy this series (I have added a Trekker label to those posts, rather than put all the links here). This volume continues to demonstrate all the qualities that make this a great series, but while I do want to talk about this book, they also connect to some larger thoughts I’ve been having about comics in general.

Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish Productions

The first day of the new year saw the return of Doctor Who to TV screens, after an entire year away. However, as regular readers of this blog and followers of my Instagram account (@RumpleDumple) will know, my year was still filled with Doctor Who stories from Big Finish Productions: full-cast audio dramas featuring previous Doctors and companions from the TV series, played (when possible) by the original actors. In recent weeks, I’ve been trying to get caught up on their eighth Doctor stories, starring Paul McGann, and I’ve been especially enjoying those stories.