BICAtlantis Comfort Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point (1.0 mm), Assorted Colors, 3-Count

It perhaps goes without saying: Bic is one of the top-selling brands in America, and a treasured one by a broad margin. Artists, students, professionals--pretty much everyone has drawn, doodled, or written something with one of the pens in their line, known for their general reliability and classic design.Over the course of several years, I have come to use a great many pens under different brands, companies, and manufacturers, with some all-time favorites and some which have nigh-on no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In Bic's line, I have enjoyed their Xtra-Life Round Stics, their Soft Feel Retractables, and--most pertinent to this review--their Atlantis and Velocity lines, known for their minimalism, functionality, comfort, and somewhat chic nature. Some time ago in college I discovered the Atlantis Ultra Comfort pen, which combined a sort of hard marshmallow feel to a larger pen. Why go to just Comforts?The Bic Atlantis Comfort pen (of which I purchased the variety pack of three in Black, Blue, and Red) has an interesting look at first glance, being almost completely black with some metallic accents and--as with most of their line--plungers the color of the ink they are meant to contain. Identifying and gripping any of the three was easy because the pens themselves have the signature Atlantis wave line in plastic combined with a rubberized body. "Clicking" required little pressure to deploy the cartridge (with slightly less resistance than the Ultra), and was snappy. The metallic tips are admittedly not stellar in terms of being scratch-proof, but this was not at all surprising given the price.How the pen writes, however, is of paramount importance, and without further ado: the ink is from an Atlantis pen. Bic has definitely improved the flow of their ink since my first use of the Atlantis many years ago, but there are still moments in which I have no doubt pen aficionados will see errors. It works for me, but I have seen people toss away pens at random for far less in the moment. What makes the pen greater than its predecessors comes from the aforementioned rubberized body, from which a user can derive superb grip and control (the Ultra Comfort, by contrast, offers comfort at the expense of control). It therefore achieves a certain elegance to it that surpasses a large number of pens in the same class.The pen itself receives 5/5 for its value; it is a Bic pen, and it is therefore affordable, but with additional benefits coming from its design beyond what is normally expected for a pen of its class.While comfort is its main feature, however, there are moments where the marshmallow grip of the Atlantis Ultra Comfort pen proves more useful or endearing, and which--while emulated--is not always felt or prescient in the Comfort line. If I could, maybe 4.5/5 rather than 4/5 stars.

These are a great buy if you like liquid ink. I don’t like it that much bc in hot weather the ink blots. I have another, same model but regular ball point ink and I think they write much better.

Great pens. Love them.

Great pens! Two thumbs up!

These ink pens write very smoothly.

Great pens! The ink rolls out smooth and on the thicker side which I love. But not too think or blotchy.

I was a little disappointed in these pens, primarily because they are pretty globby when writing. Bic promotes these as having their smoothest ink, and they do glide smoothly but that doesn't matter if they glob a lot, and they do. In the attached picture, see how consistently they glob on the center lines where the pen changes direction.The pens I received were slightly different than the ones pictured – mine have some rows of dimples where the fingertips sit, which gives them a little extra grip. They're very light to hold and don't strain your hands. To be honest I think they look and feel a little cheap. I'm also disappointed in the ink of the black pen – it's not quite a true black, it's more like a dark grey.Bic makes some fine pens, but I won't be buying any more of these particular ones.

These pens are comfortable and I like that they write well on very hard surfaces without the roller skipping and leaving blanks. Overall, I find the ink flow to be weak and for that reason I give them only two stars. For a given pressure, my Pentel ENERGel pen writes about twice as dark as the BIC Atlantis. See my attached photo. Even if I press much harder with the BIC, the ink is less dense than with the Pentel. For that reason, I don't recommend these pens. Get the Pentel.