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Rhyno posted:Sadly Marvel hates fun these days. I'm sure Marvel would love fun if they could double ship it. Also, comics need to matter Rhyno, goddamn, how do you not know this.
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May 20, 2012 21:48
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Rhyno posted:Sadly Marvel hates fun these days. I really miss the Dan Slott She-Hulk books, too. 
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May 20, 2012 22:08
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Len posted:Only slightly Robo related but will there ever be another Marvel series in the style of Infinity Gauntlet or do fun books not sell well enough for them to bother?
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May 20, 2012 22:49
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Hyperactive posted:The editors at Marvel love fun books. But the direct market is not the venue for them. This isn't the fault of the retailers, it's just that most folks buying corporate comics today want their ridiculous super people fights to be Very Important. drat. I really liked Infinity Gauntlet and Thor the Mighty Avenger and there really needs to be more things like them.
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May 20, 2012 22:55
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Len posted:drat. I really liked Infinity Gauntlet and Thor the Mighty Avenger and there really needs to be more things like them.
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May 20, 2012 23:02
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Hyperactive posted:Here's a little more! Sweet! Was that the series that was supposed to be an ongoing but then got cut down to almost nothing?
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May 20, 2012 23:11
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Len posted:Sweet! Was that the series that was supposed to be an ongoing but then got cut down to almost nothing?
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May 20, 2012 23:27
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Hyperactive posted:The very same. That's a shame. I read Fighting Avenger and it was pretty good though apparently I was the only one because my comic shop had a lot of them
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May 20, 2012 23:44
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I got my Atomic Robo figurine statue-thing in the mail today. He is perfect in every way that a 4.75" unposeable reproduction of Atomic Robo can be. Also Amazon shipped my copy of vol 6! 
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May 24, 2012 19:55
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Xenomrph posted:I got my Atomic Robo figurine statue-thing in the mail today. He is perfect in every way that a 4.75" unposeable reproduction of Atomic Robo can be. Meanwhile, they finally invented something worth spending your GameStop Power Reward Points on. FREE ATOMIC ROBO VOLUME ONE
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May 24, 2012 19:59
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Hyperactive posted:Everything's coming up Xeno.
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May 24, 2012 20:19
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Xenomrph posted:What do you mean?
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May 24, 2012 20:27
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I got the copy from Midtown Comics in record time, and gave it to my wife today, she LOVED it, was utterly wowed by the writing and the art, particularly how expressive Robo can be, considering he...um... has a great poker face. She said that "Ok, if they said that they didn't write volume seven's story until now, and that the Ghost of Station X was just in preparation of it, volume seven is going to be AWESOME." I don't know how she manages to talk in all caps, but she does it sometimes. (By the way, I also enjoyed the HELL out of the book, and it just made me want not only my very own Robo action figure but also a Jenkins action figure.) Hey, you think maybe we could get a kickstarter going for real articulated Robo action figures?
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May 27, 2012 01:43
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Len posted:For any goons planning to go to Gencon event registration goes live tomorrow and there are quite a few robo games. I'm planning to go to the one Friday at 2. It could be cool to get a goon group. I didn't know about this until today and now they're all sold out. There is no kind or loving God.
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May 27, 2012 04:04
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Cricken_Nigfops posted:She said that "Ok, if they said that they didn't write volume seven's story until now, and that the Ghost of Station X was just in preparation of it, volume seven is going to be AWESOME." Advanced merch options will be explored, but probably not in the short term. Deathlove posted:I didn't know about this until today and now they're all sold out. There is no kind or loving God.
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May 27, 2012 04:27
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Hyperactive posted:I'm glad you guys are enjoying our work. Vol 6 was a proof of concept to see whether or not we were ready for She-Devils. It's not as "powerful" a story as Station X, but it's a huge challenge in terms of story telling and action. First two issues are in the can and they're Scott's best work by a long shot. I don't even think it was two hours. But I'm totally pumped. If I have to start selling plasma to confirm I can make it I will. Is this just a play test or will I be able to slap some money down for a preorder? Because I will give you guys moneys for it.
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May 27, 2012 05:28
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Len posted:I don't even think it was two hours. But I'm totally pumped. If I have to start selling plasma to confirm I can make it I will. Is this just a play test or will I be able to slap some money down for a preorder? Because I will give you guys moneys for it.
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May 27, 2012 19:19
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Hyperactive posted:If it's any consolation they sold out in like two hours, so you missed it BIG TIME. Well, probably that was zero consolation. Did you peep the interview with lead designer Mike Olson? Some nice details in there. Friend of a friend is hooking me up with a ticket. I am ready for science and/or crystals.
