Robotika

by Alex Sheikman (with Leif Jones and Travis Sengaus)

When I saw that the 3rd/4th issue of 'Robotika For a Few Rubles More' is set to come out this week, I decided I should jump this recent Ebay purchase up on my reading pile a bit, so I could have enough context to follow the new issue.

I'm glad I did. I had no idea Niko was the main character. When I read #1/2 of the new series, I assumed that the book was all about Bronsky, although now I stand corrected.

Sheikman is an incredible artist. I love the sensibility he brings to this comic - "steampunk samurai" is what it is called all over the flyleaf and forewords. He's created a very unique look for his world, with its floating jellyfish battery things, and his ugly cyborgs.

His plotting is off somehow, but that adds to the foreign feeling of his world. When I started reading this, I assumed it would be a standard quest story, but the quest is resolved by the end of the second issue. From there, it becomes clear that this is really a 'getting the band together' comic, which I assume is to serve as a prelude to further adventures. It's interesting that the newer volume doesn't appear to deal with the quest the heroes leave on at the end of this volume (of course, maybe they're still on their way to that quest, and I should read it again - it's been a few months).

In all, this is a good comic, which gets very high marks for ambition. This is exactly the type of thing that I love Archaia for (even if they seem to be repositioning themselves more into the mainstream with their new licensed properties).