Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #4

The Sparrow, British superspy extraordinaire, manages to get Atomic Robo rebooted in time for both of them to escape the crashing train, but they still need to capture Otto Skorzeny and Dr. Valkyrie. They trail them to their mountain fortress, get inside, and have a number of spectacular fights against each other, robots, and cybernetic monster men before a self-destruct sequence blows the whole place sky-high. Are the bad guys dead? Seeing as how there’s a whole ‘nother issue left, probably not.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Straightforward action is good. The screwball “I hate you but secretly think you’re cool” patter between Robo and Sparrow is made all the cooler by the fact that one of them is a hyper-scientific fighting robot.

B.P.R.D.: The Warning #5

Conventional forces finally put down the giant robots destroying Munich, but at a very high cost. And they haven’t even taken out all the robots — they may very well be scattered all over the world, ready to strike at any time. Johann Kraus learns that everyone in his old neighborhood is dead, Kate Corrigan gets to go on a date, Abe Sapien is seeing ghosts and wishing Hellboy were around to set everything right. But is the still-missing Liz Sherman the key to saving the future? And if so, will the cure be as bad as the disease?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Best scene: Johann being driven through his old neighborhood, leaking ectoplasm, as scores of ghosts spring up behind him. Spooky and heartbreaking at the same time.