Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Atomic Robo: Revenge of the Vampire Dimension #4Atomic Robo Volume 4 #4 of 4
Red 5 Comics
Clevinger, Wegener, Pattison & Powell

The final installment of the latest mini series is a very good issue that brings to the table a lot of what makes Atomic Robo such a great comic book creation. The comic book has plenty of paranormal oddities, some action, hysterical dialogue and the unveiling of another interesting character. The only downside to the issue is that it has the daunting task of following the previous issue, which was among the best the entire run has ever seen. Still, the issue is definitely worth checking out.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe issue's story is very simple, so simple that it's almost unbelievable that this comic good be that great. Essentially a ghost shows up in the lobby of Robo's headquarters. For a few pages a group led by Robo study the ghost trying to figure out what makes it tick by running various experiments on it. These scenes are nothing short of brilliant.

Robo and company have a checklist that contains two boxes: Incorporeal and Corporeal. Each test is run on the ghost and then the appropriate box is marked. By the end of the experiments the conclusion is that the ghost doesn't exist and that technically they shouldn't even be able to see it. Recapping the interaction doesn't even come close to replicating how funny these scenes are. The comic is worth picking up just for the experiments and the dialogue around them.

Eventually the team figures out how to make the ghost more lifelike and with it they learn something about him. For much of the dialogue between the ghost and Robo you get the feeling the two know each other. This is slightly frustrating because with no names being given it seems like the character could possibly have been from another story and no re- introduction is being done here. However, that is not the case as this character is one of historical significance and it brings a lot of potential to the table for future stories.

The art smashes this issue out of the park. The genius in the artwork is it brings such a wide array of characters to life. Where else are you going to find humans, ghosts and robots all working so well in terms of emotions and reactions in a visual story?

With the fourth volume of Atomic Robo wrapping up, this issue might scare off new readers. I'm here to tell you to fear not. Jump in if you are new because this issue is very much a standalone issue. It might reference the previous couple of issues from this volume but they aren't essential stories for this story. Robo has a new villain and he's one that everyone is familiar with, even if they never thought of this person as a villain before. This is a fantastic issue.

4.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles