Itty Bitty Comics – Itty Bitty (Atomic) Robo: Let’s Do Some Science! – MK Stangeland Jr.

(DR. DINOSAUR made a ‘Science gun’ to pester ATOMIC ROBO with. Then ATOMIC ROBO broke the gun with violence.)

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: ATOMIC ROBO, VIK, BERNARD, and FOLEY stand next to a swirling vortex of energy floating just off the ground made up of science-y colors – a ‘vortex of science’.

ATOMIC ROBO: What is it?

VIK: I think it’s some kind of science vortex.

Panel 2: ROBO looks to VIK. BERNARD continues to look at the ‘vortex of science’ as FOLEY picks a decent-sized rock off the ground.

ROBO: Don’t be silly. Science isn’t a physical thing.

Panel 3: FOLEY throws the rock into the ‘vortex of science’.

Panel 4: The rock vanishes into ‘vortex of science’.

SFX: SCIENCE!

Panel 5: ROBO looks a mix of confusion and concern.

ROBO: What just happened?

BERNARD: I think science happened.

Panel 6: ROBO has his arms up with frustration.

ROBO: That is not science! Science doesn't just ‘happen’!

FOLEY: It kind of did.

(END PAGE)

Hellboy – The Fighting Agents of the T.C.P.S.O. – MK Stangeland Jr.

(Consider the premise here to be part of a Hellboy/Atomic Robo crossover that operates along the same lines as some of the Marvel/DC crossovers that pretended both participants were part of the same universe all along. In it, Hellboy is part of what’s this universes version of both Tesladyne Industries and the BDRP – the Tesladyne Corporation for Paranormal and Scientific Operations.)

(8 Panels)

Panel 1: Briefing room. Already present are ATOMIC ROBO, JENKINS, ABE SAPIEN, LIZ SHERMAN, ARGUELLES, HOSKINS, and SCHAEFER (see the final issue of ATOMIC ROBO and OTHER STRANGENESS for reference on the last three).

Hellboy enters the briefing room. His horns are unshaved, but each of them is being used to hold an extraordinarily large stack of pancakes. The belt he’s wearing has spots to hold both butter and syrup so that he can carry them around and grab them as needed.

ATOMIC ROBO (1): And now that big red it here, we should be…

ATOMIC ROBO (2): …what did you do to your horns?

Panel 2: HELLBOY grabs a pancake off of one of his horns. His other hand is going for the butter he has on his belt.

HELLBOY (1): It’s breakfast. I haven’t eaten yet.

HELLBOY (2): You think I’m going to let good pancakes go to waste?

Panel 3: ATOMIC ROBO puts his hands up in a ‘I’m not even going to bother’ way.

ATOMIC ROBO: Arguelles, could you just start the briefing, please?

Panel 4: Image of a man up on a screen. Aside from looking out of it, he looks perfectly normal, taking a normal, everyday stroll.

ARGUELLES: Here we have a Mr. Jack Phillip. He looks like a perfectly ordinary man.

ARGUELLES: And you’d be right, except that two days ago he was in a coma, then suddenly he got up and left.

ARGUELLES: It’s the third reported case of its type in less than a week.

Panel 5: Similar image of the same man, but with what looks like a filter applied, showing the man being ‘possessed’ by UNDEAD EDISON.

ARGUELLES: When we view him through the right lens, we see the reason why.

Panel 6: Close up on ROBO’s head as he glares.

ATOMIC ROBO: Edison.

Panel 7: HELLBOY, who his putting the remains of a pancake into his mouth.

HELLBOY: Looks the ghost is finally making a move.

ATOMIC ROBO: He’s not a ghost. There is a perfectly logical scientific explanation for whatever it is he is.

Panel 8: Panel of LIZ SHERMAN, who’s toying with a bit of fire as she makes a snarky aside comment.

LIZ SHERMAN: Said the nuclear robot in the same room as the fish mutant and the demon who was literally summoned from the depths of Hell.

(END PAGE)

Dr. Dinosaur - The Plot From Paraguay - R.A. Wonsowski

Panel 1 - In the jungle of Paraguay, near the Brazilian border, ATOMIC ROBO stumbles upon a white Spanish-style two-story house with a terra-cotta tile roof.

