Not All Robots #02

Not All Robots #02

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by Mark Russell

Illustrated by Mike Deodato Jr.

Coloured by Lee Loughridge

Lettered by Steve Wands

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 they're pretty sure are designed to kill them.

Man creates robots, robots usurp man’s place in the workforce then they become so advanced they supplant mankind and have decided to create a robot society that doesn’t include human beings. Okay maybe not all robots believe this but, and it’s a big but, we see this happening in the domed city of Orlando as the loss of human life is staggering. The first issue was jammed packed full of action let me tell you. Now the family that depends on Razorball is scared to death of him and his odd and distant behaviour and I personally believe that he’s the type of robot that was responsible for Orlando and could very well go on a human killing spree.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see throug how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is impeccably rendered. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a marvellous job in bringing these characters to life. I think all this really does a magnificent job in bringing the personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we become so engaged in the story.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificent to see. The layers are where we see the bulk of the characterisation, the plot twists and more and with the new avenues opening up that beg to be explored. Some are or will be while others won't be but they all add this delicious depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly brilliant! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail that we see in the work is bloody phenomenal. That we see such prolific use of backgrounds throughout really enhances and expands the moments perfectly. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out this amazing depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The creativity and imagination we see throughout this book is just as equally as brilliant to see. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a master colourist at work. I mean to see the way tha te colour is applied and how the techniques in doing so really add even more depth and dimension to the artwork that we see.

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This is one of those amazing science fiction stories that comes out and takes the world by surprise. It is so well written with this amazing characterisation and bloody brilliant interior artwork that brings this to life amazingly well. This is stylish, interesting, engaging and one of the rare occurrences where the book should take the industry by storm with just how blasted good this is.