Talk about trippy! This has to be the best, or at least the most intriguing comic I have read in some time. It is hard to say whether it is supposed to be something that really happened to the hero, or an allegory of what happened to him. It is so surreal and vague, and so much of it seems like it is symbolism. It is written almost like a myth. I also don’t know if the Soviet Society, or the town of Moscow in the story is real or figurative.

What I do know is that Andrew Dabb is an extremely talented writer. I hung on every word, each of which inspired such mixed feelings of wonder and fear at the strange society he described. I would have to say that his words alone could have told the story, but lucky for us, they didn’t have to. Created Abbinanti also did the penciling. His sweeping pictures of the monstrous city, his strange, purposefully exaggerated faces, the horrible monsters, and the ingenious use of shadow all show his incredible talent. His art is so moving and dark that I find myself wanting more of it, lots more, which my poor wallet protests in fury. Also worth noting is the cool coloring by Christina Strain and Beth Sotelo. You will no doubt have noticed the inspiring cover by Alex Ross as well.

Atomika #1 begins with a narration that tells about the birth of Atomika, a hero with the power of a thousand suns. It goes as far as to say, “the circle had been closed. God created man and man created God.” The narration then switches to the memory of a child recalling the birth of the Soviet Union, but not the one we know. This is a mechanized monstrosity. The city of Moscow is massive with all kinds of industrial motion and gigantic statues all of which are donned with the red star. The city itself seems to stretch up into the sky, and in one cell seems awfully close to the moon. He talks about how the new government came into power and complete control and gave its people both hope and fear. The boy is with his mother and looses a toy. He runs after it down below the depths of the city. Through strange tunnels and weird places he runs until far beneath the surface, past the strange machines, he finds a place where the Soldate de Fantom are kept. These are the souls of the soldiers that Napoleon sent to destroy Russia, which died and were trapped. The new government used them to exert their power over the spiritual world as well as the physical. They begged for death, but he could not help them. He went deeper into the Earth, through the maintenance tunnel, called the Behbi Maton. He finally found himself at the base of the city, where all the machines began. There were the Red Engines. These were huge monsters that created and ran the machines that made up Moscow.

His mother than found him and they continued on, but were confronted by Arohnir. It was then that the child realized that his mother was Mother Russia, the Russian peoples oldest god, but Arohnir’s monsters leaped on her and killed her. They took the child and they put nails through his chest to drain his humanity from him. When this was done, they took him to the center of the earth and forged him into Atomika. Arohnir’s scholars made up his story, combining important mythology from various religions. Arohnir tore down the old gods and made his own.
It seems that this is perhaps and allegory for both the U.S.S.R. and Atomika, but perhaps it is what really happens in the stories. Since it is a comic, I won’t make any conclusions just yet. I guess I’ll just have to wait for the next one.

-Fumanchu