CAPTION:  Somewhere in Paraguay...

Panel 2 - ATOMIC ROBO smashes in the door with his fist.

SFX:  KRAK!!

Panel 3 - From Behind AR, we see DR. DINOSAUR's laboratory.  It is filled with retro/WWII chemistry equipment, and in the corner is a model of the DNA helix made out of TinkerToys(TM).  The room is completely white, with the windows to the right open to the jungle outside.  To the left, DR. DINOSAUR is on a step ladder, with a small paint can in one hand-claw, and a paint brush tipped in red paint in the other.  He is wearing a white lab coat.  On the wall next to him is a chart of names written in German script with check boxes after the names.  It looks like almost a hundred names, and only the first 10 or so have been checked in red.  DR. DINOSAUR looks surprised.

DR. DINO:  SQUAK!

DR. DINO:  Atomic Robo!

Panel 4 - ATOMIC ROBO's right hand has morphed into a particle cannon, but he's holding fire,, as he is considering the wall of names thoughtfully.  DR. DINOSAUR steps off his ladder, throwing the paint can and brush out the open window.

DR. DINO:  Yes!  I have crossed my pure Dino-rific DNA with that of the most sinister mammal ever to walk the face of the earth --

DR. DINO:  QUINCY JONES!

DR. DINO:  -- and created a perfect hybrid, implanted into the wombs of mammal women trapped in unhappy marriages, in the futile belief that a baby would fix their personal woes and psycho-emotional shortcomings!  And on their 7th birthdays, I will assassinate their deadbeat fathers, triggering an emotional response that will overload their immature brains, turning them into...

Panel 5 - DR. DINOSAUR cackles maniacally.  Behind him, we see ATOMIC ROBO with a look of disappointment upon him.

DR. DINO:  FUNK-O-SOUL-O-SAURUSES!!!

DR. DINO:  BWAH-ha-ha-hahahahaaaa!

Panel 6 - DR. DINOSAUR looks behind him, over his shoulder.  ATOMIC ROBO's head is hung in embarrassment.

NO COPY

Panel 7 - ATOMIC ROBO rests his hand upon DR. DINOSAUR's shoulder.  DR. DINOSAUR is emotionally crushed, head hung in shame.  ATOMIC ROBO looks sympathetic.

ATOMIC ROBO:  The Boys From Brazil was on Turner Classic this month, wasn't it?

DR. DINO:  (small lettering) I've been so uninspired...

ATOMIC ROBO:  Happens to the best of us...

DR. DINO:  (small lettering)  And the performance of the Peck mammal is just so...hypnotic...

ATOMIC ROBO:  Hey, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best...

Dr. Dinosaur: Jurassic Spark - Niel Jacoby

Page 1

Panel 1: Dr. Dinosaur is working on a mysterious project. We can't see all of it, but we can see metal scales and an eye that looks kind of like Atomic Robo's.

Dr. Dinosaur: YES, YES!

Dr. Dinosaur: IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE!

Panel 2: Dr. Dinosaur looks at his new creation with glee. We can't see it, but we can see a blue glow.

Dr. Dinosaur: AFTER ALL MY ENCOUNTERS WITH ATOMIC ROBO, I'VE FINALLY CREATED THE WEAPON THAT WILL KILL HIM!

Panel 3: Zoom out on Dr. Dinosaur and Atomic Dino(a robot version of Dr. Dinosaur whose design is based on Atomic Robo). Dr. Dinosaur is gleeful, and Atomic Dino is confused.

Dr. Dinosaur: THE PERFECT MENTAL THREAT TO ROBO, NOW COMBINED WITH A PHYSICAL THREAT! THERE IS NO WAY THAT ATOMIC ROBO COULD SURVIVE THE WRATH OF--

Dr. Dinosaur: ATOMIC DINO!

Dr. Dinosaur – Future Fossils – Shaun Richens.

(Disclaimer: All I know of this character and the universe he inhabits is from what I have read online, so my tale may not make sense in continuity or maybe something that has already been covered in the books. However I hope it’s still a fun read.)

