4 out of 5

Dang man, this is like the best Atomic Robo writing and art ever.  I don’t know what happened during the last few volumes and FCBD’s, but Clevinger and Wegener have actually managed to pace themselves.  Perhaps years of pent up Doc Dinosaur having been released with the recent volume allowed them to just settle down a bit, but it’s really amazing.  Clevinger isn’t so ADD with his panel transitions (which has always worked with the exhaustive Robo pace but when compressed into mini stories like this, it’s sorta like you blink and it’s over) and actually has some dialogue exchanges that aren’t just snide quips – meaning the few characters used here seem to have mostly individual personalities.  And Wegener…!  Gone are the bloated characters and extreme momentum that made his action panels an occasional mess.  I’m actually seeing some detailing in the character faces (adding to that individual personality vibe) and we have a big lumbering monster whose scope is maintained but whose movements and “space” remain clear.  I think Anthony Clark might be a new Robo colorist (don’t sue me if not), and he delivers a really layered and warm palette.  Even more personality.  A top Robo story, for sure.  (Ahem: Kid gets tangled up with monster in an area that Robo and team are exploring; Robo and team to the rescue; kid gets invite to join action scientists.)

And I have to get on Bodie Troll.  Jay Fosgitt’s shorts are always cracking me up, and this lil’ bit about Bodie going to a haunted garden for a “pumpkin pie plant” for the Fairy Godmother is visually amazing, energetically scripted, and fulla’ chuckles.  Fosgitt has such an expressive style that he knows how to rope in so it doesn’t overwhelm, like Skottie Young / Damion Scott leaning more toward a classic cartoon influence vs. anime, but an infinitely better grasp of paneling and timing (and clarity) than those artists.  And I love the loose, hand-lettered bubbles.

The weak spot here is ‘Haunted,’ by Scott Chitwood and Danny Luckert.  I’m not docking the star just because the writing is stale (full-on thought narration in captions… like, “Ouch!”) and the art doesn’t effectively communicate, or because the idea about some post-whatever haunted city doesn’t come across as all that compelling, but for two other reasons tied to the same rule: FCBD is meant to get new readers interested in your books.  We have two self-contained stories here, with Robo and Bodie, but ‘Haunted’ chooses the “…continued in HAUNTED #1” route.  As the pages shown do nothing to really set up character or atmosphere, along with the feeling that we’ve been sleighted a self-inclusive tale means I’m doubly unlikely to follow this to its regular series.  Along these lines, Robo and Bodie are family friendly.  Haunted doesn’t seem that way.  On the following page, you have an ad for “Bad Dreams,” which seems much more likely to appeal to younger readers who might be into the other two stories.  So it was a poor editing decision to stitch these together.  I get it, it needs readers, but it might’ve fit better into a different Red 5 book.