Atomic County is the name of a fictional comic book which is conceived by Seth Cohen and Zach Stevens (who are played respectively by Adam Brody and Michael Cassidy in the second season of the television show The O.C.. The story is based in Orange County and is mainly used as a "subtle" tool for satirizing plot events. The superheros in Atomic County are drawn from the The O.C.'s main characters: Kid Chino (Ryan Atwood) The Ironist (Seth Cohen) Cosmo Girl (Marissa Cooper) and Little Miss Vixen (Summer Roberts). Their known adventures are said to mainly focus around the invasion of demon water polo players meant to represent Luke Ward and the other water polo playing jocks who bullied Seth throughout High School.

The comic book/graphic novel features mainly in the second season of the show, where it causes constant friction between Summer and her current boyfriend (Zach/Seth), although it also featured briefly in the fourth season where Seth uses the characters to illustrate his and Ryans's history, introducing his parents Sandy and Kirsten Cohen as "The Litigator" and "The Ice Queen" respectively.

The success of "Atomic County" is also presented as the main reason Seth Cohen is accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design at the end of "The OC"'s third season. In The Earth Girls Are Easy, Seth bumps into a fan of the comic at a costume party dressed like Kid Chino. Somewhat ironically, the same fan gives Ryan (the actual Kid Chino) & Seth a ride in his van later in the episode, but doesn't realise the connection.

The sketches and artwork used in the show, which is said to have been drawn by Seth Cohen, is in fact the work of artist Eric Wight. There is no real comic book.

A series of animated shorts of Atomic County is available on iTunes.

External links

The O.C. Official website

Eric Wight's blog