Week of 2/5/2024 (Sunday Edition)
Today, I review Dr. Atomic #1 and go over my first day at this year's Megacon.
Dr Atomic #1 Review
I’ve talked about Dr. Atomic before in the newsletter, namely the notorious Pipe & Dope Book which I found didactic hogwash. However, I was aware that issue wasn’t representative of the rest of the series, so I gave it a second chance to no regrets.
The comic book opens with the one-page Dr. Atomic Explores the Universe which sees our eponymous kooky scientist embark on a journey throughout space which is to say the mall spaceship ride. There is a footnote explaining one of Dr. Atomic’s technical jargon, but it serves as a contextual addendum to an otherwise imaginative comic teeming with whimsy reminiscent of a Spaceman Spiff strip from Calvin & Hobbes (before anyone corrects me, I know this predates the comic strip).
Afterward, most of the stories follow a recognizable pattern:
Dr. Atomic has a grievance about the state of society.
He builds something to resolve said grievance.
His invention backfires on him due to factors both internal and external.
The first comic we see this formula in is Dr. Atomic and His Spaceship, whose synopsis you’ve probably guessed from the title alone. After being disillusioned by the world’s decline, Dr. Atomic decides to build a spaceship to leave Earth. His radical leftist neighbor Billy Krapotin meddles in suggesting Dr. Atomic utilize his resources to create a solar-powered ditch pump and contribute to “the revolution” which he turns down due to their violent approach only to then be badgered by far right-wing neighbor Mr. Gross who shows off his fallout shelter and firearm arsenal. Looking deeper, the juxtaposition between Billy and Mr. Gross is most interesting because, despite their ideological polarizations, they both display survivalist tendencies. Billy tries sabotaging Dr. Atomic’s plan by planting a bomb on the spaceship. At the same time, Mr. Gross’s paranoia leads him to suspect Billy and Atomic are conspiring together and, thus, call the police on them.
The satire was on point and I enjoyed watching these personalities clash. I definitely find myself relating to Atomic’s sense of doom and gloom when he was watching the news in the beginning.
The following series of comics we get for most of the issue involves Dr. Atomic and his robot contraption which he creates to serve as a guardian of humanity whose programming is partly inspired by Issac Asimov’s Law of Robotics, a natural invitation for askew antics. Most of these antics are caused by the robot misunderstanding its objectives and taking them too literally. My favorite instance of this is when Dr. Atomic asks the robot to fix a hole in the ceiling which it refuses to do since the hole doesn’t pose an immediate threat. Dr. Atomic then mentions he could catch a cold and die if it rains which prompts the bot to take action by placing an umbrella above his head. It’s a funny yet wholesome scene that made me want to hug his “shiny metal ass” (I couldn’t resist making that reference).
For our final story, we have “Dr. Atomic Meets the Space Brothers” in which Dr. Atomic and Billy try tracking down the titular extra-terrestrial rock band whose flying saucer was sighted on Earth. To the duo’s confusion, they turn out to be environmental eugenicists bemoaning the increasing “racial pollution” and “tainted blood” alongside air pollution. I liked this comic for how surreal it gets and for exploring Dr. Atomic and Billy’s dysfunctional yet amiable dynamic. Additionally, Larry S. Tood’s surreal visual and detailed, varied linework really shines here.
At the end of the issue on Dr. Atomic’s Do-It-Yourself Corner, our old hippy shows the reader how to make a “triple-barrel carburetor” (pretty much a DIY bong). It’s purely instructional and a predecessor to the Pipe and Dope Book, but since it only takes up a single page, it’s bearable.
This debut issue rocked me like an atomic bomb packed with highbrow wit, remarkable artwork, and some good old stoner’s shenanigans.
Megacon Day 1 Overview
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Sam's Studios to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.