Writers: Alex Sheikman and David Moran
Artist: Alex Sheikman
Company: Archaia Studios Press

I very much enjoyed the first Robotika mini-series (available now in a beautiful hardcover from Archaia), so the release of a follow-up is great news. Even better news is the addition of some scripting help in the form of David Moran. Now, I’ve never seen any writing work from Moran before, but I can tell you already that the script on this mini works better overall than the first did. I’ve got a couple problems, which I’ll get to presently, but overall it’s very solid writing.

If you are new to Robotika, it’s like Sheikman took a pinch of Kurosawa, a dash of Sergio Leone, and a sprinkle of Moebius, and mixed them with a nice base of amazing artwork. The result is just plain cool, with elements of East and West meeting in awesome ways that remind me of the old show Kung Fu, except instead of a monk it’s cyborg samurai and it’s the future Old West, kinda like Firefly. I know I just compared the book to several things, but don’t mistake that for me calling it a copy- Robotika definitely stands on its own as an intriguing idea and story.

This issue, the three Yojimbo who joined together in the first mini are headed to a tournament when they stop in a town for drinks and get drawn into a fight between a gang boss and the drug dealer he just ripped off. The Yojimbo are available for hire, so which side pays more? It looks to be leading into a scenario straight from the movie Yojimbo (or, if you prefer, the Western remake A Fistful of Dollars), where the heroes play both sides against each other, but I suspect Sheikman and Moran have something up their sleeve- or maybe not; the title of the mini obviously acknowledges the influence of Leone’s films, though oddly, not the one the book’s plot seems to be following. There’s also a back-up story shedding some light on Bronski’s past.

I was sorry to see Cherokee Geisha’s downward-written speech go away, though I know most readers hated it- I liked that design element and felt it gave her a cool ‘otherness’, even if it was hard to read. The explanation worked, though. It was also a bit strange that Niko, the main character of the first mini and still part of the trio, makes almost no appearances in this first issue. Where did he go? I also felt that the initial scene establishing the drug steal, though well done, went on for a bit too long. It just seemed to drag a bit. Also, and this isn’t an issue, just an observation, Bronski drinks sake from a huge glass. In general, though, the writing was snappy and well-paced, and left me very satisfied.

Sheikman’s art is a thing of beauty, well-defined but with a sense of looseness about it. He manages some intense detail without making things feel too tight, and obviously thinks about the lettering placement when he composes his panels. There’s a good flow in both the lettering and art that makes reading each page natural, and that’s the sign of a good artist. His backgrounds are often elaborate enough for me to get lost in, and Joel Chua’s more subdued coloring really does a lot to bring out the best in Sheikman’s work.

If you have any love for westerns, samurai stuff, or small-scale sci-fi, you should really be checking this out. Sheikman and Moran have obviously worked hard to improve on an already excellent series, and it shows.

This is an advance review. This issue is due for release on December 19th.