The Atomics

By Mike Allred
Published by Allred's Atomic Art Pop Comics

Mike Allred certainly isn't the first comics creator pay homage to the classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby creations of the sixties. The list of tributes is long, from Alan Moore's wacky 1963 mini-series to Kurt Busiek's more overt tributes in the Untold Tales of Spider-Man ongoing series. But Allred is far too creative to offer your garden-variety glowing tribute, and while The Atomics wears its sixties Marvel adoration quite visibly on its sleeve, it also boasts a heavy dose of Allred's trademark insanity. Though it's only three issues old, the title shows strong signs of developing into a nice character-driven piece about the nature of acceptance--just like the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four.

The Atomics are a group of former street beatniks who have been infected by an alien being and are covered in nasty spores when the story begins. However, they quickly learn that if they concentrate hard enough on their atoms, they can transform themselves into a higher level of being, each one with their own super-powers. There's the elastic man, who wants to be known as Mister Gum but earns the moniker "The Booger" in spite of his protests; the otherworldly beast called the Slug; and in issue three, the It Girl makes her bold debut, a character who's certain to inspire plenty of fanboy fantasies as well as providing a strong catalyst for future Atomics stories. In their first adventure, they have to uncover the mystery of two beings from another world who've traveled to Earth and brought their familial spat with them, leading to much destruction of civic property.

You can spot the Marvelesque character types in The Atomics a mile away. Mister Gum is Mister Fantastic, the Slug is the Thing, and Metalman stole his costume from vintage Iron Man comics. But if you only delve that deeply into the story, you're missing the point. Allred develops some interesting character dynamics between the Atomics; if there's a fair dose of the Fantastic Four in their hero designs, then there's a heavy element of the X-Men in their interpersonal relationships. Allred is clearly just as interested in creating a heady mix of characters as he is in presenting clever superhero stories, and that attention to character detail shines through.

Visually, Allred is in top form, as usual. His gift for capturing just the right facial expression to fit the dialogue endures, and the character designs are fantastic. Expect plenty of outcry for an It Girl poster within the next few months. I also love his thick inks and pencil lines; the characters really seem to leap off the page. The colors on the books are also exceptional; colorist Laura Allred does a great job of creating a visual tone for each scene through subtle variances in colors.

Overall, The Atomics is off to a strong start, and if Allred can keep up his dual-pronged approach to the title--strong character dynamics wrapped inside an electric Lee/Kirby homage--then we'll have lots more great comics storytelling to look forward to. Excelsior!