Review: Red 5 Comics

I talked a little while ago about new indy imprint Red 5 Comics. Today, I received a nice little press release asking me to review electronic copies of the first issues of their first three titles. So here goes!

ATOMIC ROBO #1
By Brian Clevinger, creator of webstrip phenomenon "8-Bit Theater".
Diamond Order Number: AUG073942



Atomic Robo is the story of a robot created by Nikola Tesla who fights Nazis. Considering I once worked on a comic where Jack Kirby fights a giant Nazi robot, this is kind of my thing. The first issue contains some fast paced set, but plenty of action to engage the reader. While the first issue is very action packed, the outline for future issue promises the sort of pulp-style historical/sci-fi adventure that I really dig.

The story also has a heavy dose of humor, which isn't surprising considering Clevinger has one of the more popular webcomics today. Scott Wegener's art is loose and dynamic, with the somewhat angular style of a Michael Oeming (who did the cover) that fits for the book. The first issue was very solid, and left me wanting more.

ABYSS #1
By Kevin Rubio, director of legendary internet film "TROOPS".
Diamond Order Number: AUG073943



I had high hopes for this book. The creative team is the same one behind the "Tag & Bink" series of Star Wars comics, which is one of my favorite Star Wars comics series. I also really loved Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's Empire, which looked at a comic from the view of a supervillain who succeeds in ruling the world.

Abyss delivered on these expectations. It features some of the same humor and tips of the hat that Tag & Bink featured; but toned down enough to make for an engaging story of super-villainy and the choices that Eric Hoffman has to make - does he become the hero or the villain?

Much like Atomic Robo, the first issue has some good set up, and leaves you wanting to know what happens next. If you liked Tag & Bink, and you like the Superhero genre, you should enjoy Abyss.

NEOZOIC #1
By Paul Ens ("Star Wars: Evasive Action")
Diamond Order Number: AUG073944



Neozoic has a lot of the elements of the of good post-apocalyptic fiction, though I guess this would be more appropriately called pre-apocalyptic fiction. The high concept is that extinction level event that killed the dinosaurs never happened, and so now the world of humanity has had to co-exist with the dinosaurs.

The book has some beautiful art and is perfect for the look of the book and the story moves at a fast pace. Still, I feel like it was two pages too short for some reason. I kind of know what's going on there at the end, but I would have liked to been shown what was going on exactly prior to issue two. Still, a solid offering.

Over all, I highly enjoyed all three issues of Red 5's initial offering. It seems like the line has some good production values, and some nice talent behind it. As hard as it is to get a new comic line off the ground, here's hoping that Red 5 can stick around.

You can take a look at a preview of the issues yourselves here, and judge for yourself if you like it. If you do, you can use this handy order form and take it to your LCS; or order online at Things From Another World.