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May 28, 2012 03:04
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Deathlove posted:Friend of a friend is hooking me up with a ticket. I am ready for science and/or crystals. The best news. Sorry you didn't get the memo until it was too late But at least it's all worked out in the long run
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May 28, 2012 03:07
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I have a volume 6 question: Why did ALAN turn out the way he did? Was it just the times he developed in as opposed to Robo's, i.e. the paranoia of the Cold War versus the optimism of the 20s, or was it seeing what happened to his mentor, or what?
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May 29, 2012 01:28
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wiegieman posted:I have a volume 6 question: Why did ALAN turn out the way he did? Was it just the times he developed in as opposed to Robo's, i.e. the paranoia of the Cold War versus the optimism of the 20s, or was it seeing what happened to his mentor, or what? 1) ALAN was online for less than a year before Turing disappeared. We can infer he didn't have enough time to develop proper emotional intelligence. It's unclear whether this was a flaw in Turing's approach to automatic intelligence vs. Tesla's, or if it was only due to a lack of guidance during ALAN's formative years. 2) Robo possessed autonomy, ALAN possessed secrecy. This is the big one to me. When Robo interacted with people, it was as a fellow being. Some of them treated him like a second class citizen, but he had a supportive father figure to fall back on. And probably a laundry list of scientific and cultural luminaries. And anyway, after a generation or so Robo was just part of reality to most people, so even that stigma faded. When ALAN interacted with people it was to use them. Manipulate them. That's a very different relationship. ALAN's not evil, just indifferent to human concerns. There was an exchange I hated to cut but, good god, that was a wordy issue and cuts had to be made. In it, Robo made a case that the loss of all culture would be too costly: yeah, ALAN would learn about the universe, but what would he or anyone say about it? What about all existing and future art? Etc. ALAN didn't even understand how that's an argument: anything humans create is about humans, big deal.
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May 29, 2012 04:24
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I blew through volume 6 last night in one sitting. I dunno about it, though. I definitely like volumes 3-5 more than 6, but I'm going to give it another one-over tonight. Spoiler-tagging the rest of this just cuz: It just wasn't particularly memorable. It almost felt like it would have been served better if the conspiracy plot had been built up longer - it felt like there was a lot of buildup for the individual "traps" (the space mission, the Majestic12 ambush) and then all of a sudden Robo says "holy poo poo conspiracy!" and the next thing you know they've sorted the conspiracy out and discovered ALAN. Don't get me wrong, ALAN was cool - I liked that he had his own reasons for the pursuit of science and knowledge, and from his perspective he wasn't doing anything wrong; it was refreshing instead of having someone trying to wreck the world just because they were evil and doing evil for its own sake or something. But it didn't feel like there was enough of a payoff - Robo meets ALAN, ALAN explains himself, Robo shuts ALAN down and the story ends. I guess it just felt like it could have been built up and drawn out more, which would have made Robo's victory feel less like he'd just punched out another monster-of-the-week and it was back to business as usual. I get that (based on the introductions at the front of the TPB) that ALAN was an afterthought and you were sort of shoehorning him into Robo's backstory after the fact, but I think it would have been a whole lot more satisfying if there'd been callbacks to prior Robo adventures, showing that ALAN had his hands in those somehow. Also the huge freeway helicopter big-rig chase did nothing for me. It felt like it went on entirely too long, and (no offense to Scott's art) it was hard to follow. It just seemed like stuff exploded, Robo and the other Action Scientists went back and forth about countermeasures and tracking, more stuff exploded, they hid in a truck-stop, and it was just one long string of explosions. I just found it hard to care. I can't even remember how it ended and how they escaped, and I just read it last night. I'll give it another read-through tonight - maybe I'll enjoy it more the second time through (like I did with volume 1). I just wish I'd enjoyed it more on my first read-through (like I did with vol 3-5).
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May 31, 2012 01:08
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I read through my Volume 6 last night too. When Robo was falling from space I got really worried about him! The tension made it so I couldn't put the book down! So good job on that, guys! I love how the roster of real-world scientists keeps growing in these books. Any plans for Feynman? Seems like he'd be a good fit for the Roboverse. Love your self-insert characters.
