A truly astonishing book, Atomic Empire is a graphic novel published by IDW that takes any other 1950’s themed comic and makes mincemeat out of them. In comparison.
Written by Thierry Smolderen and illustrated by Alexandre Clerisse, Atomic Empire is the story of a man. This man, a highly imaginative scientific professional, has an incredibly vivid imagination. He thinks he can communicate with a person in the future, located in a distant galaxy. It’s 1953, and the Pentagon is quite interested in knowing more about this man, and his methodically detailed accounts and drawings of this future vista. Is he nuts?
It’s selling this story WAYYY short to try to describe it via ‘elevator pitch’, a very quick summary. Okay, it’s unfair. But let me tell you about other aspects of this original graphic novel;
Visually, this is a stunning achievement. The entire book (144 pages) is illustrated and lettered in the style of the time: the 1953 printing techniques, the imaginative views of the future, the cartoony figures, the fashions, and vehicles. The story strongly references real products and historic events of the time too. It’s this attention to detail that makes it tower head and shoulders over other comics that take the mid 50’s as their timeline.
Okay, one point against Atomic Empire is Smolderen’s motif of skipping us backward in time, from 1964 to 1926, and so on. Highly irritating to me, but I have to admit that this story technique, which I find to be overdone these days, pays off in this instance: we glean important plot points and character information from these trips down memory lane. It’s being done for a reason central to the plot.
I can’t overpraise this book; if you are up for a truly well-thought-out science fiction story, this is the one. It’s got emotional context, sympathetic characters, military strategy, and historic context. Incredibly well executed and highly recommended!
IDW, Atomic Empire, $24.99 for 144 pages of content. Not rated, assume Teen
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