Gems in the Bin: Atari Force #10

Atari Force #10
Publisher: DC Comics
Year Published: 1984
Creative Team: Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, and Jose Garcia Lopez.

Gems in the Bin is a weekly column where I select a comic book from the $.25 bin at Fanfare Sports and Entertainment in Kalamazoo, Michigan for review. Will I strike gold or will I pay too much for an awful comic that should have been shredded? This week, I am reviewing Atari Force #10 from DC Comics.

Comic books based corporate trademark characters walk a Spinal Tap fine line of stupid and clever. G.I. Joe and ROM the Spaceknight are great examples of clever, so I had high hopes when pulled Atari Force #10 from the bin a few weeks ago.  ROM was referenced solely for the purpose of this post winning praise from Aaron Meyers.

Atari Force was a DC comic book series launched in 1982 as a shameless advertising piece, but it turned into a regular comic book series in 1984 when Gerry Conway and Jose Garcia Lopez took over the title.

I have no recollection of this comic from my 1980s days of comic book reading. The issue I pulled was titled ‘Home is the Hero’, and it chronicled the return of bad-boy hero Blackjak. Jose Garcia Lopez’s cover caught my eye as Blacjak is surrounded by a bunch of gun wielding aliens.

Atari Force #10 was a fun read and I enjoyed the artwork and story pacing.  It was a blend of G.I. Joe and Star Wars with a lovely touch of cheesy 80s sex appeal.

The TD-Dubs has spoken.

RATING: BUY IT!

———————————
TonyDoug Wright is the owner and head writer at Champion City Comics, a webcomics community, and at The Lost Soul of Rock and Roll, a weekday rock music blog. He is also a proud father and is married to the coolest and most beautiful girl on the planet.