Not All Robots #04

Not All Robots #04

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.

I have a question: is the Walters family robot Razorball or Snowball? I’m a little confused why the daughter calls him Snowball but it’s really a minor thing. This book is kind of amazing for so many reasons and its tongue-in-cheek look at a work force being replaced and then rising up for having been replaced while the human population does nothing but sit back and wait for the inevitable is great reading. The Walters watching their own robot making weapons and feeling more and more like they are going to be victims to the very thing they rely upon to survive has this delicious kind of irony to it.

I’m very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job of spotlighting their ever evolving personalities. As each member of the family goes their own way we see more divergent behaviour than ever before. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more we become invested and engaged by what we see.

I’m very appreciative of the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m also liking how we see the layers open up new avenues to be explored. Whether or not these avenues are going to be explored isn’t relevant as they all add this fantastic 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 are impeccably handled.

The interiors here are abso-bloody-lutely gorgeous! The work really truly is mindbogglingly brilliantly good, the linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work is bewitching. How we see backgrounds being utilised and how they enhance and expand the moments along with how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows such a brilliant understanding of how colour works.

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There is something about this that will resonate differently with each person which is sensational in my humble opinion. As a classic science fiction story it works on so many levels alone that when you begin to add things to the layers of the story and it grows into politics and horror that it changes the direction of the story as we see it. The writing is phenomenal and the characterisation is amazing while it’s all wrapped in these brilliantly masterful interiors. This does keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what can be coming next!