TWR Returns!: Indie-Spotlight (2/23-3/02/2011)

I'M BACK BABY! After taking a bit of a hiatus, The Weekly Round-Up has returned. And we're immediately coming back with something special: for the next year (and maybe onward), TWR will feature nothing but independent comics. That's right, in common Pig's Pen fashion (read: several week's late) I'm getting behind the Indie creators movement and showing you my favorite indie comics. And we start off with two books from Red5 comics! Atomic Robo and Bonnie Lass!

The penultimate issue of the latest volume of Atomic Robo, "Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science" saw it's release this week. This time around, we're meeting a younger, much less experienced Robo, as he teams up with the masked vigilante Jack Tarot to take down a group of gangsters that have been stealing various pieces of technology. This issue our heroes find themselves inching closer to finally cracking their case and finding out who's behind all the robberies and stopping them before their fiendish plans can be fulfilled.

What's really sets this volume apart from the others is that the sci-fi side of things really takes a bit of a back seat to a detective story. There's less talking dinosaurs and more gangsters than usual, though there is a Giant robot henchman, created by none other than Robo's greatest foe, Thomas Edison. But other than that, this is your standard pulp story.

Of course the story isn't all gun fights and criminals, there's also Clevinger's spectacular brand of comedy. Robo and Jack play off of each other well, with Robo playing the part of the naive sidekick to Jack, the grumpy vigilante. Scenes like a flashback of the two taking on Edison's robot are just oozing with hilarity, especially seeing Robo with a gun or entering Jack's hideout through the secret entrance in a very conspicuous way.

We also get to see Robo's humanity in this volume. There's a lot of great material between Tesla and Robo, showing they're less than perfect father/son relationship. There's also his relationship with Jack's daughter Helen, where we see that, yes, a Robot can love.

With only one issue left, this is looking to be one of the best volumes of Atomic Robo ever. So give this title a look, because it's hands down my favorite comic book ever.

Now, however, it looks like Atomic Robo has got some competition for his throne of Red5's best comic. This week I downloaded the first two issues of Bonnie Lass: The Legend on my iPhone. This is a title that caught my eye through the ads printed on the back of the last few issues of Atomic Robo. From the minds of Michael Mayne and Tyler Fluharty, this is (obviously) the tale of Bonnie Lass, a young pirate and her two side kicks, Trick Fischer and (her brother) Ben Lass.

The three have come across a quite a mystery as a little trinket a client wanted them to retrieve looks to be more that originally thought. Now, on top of having a bounty on their heads, the gang have some very bad people on their butts. In the first issue we get to watch Bonnie and crew as they manage to pull off a very daring escape and Mayne and Fluharty show us that they're a hell of a team, crafty a great first issue. Comedy and Action are a plenty here.

Issue two gives us a bit of Bonnie and Ben's backstory. The two were the children of the legendary pirate Cuttlass, a legacy that Bonnie wishes to not only live up to, but crush. This issue really does a great job of fleshing out out heroes, all the while moving the plot along. We end up with quite a cliff hanger two, as our heroes find themselves in a mighty sticky situation. Needless to say, I'm loving this series and I'm eager to get my hands on he next issue.

Of course the writing is only half the story here; this book has some fantastic art that perfectly compliments it's story. Mr. Mayne's fluid, cartoony art is a joy to the eyes. His action scenes are lively and exciting. There's some major anime influence in his art too, which he really does well. There's not a moment in this book that doesn't look spectacular. My only regret is that I don't own a copy of this in print. Hopefully the trade paperback comes out soon, because I'm eager to have a copy to keep with my collection. I really can't praise this art enough.

Atomic Robo can be found at your local comic shop for $3.50 a pop, or you can find both Atomic Robo and Bonnie Lass through Comixology's digital distribution on the iPhone, iPad, PSP, or comics.comixology.com. You can also go to Red5comics.com for both and bonnielasscomic.blogspot.com.

And there you have it: two of Red5's finest, books that no one should be missing out on. Hopefully you enjoy these fantastic little funny books as much as I do. As for me, I'm off to go read these books again.