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Atomic Robo #7
Atomic Robo Volume 7: Flying She-Devils of the Pacific by Wegener, Scott(February 28, 2013) Paperback
Invented by Nikola Tesla in 1923, Atomic Robo went on to be a soldier, a scientist, an entrepreneur, and an explorer whose adventures span the globe. This one begins, if you couldn't guess from the title, in the vast expanse of the south Pacific. The year is 1951. World War II concluded just six years ago, but it's mark is still felt in this remote part of the world in ways that one could have ever predicted!
First published December 12, 2012
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About the author
Brian Clevinger
226 books94 followersBrian Clevinger is best known as the author of the most popular sprite webcomic, and one of the most popular webcomics overall, 8-Bit Theater. He is also the author of the self-published novel Nuklear Age. Clevinger has recently received attention for his Eisner-nominated print comic Atomic Robo.
Claiming that his "favorite comics are the ones where the jokes are on the reader," Clevinger is an expert in using anti-climax, interface alterations, and the occasional false ending to play with the reader's expectations. It is a testament to both his sense of humor and his writing skills that these "jokes on the reader" are usually beloved by his fanbase.
Claiming that his "favorite comics are the ones where the jokes are on the reader," Clevinger is an expert in using anti-climax, interface alterations, and the occasional false ending to play with the reader's expectations. It is a testament to both his sense of humor and his writing skills that these "jokes on the reader" are usually beloved by his fanbase.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
January 4, 2020
It's 1951. Robo is shot down while conducting a test flight in the South Pacific. There he discovers the She-Devils, a bunch of women pirates fighting mercenaries who are taking items left over from WWII and using then for nefarious purposes. This was a lot of fun. It's a bit of different story here as Robo feels somewhat out of his element and the She-Devils take the lead at stopping the bad guys.
Atomic Robo is what fun comics are all about!
Atomic Robo is what fun comics are all about!
April 15, 2016
Robo is usually the smartest guy in the room. Which is awesome for those of us who got tricked in early childhood into that same self-image (and cling to it with white, scrawny knuckles long past its expiration date). Dr. Dinosaur, countless human antagonists, even Tesla himself (I think) in one story.
But that gets old after a while. And predictable. What if Robo wasn't the smartest entity/intelligence going? Those minority of stories in the Atomic Robo pantheon are even more interesting.
Like this one, where the She-Devils are way beyond what Robo can stay ahead of...
and this...
and this...
For a Robo book, it's actually hard to switch gears into sustaining my attention on one continuous story. I'm used to fluffy fun bits of his history with thin connective tissue of internal references to make it add up.
There's something off about the fun factor in this story. Is it the endless chase sequences? The countdown-to-doom we see in every lazy drama/suspense/sci-fi?
I'm used to Robo and his friends outsmart the enemy/challenge in weird/funny/unexpected ways. This was a little more...conventional. And a bit tragic. Painful really.
But that gets old after a while. And predictable. What if Robo wasn't the smartest entity/intelligence going? Those minority of stories in the Atomic Robo pantheon are even more interesting.
Like this one, where the She-Devils are way beyond what Robo can stay ahead of...
and this...
and this...
For a Robo book, it's actually hard to switch gears into sustaining my attention on one continuous story. I'm used to fluffy fun bits of his history with thin connective tissue of internal references to make it add up.
There's something off about the fun factor in this story. Is it the endless chase sequences? The countdown-to-doom we see in every lazy drama/suspense/sci-fi?
I'm used to Robo and his friends outsmart the enemy/challenge in weird/funny/unexpected ways. This was a little more...conventional. And a bit tragic. Painful really.
April 6, 2014
I know why I enjoy Atomic Robo. It is the other side of the coin from Hellboy (which I also enjoy along with B.R.P.D. a great deal). A fish out of water character who's adventures can easily cover a 100+ years because Nikola Tesla is Robo's creator. Where Hellboy and B.R.P.D. deal with the supernatural, Robo is dealing, usually with crazed scientists.
While testing a new Tesladyne plane in 1951 Robo is shot down in the Pacific. There he discovers a culture of smugglers, thieves and adventurers. The She-Devils are women pilots and mechanics who had found freedom during the war and elected not to return to the U.S. and their old lives.
To avoid spoilers I will say that Robo and the She-Devils team up to solve a threat to the U.S that brings back memories of the Japanese science fiction movie Atragon.
