Father Robot is an interesting idea; it’s basically about the consciousness of a man that’s been copied into a robot. I know that seems like a pretty big spoiler, but that’s actually how the story begins as we see a little girl and a mech that she calls “daddy” running from other mechs trying to kill them. The story then flashes back three days in the past to a futuristic world in which all soldiers have mechs. The families have all gathered in this meadow area and the kids are playing on the mechs. This scene actually caused me some confusion later on because the mechs are driven by the mind which is a common anime theme, but here their pilots and mechs are both standing together. I’m just not sure how they got there is all.
We learn that there’s a pending conflict with another society, but no one is really taking it seriously. They have that, “we’ve always won, so we can’t lose” mentality and it makes them arrogant. Of course our main character Reggie doesn’t take it lightly at all especially when enemy mech’s show up outside the walls of the city.
The story is interesting. It’s definitely taken some cues from the mech genre in anime, but with its own Western style which isn’t something I’ve read before. It’s very choppy to read though as it has a lot of fast cuts. We’re in the meadow, then we’re in the briefing room, then we’re in the pod room. While it’s a natural progression of the story it makes for a harsh introduction for the world and the characters.
I didn’t know the main characters name until he was having a strange conversation with his childhood friend. It’s strange because their dialogue tells us everything about them. Reggie has clearly moved on in life and just tolerates Zander, while Zander is just looking out for his friend and really doesn’t do anything in the scene to warrant Reggie’s apathy. What does come across is that they have this type of conversation a lot, but as the reader… this is our first time experiencing it.
The latter half of the story definitely picks up and I found myself wanting to read more of the story at that point. Frankly human Reggie just wasn’t that interesting and doesn’t come across as a well-rounded character. I don’t know how mecha Reggie will be, but the fact that he’s a human mind in a robot makes it more interesting and gives the story more places to go.
The art was not my favorite. It’s strange because it’s in this mid-ground of being either being too detailed or not detail enough. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but I’ll try to explain. At times there’s a lot of detail on certain things like the mechs and the people, but then the backgrounds and settings aren’t to the same level of detail. There’s a balance that’s not quite there and while it’s not bad, there’s room for improvement.
As far as first issues go, it’s okay. It introduces the world and does a solid job of getting its hooks into you for the next issue. Frankly though the next issue is going to be key to the success since this is just the introduction to the world and we haven’t seen the norm yet which is a father’s mind in a robot protecting his daughter.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Kristopher White Artist: Sam Garland Publisher: 215 Ink Price: $3.99 Website