NOT ALL ROBOTS #1

Writer: Mark Russell

Artist: Mike Deodato Jr.

Colorist: Lee Loughridge

what’s it about?

In the year 2056, robots have replaced human beings in the workforce. An uneasy coexistence develops between the newly intelligent robots and the ten billion humans living on Earth. Every human family is assigned a robot upon whom they are completely reliant. What could possibly go wrong? Meet the Walters, a human family whose robot, Razorball, ominously spends his free time in the garage working on machines, which his family is pretty sure are designed to kill them in this sci-fi satire.

The Good

It’s rare that I laugh out loud reading a comic book these days, but this book did it! Don’t get me wrong, there are some incredibly grim elements to this story, but there are lighthearted ones as well. Seeing the robo-population deal with the same issues and insecurities as the rest of us gives the book a unique angle. The dark satire of robots replacing humans only to be on the verge of being replaced themselves by next generation bots is genius. The fragility of their society and the relationship that exists between the humans and the robots is both intriguing and frightening. This is an excellent debut issue.

The Bad

Finding negative points is going to be difficult here, so bear with me because my main criticism may come from my own bias, not at any fault of the creators. This book reminds me of so much that I’ve seen before: everything from an Isaac Asimov story to a Futurama episode. Sometimes, when I read Razorball’s dialogue, I can’t help but hear it with Bender’s voice in my head and it actually fits perfectly. I’m looking forward to seeing where this story goes as both the human and robot population struggle for relevance and survival. I’m anxious to see Russell take the characters, despite being drawn without a face by Mike Deodato Jr., and give them a voice of their own.