While testing a new Tesladyne plane in 1951 Robo is shot down in the Pacific. There he discovers a culture of smugglers, thieves and adventurers. The She-Devils are women pilots and mechanics who had found freedom during the war and elected not to return to the U.S. and their old lives.
To avoid spoilers I will say that Robo and the She-Devils team up to solve a threat to the U.S that brings back memories of the Japanese science fiction movie Atragon.
May 18, 2017
I was disappointed in this, the seventh volume of Atomic Robo. She-Devils of the South Pacific? Sounds fabulous! What could have been a female-empowering tale is really just a shoot-em-up in the sky. Over and over. Boring.
July 15, 2018
A fun and inventive story with great art and a nice sense of humor.
November 20, 2013
Though I could easily see actual shark jumping occurring in an Atomic Robo story, I think there may have been a proverbial one with the time-traveling dinosaur a few volumes back. I thought they’d reversed the trend, but all the stories set in Robo’s past lack the wonder the earlier volumes had. The humor is still strong, but I found the narrative wanting. The were entirely too many unexplained engineering marvels (which I suppose are entertaining enough) instead of abstract scientific concepts (which I propose are much more fun).
March 17, 2013
I like Atomic Robo. He's the robot version of Hellboy. This was my least favorite trade, though. None of the She-Devils is really defined all that well, other than "mechanic" and "leader" and "Crazy." There's plenty of action, but maybe too much? An explosion here, heat trails there, gunfire over yonder, it's a bit much. I applaud the fact that they wanted to do a female centric story without resorting to tired tropes, and they did, but it didn't make for an amazing tale.
December 26, 2015
Back to the outrageous, mashed up sense of fun of the earlier books.
January 14, 2021
How have I not written about Atomic Robo before??
OK let’s start with the basics: Atomic Robo is a comic about a robot built by Nikola Tesla in the 1920s who goes on to become a PhD, a World War II flying ace, the founder of the company Tesladyne, thwarter of the Cold War, an astronaut, and an inventor.
He battles Dr. Dinosaur, numerous Russian, Chinese, or Japanese enemies, a giant robot pyramid, and of course his creator’s nemesis, Thomas Edison.
We’re talking good old fashioned comic books here.
But they’re not just good old-fashioned comic books, they’re good old fashioned comic books written and illustrated by creators that understand what the flaws of old-fashioned comic books were and they do not repeat those mistakes.
For example, Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific is not just a post-WWII comic about an attempt at Japanese conquest via a super weapon. It’s not just a graphic novel about women pilots and mechanics who become air pirates over the Pacific. No, it’s all of those things and it’s a send-up to eight women in the comics industry who are fantastic in their own right.
Author Brian Clevinger summarizes their goals in the introduction:
I love it when a comic team doesn’t need to make a big deal out of women characters because, in the context of their universe, women are as common as men, and as accepted. Doubly so for an action/adventure type where honor, hard work, and sacrifice are driving the plot.
Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific is volume 7 of the Atomic Robo series and I’ve got at least four more volumes waiting for me in the library. This may have been the first time I’ve mentioned Atomic Robo, but these comics are so good you can be pretty sure it won’t be the last.
OK let’s start with the basics: Atomic Robo is a comic about a robot built by Nikola Tesla in the 1920s who goes on to become a PhD, a World War II flying ace, the founder of the company Tesladyne, thwarter of the Cold War, an astronaut, and an inventor.
He battles Dr. Dinosaur, numerous Russian, Chinese, or Japanese enemies, a giant robot pyramid, and of course his creator’s nemesis, Thomas Edison.
We’re talking good old fashioned comic books here.
But they’re not just good old-fashioned comic books, they’re good old fashioned comic books written and illustrated by creators that understand what the flaws of old-fashioned comic books were and they do not repeat those mistakes.
For example, Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific is not just a post-WWII comic about an attempt at Japanese conquest via a super weapon. It’s not just a graphic novel about women pilots and mechanics who become air pirates over the Pacific. No, it’s all of those things and it’s a send-up to eight women in the comics industry who are fantastic in their own right.
Author Brian Clevinger summarizes their goals in the introduction:
The text doesn’t contort itself to show these ladies in a positive light. Nor does it pat itself on the back for featuring these ladies as its main characters in the first place. It doesn’t make bad guys say sexist things so you know they’re bad and wrong. No one praises the She-Devils’ ability or know how or pluck for a girl. None of them picks a lock with a hairpin to save the day.
