What’s Next For Atomic Robo

Last Updated on Saturday, 3 January 2009 08:13 Written by Brian! Saturday, 3 January 2009 06:11

It’s 2009 and this year will be bursting with Atomic Robo.

Bursting, I say!

The fifth and final issue of our second volume is on sale now.

For you filthy trade-waiters, you can pre-order the trade paperback of Volume 2, Atomic Robo and the Dogs of War from comic shops and online stores all over planet Earth. It collects all five issues, all five mini-comics, and the 16-page Robo story from last year’s Free Comic Book Day.

Beyond that we’ve got Volume 3, Atomic Robo and the Shadow From Beyond Time coming up for pre-order in…uh…weeks? Months? Not 100% on that one. It’s soon though, I promise you that! And, yes, we’re doing another story for Free Comic Book Day this year. Look for that at your local retailers in May.

There’s a lot I want to say about Volume 3, but none of it makes sense without context. So, for now, I’ll just say it’s another five part series. Scott’s finished the first issue and I’m currently writing the fourth wherein we bring back our favorite guest star from Volume 1. We’re taking things in yet another direction with this volume. Oh, don’t worry, all the sci-fi adventure comedy of Atomic Robo is there. We just take it down a new path this time. Hell, you’ll see!

Looking way beyond the horizon here, we originally intended for Volume 4 to be Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific. Kind of our ode to the ridiculous scientific excesses of the post-WW2 military industrial complex of the ’50s. With Communism on the rise and the three-way aerial collision between prop planes, jets, and atomics, it was a crazy time…and there were air pirates.

But then Scott hit me with this great idea for a modern story that’d push the She-Devils back to Volume 5. The only problem? I can’t think of a good pulpy title for it! Ah well. Either way, we should have a fourth volume for you guys later this year as well. Depending on how the timing works out, and how many issues the fourth volume has, 2009 may actually see two full Atomic Robo mini-series. Historic!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 6:11 pm and is filed under comics, volume 2, volume 3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
  • Ryan
    Loved Vol. 2 (of course)! Although I still sorta' missed the dropped Nazi werewolf story line, I did appreciate the little things like the 2nd Pursuit Squadron patch on "Special Agent Robo's" jacket, the weapons technology experimentation angle(s), and all of the juicy nationalist sentiment from the diverse, international cast. All-in-all, a great sophomore campaign. Can't wait for more Robo in two-double-ought-nine!
  • Damn right it is!
  • Glad you liked it! I think Robo's flight jacket is my favorite little detail of this series, so it's good to see someone else out there who appreciates it too.

    Oh, and the Nazi werewolf plot isn't dropped so much as delayed. I don't wanna spoil anything, but we saw Skorzeny's fate. Who knows what Vanadis will get up to!
  • Glad you liked it! I think Robo's flight jacket is my favorite little detail of this series, so it's good to see someone else out there who appreciates it too.

    Oh, and the Nazi werewolf plot isn't dropped so much as delayed. I don't wanna spoil anything, but we saw Skorzeny's fate. Who knows what Vanadis will get up to!
  • Scott!
    I just got done proof-reading the Vol.2 TPB and damn -that was a fun series to work on.

    Ryan -we strive for historical accuracy. :) though there is one page in 2.2 where Ronda colored my Italians like Germans and Brian gave them German dialog. Oops. It was just one panel so I figured "What the hell, let them think they did good". LOL

    Mike -I would love to see a Sparrow one-shot. I wonder if Red5 will let us do that. Or maybe a 2-part story. I dunno. It would be awesome fun though.
  • Rob
    Will there be another Contest-thing to determine the name of vol. 4 like what was done with the first trade? That would be fantastic.
  • What we could do is make the back up stories for one volume one big Sparrow story. So that way you get the one-shot without having to shell out the dough for it.
  • I just wanted to say great work you guys!!! I stumbled upon your work the other day... and from one robot lover to another...super stuff my friends!
    Hope you had a great new years and that 2009 brings much fun and success for Atomic Robo!
  • D. S. Mountain
    Well, I'm sure the filthy trade-waiters(myself included) will find their patience well rewarded. After they're chewed out for not buying the monthlies, of course...
  • You know, without actual sales on individual issues, how do you expect them to justify trades? Red5 has no way of knowing that you're waiting for a trade, they just see a lack of a sale.
  • I only buy trades. But I'm comfortable with being a hypocrite and complaining when people wait for the trade on my own book!