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May 31, 2012 19:11
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Xenomrph posted:I blew through volume 6 last night in one sitting. I dunno about it, though. I definitely like volumes 3-5 more than 6, but I'm going to give it another one-over tonight. quote:It almost felt like it would have been served better if the conspiracy plot had been built up longer - it felt like there was a lot of buildup for the individual "traps" (the space mission, the Majestic12 ambush) and then all of a sudden Robo says "holy poo poo conspiracy!" and the next thing you know they've sorted the conspiracy out and discovered ALAN. When you're called by NASA to rescue astronauts on an unrealistically hectic timetable, get up there only to be killed in two different ways, and then barely rescued and rebuilt by your friends, and then NASA calls to confirm they never made the first call, where does your mind go? "Angering powerful people in charge of shadowy organizations is pretty much my hobby." And yet it still takes them 4 issues to put it together. In a 5 issue series, I can't draw it out much more than that! quote:But it didn't feel like there was enough of a payoff - Robo meets ALAN, ALAN explains himself, Robo shuts ALAN down and the story ends. I guess it just felt like it could have been built up and drawn out more, Why? ALAN is at the end of a 50+ year master plan that hinged upon, above all else, secrecy. What does drawing it out at the eleventh hour do to benefit him? Explaining himself was a last ditch effort to neutralize Robo as a threat. The fact that ALAN expects this could work is just another notch on how he doesn't "get" people. And after hearing ALAN's pitch, why on Earth would Robo do anything other than immediately do everything possible to stop ALAN? quote:which would have made Robo's victory feel less like he'd just punched out another monster-of-the-week and it was back to business as usual. Though you can't be blamed for not knowing it: Vol 8 - 10 deal with the fallout of Vol 6. It almost seems like your frustrations are based on the assumption that this is over when it's barely begun. In a sense, Vol 6 itself is the very build up you're looking for. quote:I get that (based on the introductions at the front of the TPB) that ALAN was an afterthought and you were sort of shoehorning him into Robo's backstory after the fact, but I think it would have been a whole lot more satisfying if there'd been callbacks to prior Robo adventures, showing that ALAN had his hands in those somehow. I always erred on the side of not hinting at ALAN in previous volumes because no one knows he's there. The scope of what ALAN reveals to have influenced over the years now lets you look back on previous volumes and wonder where else his hand may have been felt. And now that the cat is out of the bag, we can pinpoint a few specifics in new stories. Omnomnomnivore posted:I read through my Volume 6 last night too. When Robo was falling from space I got really worried about him! The tension made it so I couldn't put the book down! So good job on that, guys!
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May 31, 2012 19:57
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Hyperactive posted:ALAN is as "shoehorned" as the She-Devils, Jack Tarot, Undead Edison, and a dozen things you guys don't know yet. This is the best part of Atomic Robo. Well, except for the writing and the art. I am just flabbergasted at how much you guys have planned out. The best part of a new volume starting is reading it and then rereading all the other volumes and seeing how things just fit together so tightly.
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May 31, 2012 20:38
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Hyperactive posted:Feynman has been requested a few times. We'll have him show up one of these days. I'm pretty sure I keep pushing for Feynman any tiem I think to. Neil deGrasse Tyson wouldn't be a bad addition for a more modern Robo story, either.
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May 31, 2012 20:42
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bairfanx posted:I'm pretty sure I keep pushing for Feynman any tiem I think to. Neil deGrasse Tyson wouldn't be a bad addition for a more modern Robo story, either.
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May 31, 2012 21:06
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Hyperactive posted:don't you worry about Neil. He figures prominently in two upcoming storylines. Just have to space 'em out. I figured we'd see him eventually, probably through some connection Robo had at Cornell with Sagan.