Because normal is what goes unremarked upon.
I love it when a comic team doesn’t need to make a big deal out of women characters because, in the context of their universe, women are as common as men, and as accepted. Doubly so for an action/adventure type where honor, hard work, and sacrifice are driving the plot.
Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific is volume 7 of the Atomic Robo series and I’ve got at least four more volumes waiting for me in the library. This may have been the first time I’ve mentioned Atomic Robo, but these comics are so good you can be pretty sure it won’t be the last.
Read
April 25, 2020It’s 1951 and Atomic Robo winds up in the hands of the She-Devils, a group of lady pirates with jet-packs who maraud from their Pacific Island home base. Together they work to stop rogue Japanese soldiers seeking to destroy America with an earthquake device. Yep, this is another terrific Atomic Robo book. Great sense of pulpy adventure with fun characters and dialogue. What’s not to like?
Choice quotes:
“Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor, right? Well, we’re stealing from would-be warlords and then making jetpacks.”
“Val. I had too many. You’re flying. “She had more than you did!” “She’s Russian. She’s fine.”
“Coming! Soon as I blow up the army of super robeast Hitlers!”
Choice quotes:
“Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor, right? Well, we’re stealing from would-be warlords and then making jetpacks.”
“Val. I had too many. You’re flying. “She had more than you did!” “She’s Russian. She’s fine.”
“Coming! Soon as I blow up the army of super robeast Hitlers!”
March 12, 2018
I'm really into this series for Dr. Dinosaur. I just don't like the Atomic Robo straight adventure stuff very much. It always feels a little too straight. But I never know fro the title/cover whether it will be a straight adventure or a wacky adventure.
I missed the opening panel and the back of the book where they tell you the year. So I was confused for a little while.
There's something uncomfortable about the choice of villain, I think.
I missed the opening panel and the back of the book where they tell you the year. So I was confused for a little while.
There's something uncomfortable about the choice of villain, I think.
April 20, 2021
A story of daring do. In the 50s, Atomic Robo is shot down by a mystery villain. A group of women save him, and admit they've been fighting those villains since the end of the war.
There is a clever concept behind this, about how all the women who became engineers, pilots, scientists etc for the war were expected to be housewives after it. Lots of strong characters, a cohesive storyline, and lots of fights. A good read.
There is a clever concept behind this, about how all the women who became engineers, pilots, scientists etc for the war were expected to be housewives after it. Lots of strong characters, a cohesive storyline, and lots of fights. A good read.
June 8, 2021
Easily one of my favorites in the series. Atomic Robo! Air pirates! A superweapon! A spunky, international group of ace pilots just trying to make their way! South Seas adventure!
Seriously, why don't I just make reading this an annual event?
Seriously, why don't I just make reading this an annual event?
December 6, 2021
Otra gran historieta de Atomic Robo, plagada de acción y emotividad. Al principio cuesta un poco entrar, pero enseguida le coges el ritmo y cariño a los personajes. Es uno esos casos en los que una historia se te hace cortísima y quieres más, conque... ¡a por el siguiente!
January 1, 2019
So damn much fun. Pulled this off the shelf for my wife to read on new year's eve, and then was compelled to reread it myself. Any Atomic Robo is good, but this one is exemplary.
March 1, 2019
Weaker installment in what is usually a funnier series. Not a bad premise for this volume. Just lackluster execution, built on all the rough angles that haven't worked in other comics either.
November 28, 2020
Atomic Robo gets even more pulp with Pacific island sky pirates using jet packs.
September 15, 2016
In the afterward, Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener discuss how this story was concepted early on, but they waited to do it until they felt their writing and art skills had improved enough to do it justice. Personally, I feel they definitely succeeded. The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific is a good pulpy story set amidst the aftermath of the War in the Pacific, and definitely feels like a somewhat realistic premise (you know, assuming there were airships, jetpacks, earthquake bombs, and flying robot suits in the 1950s). I really liked that an all-woman team of sky pirates largely goes wholly unremarked-upon, except for Robo's surprise at finding them on an uncharted island with an enormous airship. No one says any variation of "they're only women"; they're simply there, and they do what they do, and it's treated as perfectly normal (again, as normal as airships, jetpacks, earthquake bombs, and flying robot suits in the 1950s can really be).
