Jan-Ken-Pon – Agents of Atlas #7 review

    
Agents of Atlas isn’t even a comic book anymore. It’s bound adventure. Or rather it is what a comic book should be. A common statement you see from creators of comics when asked a question about the unique strengths of their mediums is that they are not restrained by budget concerns regarding setting. It costs no more to go on an another country, an arctic expedition, the moon, another dimension, as it does to walk your character into the next room. Yet oddly enough, among the most popular books today are titles that focus on characters sitting around and panels full of talking heads. Seinfeld on television is broadcasting genius. Seinfeld the comic? Not so much.

Agents of Atlas? It’s about rubbing shoulders in Atlantis; it’s about a Genie in the bottle; it’s about outsmarting ancient Dragons; it’s about recruiting new talent to your benevolent criminal syndicate. It’s about wise-cracking gorillas, Uranians, about Sirens come to life. It’s about uncovering clandestine goals of a Kwisatz Haderach-like breeding program to introduce a new Sea God pantheon. Reading my reviews of previous issues reveals a fascination I have with the agents, as almost every meeting has this historical resonance that shouldn’t exist–not really. Parker makes us want them to exist–to think that they should exist. An understanding between Woo and Namor the Submariner is an understanding, a hope, that we know has always been a chief, even fundamental, concern of latter.

Have true leaders returned to the land at last?

Aw shucks. An old question gets the perfectly suitable reply. Amidst the fantastic nature of the Agents’ exploit one may assume that the issue and series itself would lack a ground; something to offer perspective to best be able appreciate the wonders of each issue. It is here where Parker displays that he knows and covers all angle as running through the issue is the story of a man, a former government employee, just trying to get a job to support his family. That is the distinctive Marvel ingredient, that goes with that twinge of Atlas and Timely goodness that makes Agents of Atlas the top of the stack read at Marvel currently. I haven’t even mentioned the second story that gives us a look into the origins of Atlas—the name itself.

I hope people are going out and supporting this series because I was saddened to see that Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk’s (who did a great job with the original Agents of Atlas miniseries with Parker) Captain Britain & MI13 title was getting canceled. It was another exceptionally written and penciled comic month-in-and-month-out that I didn’t want to see go (though Cornell did say it in some sense it was the end of the arc he wanted to tell).

Like Khanata, I love Jimmy Woo too. Let’s keep him and the crew around. Let’s say yes to Adventure.

    
- Jay Tomio

_{Jan-ken-pon is the time traveling, force-walking, multiverse crossing column of Jay Tomio, owner of 1/3 of everything you see currently on screen, and the editor of Heliotrope. Some call him the Bodhisattva.}

About Jay Tomio

...Jay Tomio is the co-owner of BSCreview and BSCkids--check out Jan-ken-pon, his time traveling, force-walking, multiverse crossing column. More fun awaits at the Vogue Immunity