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May 31, 2012 21:08
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Hyperactive posted:First, are you nuts? Hyperactive posted:When you're called by NASA to rescue astronauts on an unrealistically hectic timetable, get up there only to be killed in two different ways, and then barely rescued and rebuilt by your friends, and then NASA calls to confirm they never made the first call, where does your mind go? Hyperactive posted:Why? ALAN is at the end of a 50+ year master plan that hinged upon, above all else, secrecy. What does drawing it out at the eleventh hour do to benefit him? Explaining himself was a last ditch effort to neutralize Robo as a threat. The fact that ALAN expects this could work is just another notch on how he doesn't "get" people. And after hearing ALAN's pitch, why on Earth would Robo do anything other than immediately do everything possible to stop ALAN? I mean sure the story ends with that final panel hinting that we haven't seen the last of ALAN, but I guess I was hoping it would be more overt - Robo doesn't seem to be acknowledging that he just stopped a 50-year-old conspiracy that influences everything in the span of 6 pages and 5 gunshots. Like, he's been around for 80 years and he's seen some poo poo, I imagine he'd be wondering if he really stopped it but instead it seems to end with Robo being satisfied that the problem is solved. Hyperactive posted:Though you can't be blamed for not knowing it: Vol 8 - 10 deal with the fallout of Vol 6. It almost seems like your frustrations are based on the assumption that this is over when it's barely begun. In a sense, Vol 6 itself is the very build up you're looking for. Hyperactive posted:I always erred on the side of not hinting at ALAN in previous volumes because no one knows he's there. The scope of what ALAN reveals to have influenced over the years now lets you look back on previous volumes and wonder where else his hand may have been felt. And now that the cat is out of the bag, we can pinpoint a few specifics in new stories. Like I said maybe I'll like it more on a re-read; it's cool that there's other stuff planned out that will play off of what vol 6 set up, I just didn't have as much fun with volume 6 as I did with the last couple volumes (which were awesome, especially vol 5). Don't get me wrong, it's not like I hated (or even disliked) vol 6, I just had some reservations. Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 21:16 on May 31, 2012 |
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May 31, 2012 21:12
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Xenomrph posted:But the thing is much of those 4 issues was the action itself. Sure Robo figures out there's a conspiracy at work, but my problem was that he solved the conspiracy almost immediately. This also speaks to ALAN's influence: how much control did he have over this super secret military sect? What happens to them now that he's gone? How long was he monitoring Tesladyne? quote:Because I think it would allow for a lot more interesting storytelling potential if Robo didn't (apparently) stop him the first time. And if you really think that the story, as it is, shows that everything is wrapped up nice and neat I can only say you should re-read the final issue. It could be easy to miss because it's a stupidly dense issue, but ALAN drops some science about what is under Hashima. It's still there. quote:I think it would go a lot further to show the depth of the 50-year conspiracy if Robo managed to escape with his life and the knowledge that there's a serious problem out there, but that it's not something he can stop in the span of 1 issue. quote:I mean sure the story ends with that final panel hinting that we haven't seen the last of ALAN, but I guess I was hoping it would be more overt - Robo doesn't seem to be acknowledging that he just stopped a 50-year-old conspiracy that influences everything in the span of 6 pages and 5 gunshots. Like, he's been around for 80 years and he's seen some poo poo, I imagine he'd be wondering if he really stopped it but instead it seems to end with Robo being satisfied that the problem is solved. It's how he stopped Helsingard. It's how he stopped the Laufpanzers, the Monster Men of the Third Reich, and their Weather Cannon. It's how he stopped the giant ants. The clockwork pyramid. Helsingard x ?? It's how he stopped the Shadow From Beyond Time. The Biomega thing in Tokyo. Dr. Dinosaur. Dr. Dinosaur. Dr. Dinosaur x ?? Vampires. Edison. Rasputin's Ghost. Jack Parson and his magic spaceship. North Korea's Supermech. Crazy Ivan and his Czar Bomb. More stuff from 1923 - 2010 you ain't seen yet. ALAN's just the latest on a long list. quote:The knowledge that the story is building towards something bigger is cool, but the story itself doesn't really indicate that.
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May 31, 2012 22:39
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quote:It demonstrably would not. It would have been the end of all life on Earth. I mean, ALAN could have had a different plot in the works, one that wouldn't kill all of life on Earth, but then that fails to set him up as a foil automatic intelligence to Robo. I mean sure ALAN is the latest in a long list, but if ALAN is meant to be a big-deal game-changer then just having Robo (seemingly) stop him in one issue kinda undermines it. It's the difference between James Bond stopping Blofeld's latest scheme and him thinking Blofeld is dead, and Bond stopping his scheme but knowing that Blofeld escaped and is still a threat. I mean I guess it's the trade-off between setting ALAN up as a recurring problem for Robo and Tesladyne and having Robo know it (and THIS. CHANGES. EVERYTHING. *dramatic cue*), or having ALAN come back later for a ~BIG REVEAL~ in a couple volumes that shocks Robo (and the reader). I prefer the former because I feel it would have made ALAN a more compelling and interesting threat, but I understand that you did the latter and we'll get the payoff in a couple volumes. I'll re-read vol 6 tonight and post some second-reading thoughts after I go through it. Based on how things went with volume 1 I expect I'll like it more the second time around. My spoiler-tagged post was all first-reading reactions, but to date I've never read a Robo volume only once. 
