By T.W. Worn — It is November 4th and I am sending out this review via carrier pigeon from my bunker deep beneath the last AMC Cinema. I know you may be confused by that statement because this is an online review, so I should explain. I am a very slow typer, so I dictate all of my reviews to Lazar, a pigeon I brought home and taught to type because nowhere in our laws does it say that I can't. We locked ourselves down here because the world is in chaos. A pandemic is still spreading through the the world, and on top of that it is election week. I am beyond exhausted, but hopefully hiding can clear my mind from all of the chaos. Luckily I have Red Atlantis #1 to review, and it’s a comic about psychic Russian agents attacking our democracy from the inside. 

Oh god. 

Yes, Red Atlantis #1 is the new comic written by Stephanie Phillips (A Man Among Ye, The Butcher of Paris), and it is great. Phillips and the rest of this creative team have tapped into the electoral fear of America and turned it into a supernatural thriller about Russian sleeper agents. While not a lot of exposition is given in the first issue, it does offer two relatable feelings; fear and confusion. We are trying to figure out what is going on with the two FBI agents in the issue, but the fear kicks in when we start following our main character — journalism student, Miriam. We still have more to learn about our plot in issues to come, the first bit in this issue promises a supernatural political thriller we haven't seen before. 

Artist Robert Carey (Aliens: Resistance, James Bond) has some pretty fantastic work in this issue. A lot of it takes place in Houston, Texas. It is a city I know, and I feel it when I read Red Atlantis. He also gives us a psychic terrorist attack at a polling station, something I have zero experience with (phew!), and thanks to his art, I know pray I never get to experience this. At least, not in the way he portrays it. But I know some of that feeling also comes from the colors done by Rosh (Ruin of Thieves, Giga). While the visceral gore of the opening deeply unsettled me, the calmer, warmer art and colors in the back end of the comic speak to the team’s ability to give us all kinds of tones and setting, and I look forward to seeing where this comic takes us in later issues. I also want to quickly highlight Troy Peteri's lettering because the man is fantastic.

I am cutting this review a bit short because I just realized I bought a bag of tortilla chips but did not buy any kind of condiments to dip them in, and even though the world is tearing itself apart like a mad goose in a supermarket, I refuse to eat dry chips because I am not a madman. Wish me well, and be safe. 

(Hi human, Lazar Pigeon here. T.W. Worn is in a hard place, but me being pigeon can hopefully give perspective. Humans are good. Humans feed my kind at park. Humans feed each other at park. Don't let one bad man based on King Koopa get you down. Pigeon have been around long time, and have seen all kinds of troubles human go through. Human tough and human loving. Remember to love other human. Remember human been through worse but still here. Don't give up, human. Lazar has seen human on skateboard fall at park, but still get up and try again. Be human on skateboard. Don't let few bad fall control your feeling. Lazar know human good, but only in human believe in themselves. Make all pigeon proud, human. And give us seed at the park, bread hurt the pigeon stomach.

Do well, be well.

-Lazar Pigeon, M.D.)

Overall: Red Atlantis #1 taps into the stress and fear many of us feel around this election cycle, and it does so in an engaging way that makes sharing said fear cathartic. 8/10

Red Atlantis #1 - REVIEW

Red Atlantis #1
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Robert Carey
Colorist: ROSH
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Price: $4.99
A series of unexplained, violent crimes on Election Day around the U.S. leads the FBI to zero in on a covert group of Russian terrorists. When a Texas journalism student named Miriam accidentally finds herself mixed up in the investigation, her life will never be the same. With political espionage, treason, and even mind control, can she clear her name and stop the U.S. from entering into a new Cold War?  “Red Atlantis” is Phillips’ third book with AfterShock, after “Descendant” and this month’s “Artemis and the Assassin.”
“Red Atlantis was actually created by Jan Neumann, a former intelligence officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service,” Phillips said in comments supplied by AfterShock. “After defecting to the U.S. with his wife in 2008, Jan worked with the FBI to find and apprehend European mobsters. Red Atlantis is Jan’s brainchild and born from a lot of his own experiences, as well as the history of the U.S. and Russia’s tense relationship. 
Release Date: November 4, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Red Atlantis #1

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I'm T.W. Worn and Lazar is right.