1. DR. DINOSAUR stands on the deck of fancy looking yacht. He has an AK 47 in one hand and a strange looking mechanical device in the other (It looks like this) The device has a crystal on top of it that blinks in an eerie purple colour. Standing across from DR. DINOSAUR is ATOMIC ROBO, he has is hands raised about his head as he tries to talk down the good Dr. down.

         CAPTION

         Bermuda Triangle.

         CAPTION

September 19, 2008

         ROBO

         Come on but your Ghostbusters prop down.

         DR. DINOSAUR

Shut your metal flap Atomic Hobo. Today is a special day for me. My crystals have bought me to the exact point at which I discover how I become a genius.

         ROBO

You’re implications that I am homeless cut deep Dr. that was unkind.

2. A close up off the device in DR. DINOSAUR’s claw? The crystal is at its brightest and the needle on the scale is shaking at its top end.

         DR. DINOSAUR

         A huge spike of mammal energy. This is it tin can.

3. A close up on DR. DINOSAUR’S face, a sly grin on his face.

         DR. DINOSAUR

         Time to find out what killed the dinosaurs.

4. A huge purple vortex explodes in between DR. DINOSAUR and ATOMIC ROBO knocking them both to the floor.

NO COPY

5. DR. DINOSAUR and ATOMIC ROBO still lie on the floor, the gun and device have fallen from the Drs claw. Smoke billows across the floor of the yacht as the vortex seals.

Standing in the wake of the vortex is a future version of DR. DINOSAUR. He looks like the present day version, however he wears an eye patch over one eye and has a robotic arm in place of his lost left limb. The robotic arm has what looks like an advanced version of the Telluric Interchanger built into it. FUTURE DINOSAUR has a strange look of pride on his face.

         FUTURE DINOSAUR

Good afternoon gentlemen. I take it you may both have some questions?

Atomic Robo – Atomic Robo and the Problem with Clones - MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: ATOMIC ROBO is an industrial area, being held upside down by the leg. Holding him is ATOMIC DINO, an evil robot built by DR. DINOSAUR. It’s an 8-and-a-half-foot tall humanoid machine of war that has an Ankylosaurus tail, a Stegosaurus back, Raptor claws on its feet, folded up Pterodactyl wings attached to the shoulders, Triceratops horns, and a Tyrannosaurus head. The design of the metal and the construction of the robot has an aesthetic similar in nature to that of ATOMIC ROBO himself.

However, DINO doesn’t have nearly the intellectual capacity as ROBO, mostly needing to take its orders from DR. DINOSUAR, who is controlling it from a different location. A wireless speaker box in DINO’s mouth allows DR. DINOSAUR to verbally annoy ROBO despite not being there.

ATOMIC ROBO: Let me guess – It’s powered by crystals?

Panel 2: ATOMIC DINO drops ROBO and swings around so that it’s tail smacks ROBO as he drops to the ground, sending him flying into a small building.

DR. DINOSAUR: ATOMIC CRYSTALS!

SFX: (From tail.) TWONK!

SFX: (From wall.) CrunCH!

Panel 3: The building collapses and falls on top of ROBO as ATOMIC DINO slowly approaches him.

DR. DINOSAUR: Far superior to your inferior mammal robot energy power!

SFX: CreeeeRACH!

Panel 4: ATOMIC ROBO punches his fist up through the rubble as he begins to pull himself out of it.

SFX: crUNKcle

ATOMIC ROBO (1): Wonderful. Just what

ATOMIC ROBO (2): (Thought balloon.) Ow.

ATOMIC ROBO (3): I need.

ATOMIC ROBO (4): (Thought balloon.) Ow.

ATOMIC ROBO (5): A badly designed prehistoric bootleg wannabe

ATOMIC ROBO (6): (Thought balloon.) $#^^&%, I think I’ve got some rubble inside of me!

ATOMIC ROBO (7): version of me running around.

Panel 5: ATOMIC ROBO has mostly pulled himself out of the collapsed building. Robo is covered in rubble, and one of his eyes is half closed as it twitches.

SFX: twitch twitch

ATOMIC ROBO: Alright, Dr. Dumbosaur! Here’s how we’re going to do this!

Panel 6: Panel is from behind ATOMIC ROBO as he runs straight at ATOMIC DINO as fast as he can.

ATOMIC ROBO: First, I’m going to smash your stupid robot so hard it’ll make the laws of science cry uncle!

(END PAGE)

Atomic Robo - Not What It Used To Be - Ryan K Lindsay

Page 20 - 6 Panels

  

1. Robo stands in a military court, he's furious about proceedings.

Robo: Objection, heresy.

2. The judge smashes his hammer down. Robo facepalms.

Judge Kleinfeld: You mean here say, and the court will allow it.

3. Here we see a YouTube clip of the proceedings at the CERN Collider. The panel should be framed like a YouTube clip, timer down the bottom, etc. The timer is at 2:44. We see a supervillain strapped with a bomb and holding scientists hostage.

Prosecution: Here we see an agent of E.N.T.R.O.P.Y. getting his cackle on at the Large Hadron Collider.
Agent (in the clip): Amongst other things, it would appear running an empire isn’t what it used to be.

4. Same YouTube clip but the timeline shows it's minutes later, 5:12. Robo is punching the goon down the Collider's circular corridor while also pushing a button that says 'Initiate Sequence.' Some of this setting will have been shown more earlier in the issue.

Prosecution: Undue force was used in quelling the threat endangering the lives of potentially billions of people.
Robo (in the clip): See you...round.

5. Robo stands up from his seat once more.

Robo: That's right, people, like Newton...

6. Robo holds his fist up proud, the crowd behind erupts in cheers.

Robo: I do it with force!
Judge Kleinfeld: Order, order!

Atomic Robo - Entangled - Danial Carroll

PAGE TWENTY-TWO (two panels)


PANEL ONE, INSET TOP-LEFT
Close on Robo. He looks worried. If a robot could sweat, he would be sweating.

ROBO: Come one, Robo, you've faced extradimensional creatures before...


PANEL TWO, FULL-PAGE SPLASH
Robo stands on the top of a tall building, looking out at a partially destroyed city. Amongst the buildings of the city are three identical, giant monsters. Doesn't really matter what they look like, but I'm picturing Cthulhu in my head. Robo should look tiny in comparison, near the bottom of the page. His shoulders are slumped.

ROBO (small): ... just never quantum entangled creatures.
ROBO (small): ->sigh<-

CAPTION: To Be Quantinued...

Atomic Robo - Tau - Matt Duarte

Atomic Robo in “Tau” by Matt Duarte

Panel 1

Description: A mid 50's man is walking through the street. This is mathematician Mike Keith (real person, he wrote the Cadaeic Cadenza). Behind him, there is a van opening with several hooded figures coming out, as if about to kidnap him. Mr. Keith is woefully unaware of what is going on behind him.

Caption: June 28th, 3:18 PM

MIKE KEITH: How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum Mathematic!

ATOMIC ROBO (CAPTION): Team, here's what we know...

Panel 2

Description: Atomic Robo is standing in front of his science team. He looks serious and focused. Behind him, Jenkins stands leering at them.

ATOMIC ROBO: A group of Anti-Pi activists known as “Tau's Revenge” have kidnapped famed mathematician and author Mike Keith.

ATOMIC ROBO: They are reportedly torturing him by forcing him to write a paper denouncing Pi and proclaiming the supremacy of Tau instead.

ATOMIC ROBO: On top of that, they are holding him for a ransom of 6.28318 million Euros, to be paid in perfectly round coins.

Panel 3

Description: Same as previous.

ATOMIC ROBO: That's right, team. We are facing, for the first time ever, mathematical terrorists.

ATOMIC ROBO: We have to assume that compared with the rest of yahoos we go against, the members of Tau's Revenge will be much more...

ATOMIC ROBO: Calculating.

Panel 4

Description: The members of Robo's team have gotten up and are leaving the room. Some of them are face palming as they do so. Only Jenkins remains in place. Robo is raising his hands above his head, doing a desperate gesture.

ATOMIC ROBO: Oh, come on! That was very funny!

JENKINS: Boss, you don't pay us enough to put up with these puns.

Next: Tau's Revenge Get a Pi to the Face

Atomic Robo - Ancient Wonder - Sime McDonald

ATOMIC ROBO

ANCIENT WONDER

PART 1 OF 3

The following page ocurs on PAGE TWENTY, building up to the climax and the "to be continued" ending on PAGE TWENTY TWO. This script occurs in Egypt, within the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Robo and Jenkins have just escavated an Egyptian casket. Robo is holding onto a glowing sphere.

PAGE TWENTY


PANEL ONE

A tunnel-boring vehicle, blatantly marked with Nazi swastikas, bursts out of the wall, nautral sunlight now illuminating the burial chamber.

Robo and Jenkins, both dressed in traditional Egyptian garb, stare at the mechanical beast's spinning pointed, screw-like nose; Jenkins with absolute horror, Robo rather more unworriedly.

SFX

BOOM!

PANEL TWO

Robo and Jenkins share a look.

ATOMIC ROBO

{Sigh}

Nazis.

JENKINS

Unexpected.

PANEL THREE

Baron Heinrich Von Helsingard is clambering out of the tunnel-boring vehicle alongside several Nazi troops, all armed.

He is smiling smugly.

BARON HEINRICH VON HELSINGARD

I'll take that.

PANEL FOUR

Jenkins and Robo are nonplussed. Jenkins gazes at Von Helsingard and his troops with blatant disregard. Robo glances down at the glowing orb in his hands.

JENKINS

Robo?

ATOMIC ROBO

Relax. I got this.

PANEL FIVE

Atomic Robo holds the orb above his head, ready to crash it down against the earth. Beside him, Jenkin's eyes go wide.

JENKINS

Wait - - !

Atomic Robo - Schrödinger's Catastrophe - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

Atomic Robo and one of his soldier pals (new character, we’ll call him Grant in tribute to one of Atomic Robo’s biggest fans) are running down a long corridor in a secret research installation / evil bad guy’s lair type place.

They’re being pursued by a flying steel box with machine guns mounted on either side – it’s firing at them.

Atomic Robo: This is worse than I thought – it’s Schrödinger's Cat – and he’s armed!

Grant: He’s trying to kill us!

SFX: RATATATATATATAT!

Panel Two.

Atomic Robo and Grant duck round a corner and the flying metal box goes whizzing past.

SFX: Meooooooooow!

Atomic Robo: And if Schrödinger himself were here, I’m sure he’d postulate that either his cat will kill us… or it won’t.

Grant: You think maybe we should kill it before it solves that particular quantum dilemma?

Panel Three.

Close on Atomic Robo, looking thoughtful.

Atomic Robo: Only one problem with that – the cat might already be dead.

Grant (O/P): What now? How can it be dead--!?

Atomic Robo: There’s no way to know for sure until we can see inside that box.

Panel Four.

The flying box / Schrödinger's Cat is back – this time it’s armed with a buzz saw and firing lasers.

Atomic Robo and Grant start running again.

SFX: ZZZZZZZZZZZ!

SFX: Weeoop! Weeoop! Weeoop!

Grant: This is why I hate science.

Atomic Robo: Just keep running, I’ll figure something—

Panel Five.

Atomic Robo and Grant hit a slippery patch on the floor and go skidding. They’re still being pursued by Schrödinger's Cat… but also being observed in the foreground by dog-shaped silhouettes.

Atomic Robo: --oouuuuuuuuuutttt!

Panel Six.

Atomic Robo and Grant have come to land in a tangle of arms and legs. They’re now surrounded by enemies – not just the deadly, flying cat-in-a-box, but also a pack of slobbering mutant dogs. The dogs’ slobber is all over the floor – it’s this which caused our heroes to slip. Atomic Robo is staring at the dogs, Grant can’t see what’s happening because he’s lying face down in the tangle.

Atomic Robo: Oh great. This just gets better and better.

Grant: What is it? What is it!?

Atomic Robo: We’re not just up against Schrödinger's Cat…

Atomic Robo: We’ve also got to deal with Pavlov’s Dogs!

Atomic Robo - The Most Bitter of Enemies - Ben Rosenthal

All panels take up the width of the page. Each panel appears underneath the proceeding one.

1. We can see Atomic Robo from chest up, however he is on the far left hand side of the panel, only taking up about a third of it. The remainder of the panel is background, which I am quite happy for you to put whatever you think fits in there. It could be blank even (would certainly show that the focus should be on these two most bitter of enemies). Atomic Robo is staring intently to the right of the panel, but is facing the reader.

2. A man who is clearly a priest (your traditional black robe with the white thingy in the collar should convey it easily enough) is seen on the extreme right of the panel. Again, he takes up a third of the panel with the remainder being background. The priest is looking to the left of this panel, but like Atomic Robot is square on to the reader. He looks stern.

3. Same framing as Panel 1, with Atomic Robo not having moved much since the first panel.

4. Same framing as Panel 2, but the Priest is looking slightly concerned. Only slightly.

5. Same as Panel 4, however Atomic Robo’s hand is slapping the Priest. Hard. There’s spit and everything coming from the Priest’s mouth. It’s the greatest bitch slap ever.

Atomic Robo - The Darkest Day - Grant McLaughlin

1 – Outside shot of Tesladyne Headquarters, aka the Empire State Building.

CAPTION: Tesladyne HQ

ATOMIC ROBO (from within building): This is it, people.

ATOMIC ROBO (2) (from within building): Our worst fears realized.

2 – A meeting room within Tesladyne Headquarters. A number of Tesladyne employees sit around a meeting table. They have various computers, tablets, and papers strewn about in front of them. Atomic Robo stands, speaking. Everyone looks grim. Something bad has happened.

ATOMIC ROBO: You've all heard the news. You've read the briefing notes. Washington has dropped the ball yet again and it's up to us to clean up their mess.

3 – Atomic Robo is trying to rally the troops. He places both hands on the table to emphasize the gravity of his words. Many of the Tesladyne employees wear serious expressions.

ATOMIC ROBO (1): I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This is bad. We are by no means prepared to deal with this situation. The whole thing has taken us by surprise, and we are out of our depth.

ATOMIC ROBO (2): Tesladyne is going to have to step up. We've done it before and we will do it again.

4 – A slight change in angle of focus. The shot is from behind and in between two of the employees, positioned to either side of the panel. One of them is holding a tablet with the headline “Space Shuttle Program Finished!” clearly visible to the reader. He is speaking. Atomic Robo stands on the other side of the table, looking towards the employee holding the tablet. Robo looks determined. He knows what they have to do.

TESLADYNE EMPLOYEE: But Robo, we don't even have a Space Division!

ATOMIC ROBO: Well, then, we better get to work.

Why Atomic Robo?

Because Atomic Robo is everything that a comic book should be. Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegner have truly created something special. These brilliant gentlemen have released but five volumes featuring our nearly indestructible hero, and already he feels like one of the best developed and most dynamic characters in the entire industry.

In his short publication history, we've already seen Robo travel to Mars, fight in World War 2, defeat a Lovecraftean creature from outside our time stream, resurrect his greatest nemesis, and learn the vigilante trade in the 1930s. Among many other things.

Of course, Atomic Robo isn't only about action and adventure. The comic also manages to fit in loads of great character moments throughout each and every issue. The series is just as much about the people around Atomic Robo as it is about Robo himself.

Fortunately, you don't have to go out and buy all the comics to catch up on Robo's adventures (though you probably should). If you're wanting to get a feel for what Atomic Robo is all about, Brian Clevinger has kindly posted a number of short Robo stories at his website. I would particularly recommend Flight of the Terror Birds, The Yonkers Devil, and one of my favourite Robo stories, Why Atomic Robo Hates Dr. Dinosaur (the only thing better is issue 3 of volume 4, the aptly named "Why Dr. Dinosaur Hates Atomic Robo").

So there you have it, everyone. We're writing Atomic Robo this week, and I can't wait to see what our tenures and play-at-homers come up with. For anyone wanting to participate, please feel free to post your scripts in the comments below. I hope everyone has as much fun writing their scripts as I know I will.