The Misadventures of Bombshell and Atomica #3 is a comic written by Kat Calamia and Phil Falco with art by Joel Souza. Veronica and Betty struggle with their relationship as a new supervillainess appears. This is a science fiction superheroine comic with sapphic drama, Cold War vibes, and a cast primarily made up of women. The first lady we see is Betty/Bombshell, she has dark-hair and the ability to shoot lasers from her hands. She’s with Brant, a former soldier. Veronica/Atomica is a blonde with super-strength and she is married to Victor Vale. Both of these ladies can fly but Betty uses her lasers to do so. Victor Vale is a former general who dislikes the fact that women have been gifted these superpowers. This story begins with Betty going to Veronica’s house and finding her kneeling by the tub and crying. Veronica begins to vent about the struggles she faces as a superheroine and not being able to have the relationship with Betty that she wants. This takes place in the 1950’s with the country still dealing with the ramifications of WWII. The violence here is a bit hard-hitting but there isn’t any blood or gruesomeness. The pacing is steady with a mix of slow talking and faster action scenes. This has the tone of a post-war drama with a focus on the societal differences between genders and orientations. This has multiple dramatically heavy moments and a couple violent ones. The dialogue here is very conversational with a talking style that may remind you of classic black-and-white movies/shows. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is an intriguing sequel issue that raises the stakes and pushes the story forward while adding depth to the main characters and providing violent and intimate excitement.
The art here is drawn in a cartoonish style reminiscent of 90’s animation with well done lighting and shading. The color palette is realistic, somewhat wide, and seemingly accurate for the time period. Besides a couple shots of some lawns the only natural scenery we’ll see are the clouds. There are two primary locations here: Veronica’s home, specifically the bathroom, and the downtown area of the city. That 1950’s look is strong here down to the interior design. Backgrounds usually show the actual surroundings but there is the occasional streak of gradient color backdrops. The expression level here is a bit above-average as these characters are constantly reacting to what goes on. Some of emotions seen here are sadness, irritation, anger, confusion, and happiness. These faces have a decent amount of detail and they can get animated which leads to the different expressions being very clear. There is some face sameness among the ladies. The superpower lasers have a slightly darker neon green look. Violence here is physical for the most part with some projectile weapons coming into play. There are some hard-hits and painful looking attacks but no blood or gore. The action scene has some length with a changing focus and an unconfusing flow. All the women here have costumes that are a bit revealing and suggestive.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like science fiction superheroine comic that stars women with sapphic drama, 1950’s Cold War vibes, and sexiness and violence then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
NC-17. Violence, nudity, sexual situations.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“You know people aren’t going to like you right?”
Digital Link: https://badbugmidnight.com/products/bombshell-and-atomica-3-digital?variant=46942917099741
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/badbugmedia/bombshell-and-atomica-1-3-a-pulp-superhero-comic/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 32
Violent Pages: 6, for 19% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 7, for 22% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 1
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 1
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 5
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