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Jun 1, 2012 01:00
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Went back through volume 6 again last night, as expected I liked it more the second time through. I think the pacing sort of "clicked" the second time around, especially for the first two issues. I still didn't like the helicopter highway chase very much (I thought it was a little long), but some things were a lot funnier the second time around (<I am foreign robot man>). I still think ALAN would have been more interesting if he'd been handled differently from the other recurring villains we've had so far like Helsingard and Dr. Dinosaur. So far all three of them have sort of been one-note villains - they show up with some scheme, Robo punches/shoots them, and solves the problem. I suppose by volume 6 I'm hoping to see villains that change that up a bit, villains that don't have easy one-note tried-and-true solutions, especially since ALAN is set up as a foil for Robo. I mean yes I get that ALAN will be back, but will he be back with more one-note schemes (in the same way Helsingard and Dr. Dinosaur have)? It's great that there'll be some sort of payoff in volume 8, my criticisms of ALAN are more about volume 6 as a standalone volume. Also, a couple random things: 1. Sparrow #1's note about the invisible house... what was up with that? Did Sparrow #1 know about Turing and ALAN in some capacity? If this is a plot thread that gets addressed in a later volume then that's cool.  2. Powell was wearing a T-shirt with a grenade logo on it. Subtle somethingawful nod? Or was it just because Powell works in Exotic Ballistics and likes things that go boom? 3. The coolest panel in the whole story was the little one of Robo's eyes glowing in the shipping crate - the subtle glow and the way you could still pick out details of Robo's face was really cool. Props to Scott and Robo's colorist (whose name escapes me). Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Jun 1, 2012 |
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Jun 1, 2012 20:29
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Xenomrph posted:1. Sparrow #1's note about the invisible house... what was up with that? Did Sparrow #1 know about Turing and ALAN in some capacity? If this is a plot thread that gets addressed in a later volume then that's cool. Something we tend to forget is that Bletchley Park, the code breaking, and Turing were all some of the most super top secret poo poo in the world until the '70s. Like, y'know how all kinds of info on how to build a nuke is highly classified? Like that. Except we know nukes exist, so in a way, it was even more top secret than nuclear weapons programs. When she wrote that note, she probably had every expectation no one would know what had been done at Bletchley. If any project from there got loose at some time after her own demise, then from her perspective the best thing to do would be to call Robo. He's into weird math and difficult to kill. quote:2. Powell was wearing a T-shirt with a grenade logo on it. Subtle somethingawful nod? Or was it just because Powell works in Exotic Ballistics and likes things that go boom? quote:3. The coolest panel in the whole story was the little one of Robo's eyes glowing in the shipping crate - the subtle glow and the way you could still pick out details of Robo's face was really cool. Props to Scott and Robo's colorist (whose name escapes me).
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Jun 2, 2012 17:14
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That reminds me, is Scott on these forums too? If not, why not - I bet he'd have some fun things to contribute about the drawing process, and I'm sure people would have questions for him. Also he could become ONE OF US. ONE OF US. ONE OF US. 
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Jun 2, 2012 19:14
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So, Atomic Robo was featured at the start of Fair Trade Comics, Comics Bulletin's rebuttal to Before Watchmen. http://www.comicsbulletin.com/main/reviews/fair-trade-comics-atomic-robo
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Jun 6, 2012 15:00
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Just finished volume 6 and came to post about how interesting it is that the difference between Robo and Alan is that Robo's autonomy allowed him to be out in the world and develop empathy during his formative years, but I see that Hyperactive already addressed that topic at length recently. So I'll just say that this was an excellent story. One thing I love about Robo is that the stories are self contained, so for me, the pacing worked really well. This volume is probably my second favorite, after volume 3. I feel like somebody should create a roster of Tesladyne Action Scientists, because I have a tough time keeping them all straight (other than Jenkins!) and I can't refer back to my previous volumes because I'm always lending them out.
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Jun 15, 2012 16:41
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DancinBrud posted:I feel like somebody should create a roster of Tesladyne Action Scientists, because I have a tough time keeping them all straight (other than Jenkins!) and I can't refer back to my previous volumes because I'm always lending them out. If someone does this I'll add it to the OP. I'm away from my issues for now.
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Jun 15, 2012 16:44
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DancinBrud posted:So I'll just say that this was an excellent story. One thing I love about Robo is that the stories are self contained, so for me, the pacing worked really well. This volume is probably my second favorite, after volume 3. Len posted:If someone does this I'll add it to the OP. I'm away from my issues for now. On the bright side I'll have to compile that information for the RPG, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it mirrored on the site in some capacity.
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Jun 15, 2012 17:13
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Hyperactive posted:Yaaay! FYI, your game could singlehandedly get me back into playing a tabletop RPG.
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Jun 15, 2012 19:14
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Re-read volume 5 last night, definitely still my favorite volume to date. I like to imagine Jack Tarot as being played by Nathan Fillion, but that's just me.
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Jun 15, 2012 21:05
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