Cover to ‘Atomahawk’ #0. Art by Ian Bederman/Image Comics
By Matthew C. Brown. Brace yourselves, people. Donny Cates and the team behind Atomahawk pull no punches and never even think to rest. This story drips with the grandeur of a Native American fable or Norse mythology, and owes its visual style to both. In hues of light blue, pink, and red, like it is set inside a desert sunset, this sci-fi acid trip perfectly melds the old world and the new. One could say it’s pure fantasy but for every character (and everything for that matter) in the story being some kind of robot.
People, the main character is called “The Cyberzerker,” a cyborg commanded by some dark god living inside his tomahawk, who gets his power from the crystals he takes off the robots he kills. Need I say more? There is so much more, but I don’t want to give it all away. It’s enough to know that this book, a creation myth, really, is as original as it is chaotic. It unfolds with unrelenting visuals that confound the eyes.
Interior page from ‘Atomahawk’ #0. Art by Ian Bederman/Image Comics
I would call Ian Bederman’s artistic style busy, but that is the understatement of the century. There is so much dynamic action packed into each page, not to mention immense and unique aesthetic and texture, that one must question whether anybody could pull this off without some sort of hallucinogenic influence. If you told me Bederman played some side scrolling SNES game while deep in an iowaska fever dream as the sun sank beneath the desert horizon I wouldn’t even question it.
You owe it to yourself to sit on The Cyberzerker’s back as he charges into this world of battle and carnage, metal and circuits. You should see this unique world for yourself. You won’t regret it.
Image Comics/$5.99
Words by Donny Cates.
Pictures by Ian Bederman.
Letters by Taylor Esposito.
9 out of 10