    Seriously though, buy Robo monthly or in trade. Whatever works for you.
  • I only buy trades. But I'm comfortable with being a hypocrite and complaining when people wait for the trade on my own book!

    Seriously though, buy Robo monthly or in trade. Whatever works for you. Now that we've put out eleven issues and been able to track sales across that history, confidence is very high that trades will happen so long as there isn't a sudden and tremendous shift.

    We were a little worried about the impact of the economic situation and Marvel's upcoming price increase, but so far oru sales have remained consistent. People are cutting back on their comics buying overall, but it appears that people were buying Robo still are. We take that as a huge compliment.
  • I only buy trades. But I'm comfortable with being a hypocrite and complaining when people wait for the trade on my own book!

    Seriously though, buy Robo monthly or in trade. Whatever works for you. Now that we've put out eleven issues and been able to track sales across that history, confidence is very high that trades will happen so long as there isn't a sudden and tremendous shift.

    We were a little worried about the impact of the economic situation and Marvel's upcoming price increase, but so far our sales have remained consistent. People are cutting back on their comics buying overall, but it appears that people were buying Robo still are. We take that as a huge compliment.
  • I only buy trades. But I'm comfortable with being a hypocrite and complaining when people wait for the trade on my own book!

    Seriously though, buy Robo monthly or in trade. Whatever works for you. Now that we've put out eleven issues and been able to track sales across that history, confidence is very high that trades will happen so long as there isn't a sudden and tremendous shift.

    We were a little worried about the impact of the economic situation and Marvel's upcoming price increase, but so far our sales have remained consistent. People are cutting back on their comics buying overall, but it appears that people who were buying Robo still are. We take that as a huge compliment.
  • Heck, if Robo can continue to come in at $2.95, then I could see it's sales going UP in the face of Marvel's price hike. You just have to find a way to get the people that are unhappy with having to spend the extra money to look closer at your book.
  • Yay, more stuff! Now we just need a Sparrow one-shot, and some merch, and I'm a happy camper. While we wait for new Robo comics to actually hit stands though, might I suggest "Killer of Demons", out in March? Ass-kissing aside, I remember seeing Wegener with his KoD banner on the Image forums way back when, and what I saw always stuck with me. It's part of why I picked up Robo in the first place.
  • It may come to that.
  • Thanks!
  • More Robo is always great news. Enjoyed Dogs of War a bunch, thanks guys.
  • Then that just means that we, the fans aren't doing our job of spreading the word well enough. Word of mouth is still the BEST way to make a comic sell. Atomic Robo was a nobody until people started talking about it. For that matter, so was Invincible, Hellboy, the Goon, even stuff from the big boys like Nova or Fables. So the question then becomes: "What can we, as the fans of Atomic Robo, do to get new people to try the book?"

    If nothing else, I know Newsarama has recently started putting up first issues of some of the better books that nobody reads...is this something Red 5 can get into? I could see it working well for books like Atomic Robo and Abyss.

    (Oh, and did you see? Next month from Marvel: "War of Kings: Darkhawk" #1!)
  • I used to be optimistic enough to believe this, but working in the industry, even for as short a time as I have, has made me too cynical to think that'll ever happen.
  • Josh B.
    Hopefully it's also a sign that readers aren't going to stand for any more dreck coming out of the big name companies. Prices are going to go up and people will drop books, but I hope they then decide that books they stayed on, through some sense of continuity or whatever, will come under scrutiny. Marvel and DC do produce some good books, but not nearly enough, and maybe comic buyers will pick up something new and exciting instead of reading that new Vigilante mini. All I do is hock indy stuff at the comic shop I work at, and to very little avail. It's pretty disheartening.

    And here's to the idea of a Sparrow one shot or continuing mini comics!
  • Ryan
    Make it so! MAKE IT SO!
  • Bah. I saw 'what's next for robo' and remembered you mentioned something about a hollywood project on 8-bit a while back. Got all excited >< Seriously though, I bet you hear constantly from fans how well Robo would work as an animated series in the vein of Justice League.
  • I'd watch it! Look at how good Screw-On Head was, and Robo has a kinda similar feel to it. Do it up for the sci-fi channel or Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, and it could be badass.
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