My only real complaint is that the story's brevity meant the individual She-Devils weren't particularly fleshed out as characters, but there's really only so much that can be done in the amount of pages they had to work with and they chose to focus on the team as a whole rather than the individual members. I'm not sure it's the choice I would have preferred, given what happens in the climax, but I can't necessarily say it was the wrong one, either.
My only real complaint is that the story's brevity meant the individual She-Devils weren't particularly fleshed out as characters, but there's really only so much that can be done in the amount of pages they had to work with and they chose to focus on the team as a whole rather than the individual members. I'm not sure it's the choice I would have preferred, given what happens in the climax, but I can't necessarily say it was the wrong one, either.
August 3, 2017
So I made a mistake, but a honest one. I told myself ok, #6 was pretty awful, with bad pacing, an all round uninteresting story to something that should have been pretty cool, maybe AR's jumped the shark, but maybe not, maybe it was just a hiccup. The first five issues were pretty awesome. Maybe the comicbook isn't dead yet.
It's dead.
This seventh volume just confirms that Atomic Robo is dead to me. The flying she-devils, another pretty cool piece of history poorly played by a comicbook series that has just plain and simply run out of juice. And the writer's preface where he was giving himself a blowjob on how good he's been at making cool female characters that aren't sexism victims but actually are cool female leads was in poor taste. You want to end the sexist trend? Just do it. Don't give yourself a pat on the shoulder for doing it, otherwise you're lampshading something that just needs to feel like the natural thing to do, not a bait for applause.
The humour is dead, the action is nothing new, the story is monotonous and the plot is absolutely unoriginal. On top of that, the art's quality has dramatically decreased. Rest in pieces, Atomic Robo. I'm truly sorry and I'll miss the verve and the ingenuity of the first five issues.
It's dead.
This seventh volume just confirms that Atomic Robo is dead to me. The flying she-devils, another pretty cool piece of history poorly played by a comicbook series that has just plain and simply run out of juice. And the writer's preface where he was giving himself a blowjob on how good he's been at making cool female characters that aren't sexism victims but actually are cool female leads was in poor taste. You want to end the sexist trend? Just do it. Don't give yourself a pat on the shoulder for doing it, otherwise you're lampshading something that just needs to feel like the natural thing to do, not a bait for applause.
The humour is dead, the action is nothing new, the story is monotonous and the plot is absolutely unoriginal. On top of that, the art's quality has dramatically decreased. Rest in pieces, Atomic Robo. I'm truly sorry and I'll miss the verve and the ingenuity of the first five issues.
September 8, 2014
Review as of Sept 8, 2014:
I'm still confused where this story seems to fit into the timeline of the graphic novels (which may just be that I get too caught up in the story to notice the time/date stamps at the beginning of sections) but I did still enjoy it. The girls were great and it was nice to not see Robo as the only hero in the piece (well, him and Jenkins, as per usual!). These are some kick-ass ladies and it was nice to see who they were based on, in the back of the book.
Review as of February 13, 2013:
This one was great! The first few pages were confusing, granted (because I wasn't sure who was who -- good guys versus bad guys), but it all came together when the She-Devils were introduced. And, I have to say, I loved these characters! They were so awesome. Robo's surprise at finding that they were all women was hilarious and the writing really picked up from where it was in the previous volume. A very satisfying read and I think it's one of my favourites in the series.
I'm still confused where this story seems to fit into the timeline of the graphic novels (which may just be that I get too caught up in the story to notice the time/date stamps at the beginning of sections) but I did still enjoy it. The girls were great and it was nice to not see Robo as the only hero in the piece (well, him and Jenkins, as per usual!). These are some kick-ass ladies and it was nice to see who they were based on, in the back of the book.
Review as of February 13, 2013:
This one was great! The first few pages were confusing, granted (because I wasn't sure who was who -- good guys versus bad guys), but it all came together when the She-Devils were introduced. And, I have to say, I loved these characters! They were so awesome. Robo's surprise at finding that they were all women was hilarious and the writing really picked up from where it was in the previous volume. A very satisfying read and I think it's one of my favourites in the series.
May 29, 2013
Lots of action in this volume but not so much humor. That's a shame because the best part of Atomic Robo is the humor. Also the concept behind the story (female jet pack soldiers in the Pacific after WWII) just wasn't as interesting to me as past volumes. Robo takes a backseat to the female cast, which is another shame since his character is the best and most developed. And while I could discern some of the female soldiers from each other (mostly the mechanic) the majority kind of blended together despite the quirks given to each one (e.g. accents, gear).
