This trade paperback collects the second Atomic City Tales series, originall published by Kitchen Sink Press. I wasn't on board for this early Jay Stephens work, and clearly, I was missing out. Fortunately, Oni Press gives the property a new lease on life, and readers like myself needn't be out of the loop any longer. Fans of Madman and Mike Allred's collaboration with Peter Milligan on X-Statix will no doubt love Jay Stephens's quirky take on super-heroes here.
Life around the Bang Pad is rather dull these days, leaving cartoonist Jay Stephens feeling rather uninspired. Sure, he can view the adventures of Atomic City super-hero Big Bang in alternate dimensions thanks to a viewmaster doohickey, but those alien escapades don't make for interesting storytelling material for the young artist. He finds it, though, when the diabolical Doc Phantom lures him and his sketchpad to an exclusive party for super-villains, where Jay learns some details from Big Bang's sordid past.
There's no denying how much Stephens's work here reminds me of the style of Mike Allred. A similar eye for simple but offbeat design is at play here. The Silver Age of super-heroes meets something of a beatnik sensibility in the character designs here, and it's a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the variations on the Big Bang theme when the Big Bang Family was introduced. The black-and-white motif maintains a slightly more adult atmosphere, though, striking a balance between the irreverence of yesteryear and a hint of pessimism. The opening page also put me in mind of Don (Megaton Man) Simpsons's work.
The character concepts are silly and grim and surreal. Skinman is an imposing figure, and the Green Torpedo conveys power yet the inherent goofiness of Silver and Golden Age super-heroes. The oddball nature of Madman's world meets the goofiness of The Tick's in Atomic City. And on top of that, Stephens somehow adds a seductive tone to some of the characters, such as Morbida.
I love that Jay Stephens has injected himself and his craft into his fantasy world of hipster heroes and villains. His reactions to the surreal people around him serve as an amusing gateway into Atomic City for the rest of us mere mortals as well. I love that the supposed "hero" of the story -- Big Bang -- is really his own worst enemy, obsessed with his image rather than his deeds. Stephens deconstructs the genre through Big Bang's comeuppance in the book's climactic scene, and it's easy to see one's own down-to-earth downfalls in Big Bang's failure to recognize his limits.
