It Girl & The Atomics #7
Written by by Jamie S. Rich
Illustrated by Mike Norton
Colored by Allen Passalaqua
Letters & Design by crank!
Created by Michael Allred
Review by Joey Braccino
It Girl & The Atomics enters a brand-new arc as our eponymous hero embarks on a mysterious solo mission for Dr. Flem!!! It Girl, a shape-changing super-heroine from the pages of Michael Allred’s Madman comics, leaves her Atomics back in Snap City as she parachutes out of an airplane to extricate one of Dr. Flem’s allies form countryside capture. It Girl #7 is a hilarious, action-packed four-colored funny-book, and Jamie S. Rich and Mike Norton channel Michael Allred’s pop-inspired and self-aware storytelling style.
Issue #7 provides a perfect jumping-on point for new readers (myself included!!!). After a brief recap page that succinctly catches us up to It Girl’s employment situation, the book opens with a thrilling single-page panel of It Girl literally falling through the sky. The next page provides readers with a clear depiction of It Girl’s superpowers (she can adopt the features of anything she touches) and, from there, hilarity ensues. Rich exercises pitch perfect storytelling in this first part of “The World is Flat.” He effectively reviews the key details of It Girl’s superheroic situation and personality in the early pages before moving through several fight scenes and twists and turns. The final sequence builds to an effective climax that promises an action-packed resolution next issue.
Mike Norton (of Revival fame) visually channels Allred’s pop-art style, but maintains his own sharp inks and dimensionality. Unlike Revival, It Girl allows Norton to experiment with proportion and exaggeration, and the result is both visually fascinating and contextually amusing. One particular sequence sees It Girl adopt the features of rope that binds her, and Norton seems to relish the opportunity to illustrate such a delightful, nigh-Absurd scene.
Verdict
Buy it! Image has been on fire as of late, and It Girl & The Atomics is yet another creator-owned series that is definitely worth a look. But while a lot of Image’s catalog is veering away from superheroics, It Girl is a charming capes-and-masks concept that captures the youthful energy and thematic vibrancy that Saturday Morning superhero cartoons used to have. Jamie S. Rich and Mike Norton put together an excellent jumping-on point with this issue, so check it!!!