The introductions say this was a story both the write and artist had wanted to tell many volumes ago but first had to hone their craft. If this story had appeared earlier, without the establishment of Robo's character and all the humor, it might have fared better in my mind.
Still, any Atomic Robo story is more entertaining than most stuff out there.
The introductions say this was a story both the write and artist had wanted to tell many volumes ago but first had to hone their craft. If this story had appeared earlier, without the establishment of Robo's character and all the humor, it might have fared better in my mind.
Still, any Atomic Robo story is more entertaining than most stuff out there.
March 4, 2018
This volume kind of sticks out like a sore thumb of the Atomic Robo stories I have read so far. Considering all the kooky stuff that has happened so far, for some reason this volume doesn't feel like it really belongs in the Atomic Robo universe. Even Robo himself doesn't feel quite right in this volume, almost as if he is being dumbed-down just to make the She-Devils look better. That being said, there is some great manga inspired action present here and lots of it. Wegener's vehicles and backgrounds never looked better and the new colorists really helps make the book pop in general. Unfortunately, however, Wegener's people and especially women looked liked they took a real dip in quality which is kind of bad given the sheer number of ladies present.
April 21, 2013
While I love the idea of the Flying She-Devils—and the fact that they have fairly distinct character designs—there are too many of them to really give attention to characterization beyond archetypes. There's barely a plot, and I wasn't really engaged the way I usually am, especially because the action sequences were kind of hard to follow. I mean, I love a team of lady pirates with jetpacks as much as the next guy, but this book seems like a cool concept the creators didn't really know what to do with.
September 8, 2015
Una historia con todos los ingredientes de Atomic Robo (acción estilo pulp, personajes carismáticos, imaginación desbordante...) a la que quizá falta un poco del humor característico del personaje. Muy buenas intenciones (mujeres duras en jetpacks que no quieren volver a ser amas después de la guerra contra japoneses que se niegan a aceptar su derrota en la Segunda Guerra Mundial es un gran argumento) pero termina faltando algo de chispa o magia que el resto de volúmenes anteriores de Robo sí tenía.
March 30, 2013
The story arc in this volume was decidedly different from the rest, following Robo post-WWII as he gets picked up by jet-pack wearing ladies when shot down over the Pacific. The entire idea of "the war is still on" in the Pacific between pirates and other ne'er-do-wells was a really fun setting and environment, but this volume was more dramatic in its storytelling than the earlier ones. I didn't laugh as much at this one, for example, but I enjoyed the story.
August 3, 2013
A little more serious than most of the Atomic Robo comics, but still a rip-roaring adventure with plenty of humor. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended (all of the Robo comics).
Notes: Unfortunately, unless I've missed how to do it, there's not easy way to highlight the text in Comixology the way I do with regular all-text books. Otherwise, all the Atomic Robo comics would have a very high Notes Rating.
Notes: Unfortunately, unless I've missed how to do it, there's not easy way to highlight the text in Comixology the way I do with regular all-text books. Otherwise, all the Atomic Robo comics would have a very high Notes Rating.
June 8, 2014
I love going along with Robo on action science adventures, and here he's joined by several awesome action science ladies.
The focus is (rightly) on the ladies, but I felt like Robo spent most of the story reacting instead of acting. I also had a hard time telling the ladies apart, though perhaps I was just reading too fast.
The focus is (rightly) on the ladies, but I felt like Robo spent most of the story reacting instead of acting. I also had a hard time telling the ladies apart, though perhaps I was just reading too fast.
March 29, 2013
Atomic Robo teams up with a gang of lady air pirates operating in the Pacific after world war to stop a plot by the Japanese to gain revenge on the USA using super science-y gadgets.
Fun pulpy feeling adventure story. The She-Devils deserve their own mini-series.
Fun pulpy feeling adventure story. The She-Devils deserve their own mini-series.
May 30, 2013
I didn't absolutely love this one the way I did the last couple Robo books, but it still had its charms.
If nothing else, Robo does a really nice job of wrapping things up at the end of most of these books. That part was pretty masterful, once again.
If nothing else, Robo does a really nice job of wrapping things up at the end of most of these books. That part was pretty masterful, once again.
December 22, 2013
Robo meets a rocket pack and a band of pirates. as awesome as that sounds, the book is even better. The artist pulls off mid-air dog fights that are a joy to view. Another excellent Robo volume for the shelf.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews