Somebody adapted Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders’ Five Fist of Science for the stage.

And this got me thinking about the odd relationship Atomic Robo shares with 5FoS and its creators. Yeah, there’s the obvious Tesla connection. And we’ve already hinted at the Edison vs. Tesla theme in the back-up story Atomic Robo vs. Rasputin. But it goes deeper than that!

The artist, Steven Sanders, was gracious enough to draw the cover to my novel. He was very nearly the artist for Atomic Robo, but by the time that came around he was too busy with more reliably paying work. It’s just as well, because shortly thereafter I found The Sweggers. Scott and I enjoy an unusual working dynamic of equal parts respect and resentment. I mean that in the best possible way, which may be difficult to understand and that’s a shame because it’s just as difficult to articulate. What it comes down to is that Scott and I trust each other to do the best possible work, but we also won’t hesitate to push each other to do better (usually through the device of childish insults). It’s as appreciated as it is annoying. Working with Steven was a pleasure, but he may have been too kind to push me the way Scott is unafraid to, and the way that, frankly, is needed for Robo to be the best it can be.

Steven was then very nearly our cover artist. He may have been too busy to pump out twenty-two pages a month, but surely he could squeeze in one page a month! But then Red 5 wanted our cover art to be consistent with our interior art, so there went that idea.

Matt Fraction, of course, co-wrote my favorite monthly title since Amazing Spider-Man’s JMS and JRJR days, Immortal Iron Fist. I’m disappointed to see him go, but he’s at the helm of a new Iron Man title, a character most comics fans wouldn’t think of as needing two books a month, but have you looked at how many cameos this guy gets since Civil War? Make all the “Wolverine’s on a dozen teams” jokes you want, but Tony Stark took that mantle from him for the ‘07 season. Frankly, I was surprised that Iron Man didn’t get a second title sooner, but of course they were waiting for it to coincide with the movie’s release. Iron Man is one of my favorite characters, so I’m looking forward to what The Frac, as I’m calling him now, can cook up for the old shell head.

The Frac also writes Punisher: War Journal, which Scott drew for two issues. It’s a shame we didn’t have any Guinness people out for it, because Scott set a land speed record in pumping those issues out on time. War Journal’s a slightly controversial title among fans for it’s borderline slapstick approach to Mr. Punisher, a traditionally grim and gritty character. I quite enjoy this take on the character, though I can see how it’d ruffle the feathers of some. Way I see it, there’s nothing wrong with Grim and Gritty Punisher. The problem is that G&G Punisher makes no sense when interacting with the Marvel Universe, and War Journal is a comic about making Punisher interact with the Marvel Universe. You can do that with the grim and gritty Punisher, but it’s like putting Dirty Harry in a Saturday morning cartoon.

Anyway, the first comic I officially “collected” was Punisher #1. My favorite character from those collecting days was Iron Man. My favorite character now is Iron Fist. The implications are clear. The Frac is stalking me backwards through time.

We get that a lot. Positive reviews use it as a hook to get people to check us out, negative reviews spit it out like an accusation we ought to be ashamed of and defend against. I prefer to ignore it as I’m of the school of thought that says reacting against petty things gives them far too much validation. But, the sheer ridiculousness of it is on my mind, so here we go!

I know no one will believe me, but for the record, I came up with the major elements of Atomic Robo several years before I’d read a single page of Hellboy. At the time, all I knew of the series came from the trade paperback covers. I was convinced it was a comic about a monster, apparently called Hellboy, who plagued mankind in some way.

Book, cover, judge, don’t.

I could never find all the trades, or I didn’t know if I could because they weren’t numbered back then. I can’t stand starting in the middle of something, so I avoided reading it. This is why Robo is written so that any issue is a great starter issue even though I realize the futility in doing so. The kind of person who would most benefit from that is the kind of person who, like me, would never open a random issue because it’s not starting at the beginning. But I’m a big fan of Norse mythology, so I choose futility.

Anyway. Little things like Tesla’s involvement hadn’t been decided upon yet, but the big things, like Robo owning a company dedicated to investigating/fighting weird-science emergencies all over the world, being old, tough, and funny were all there. These dimensions to his character weren’t decided upon at random, and they could not be changed. They are a natural part of his character. Robo doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Who and where he is at any given point is a direct consequence of his presence in the world. His existence would necessarily have impacts on technology, industry, science, politics, and religion. How people in those spheres of influence reacted to Robo over the years would necessarily affect Robo himself.

So, imagine my surprise when the Hellboy movie came out years later and I was finally able to find all the trade paperbacks. In them I found an old and tough character who stomps through history at the discretion of an agency dedicated to eliminating threats outside the norm.

Oops.

Of course, as soon as you go beyond those surface details, the comparison becomes ridiculous. You might as well say that Spider-Man is nothing more than a Batman rip off. Think about it! Both have a tragic past that haunts them, both combat a mix of petty and super crime, both are excellent fighters, both are very intelligent, both use/invent gadgets, and — most damning of all — both swing through their cities!

Of course, no one says that Spider-Man is just a Batman rip off because 1) that’s stupid, and 2) there’s no reason to. Everyone knows who Batman is. Everyone knows who Spider-Man is. You don’t have to say “He’s a funny Batman”. Atomic Robo is the new kid in town and there’s only one other comic remotely like it, so we hear, “He’s a robot Hellboy,” because that’s the quickest way to communicate the basic idea even if it’s technically inaccurate.

So, when people say it to try to hook new readers, I cringe internally, but I know what they mean. It’s like when you pitch a movie in Hollywood. You’ve got to sell it and you’ve got to do it quick. The fastest way to do that is to hit them with something they’re already familiar with. “It’s Star Wars plus Dracula!” is far more immediately engaging than a twenty minute discourse about your space opera with vampires.

It’s where the “robotic Hellboy” idea is supposed to be used against us that I get confused, because it makes exactly as much sense as saying Spider-Man is a Batman ripoff, which is to say, none.

I guess both Robo and Hellboy go on missions and exist in history? I mean, are we seriously saying Mignola invented putting characters in the past or going on missions? Are League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Planetary just Hellboy fanfics?

I’ll grant that both characters are old and tough. Robo’s a robot, so of course he doesn’t age and he’s tough — that’s what robots do. Are we now suggesting that Mignola invented old, tough characters? Should Ellis give the royalties to any of his “century babies” stories to Mignola? Kirkman’s Brit? Pretty much every member of the JSA? Tom Strong? Captain America?

What’s funny about all this is that my complaint here is that the only complaint we get is idiotic. We must be doing something right if our detractors are A) few and B) objectively wrong.

I mean, if you want to accuse us of ripping anything off, here’s the list: Ghostbusters, Buckaroo Banzai, Indiana Jones, Dragnet, Rocketeer, Iron Giant.

Industry professionals and retailers, the Eisners are now open for voting.

Atomic Robo was honored with nominations for Best Limited Series and, thanks to Ronda Pattison, Best Colors.

Now, I’m not going to tell you to vote for us, but I will remind you that Atomic Robo is the only nominee in any category to show you why Stephen Hawking is a bastard.

First of all, thanks to everyone who came out. It was great talking with you folks. I was surprised to see so many people who weren’t yet into comics but were excited to get into them. But, hey, Free Comic Book Day is all about suckering new readers into the hobby, so way to fall for our trap, you fools!

Second, let me just say that Chuck Dixon is my new hero. He’s a pro’s pro.

Third, apparently the Robo & Neozoic FCBD issue was one of the fast movers at most stores and a lot of people missed out on picking up a copy. Do not despair, Team Robo looks out for the reader! We guarantee that story will be available at no additional cost to you and in a format that will make it available to our international friends as well. It might take until February or March ‘09, but it’ll be there.

I love writing Atomic Robo because it makes me find things like this.