A review by bluehairedlibrarian
Lady Mechanika #1 by Joe Benítez
Review of issues #0-2, read the entire review at Working for the Mandroid
Lady Mechanika is a badass who happens to have mechanical arms and legs, demon-ish red eyes and more gadgets and weapons than any one person should need. She doesn’t remember who created her or where she came from, just that she woke up in a basement surrounded by dead bodies and random limbs some undisclosed amount of time in the past. She now spends her time searching for other mechanical things that might be able to lead her to answers about her past and also rescue mechs in danger of being hunted by the crazy redneck British guys who don’t like mechanicals.
In these three issues we get mostly set up. Lady Mechanika is independent and self-reliant, but has a working relationship with Mr. Lewis, an inventor who supplies her with handy gadgets and might have a tad bit of a crush on her. He’s also a drunk, but whatevs. By the end of #2, our heroine is facing three different bad guys – Lord Blackpool, a scientist who would like to take Mechanika apart, Commander Winter, the leader of Blackpool’s soldiers, and the yet to be really seen Mr. Cain, who might be using black magic to do very evil things. A vast and important history is hinted at between Commander Winter and Lady Mechanika and a previous short encounter with Lord Blackpool make up the events of #0.
In this small amount of pages, it’s hard to really create characters, but Benitez at least gives you an idea who all the players are and glimpses of who they might eventually become. There are hints to a much bigger world with much odder creations. This is only scratching the surface of what a wondrous world Benitez has the potential to create. I hope he’s able to realize even a portion of that potential.
Storytelling-wise, it’s nothing really new. There are some basic conflicts, people trying to kill other people, Lady Mechanika trying to swoop in and save the day. Then again, you have to consider that in the first three issues, there are only about 50-60 pages of story. That’s not a lot of room for much plot. Lady Mechanika is a private investigator that, so far, only takes cases that might tie back into her own lost history. It’s hard to get very original in such a short time period with that setup.
The dialogue in #0 hit me as very cliché and full of as many British phrases Benitez (who is American) could think up. He dials it down a little by the time to official story begins, but the overall lessons – of being different, accepting yourself, repressed memories – are nothing new and he’s not addressing them in any new way. But then again, that’s not really the point with this book, is it?
Lady Mechanika is a badass who happens to have mechanical arms and legs, demon-ish red eyes and more gadgets and weapons than any one person should need. She doesn’t remember who created her or where she came from, just that she woke up in a basement surrounded by dead bodies and random limbs some undisclosed amount of time in the past. She now spends her time searching for other mechanical things that might be able to lead her to answers about her past and also rescue mechs in danger of being hunted by the crazy redneck British guys who don’t like mechanicals.
In these three issues we get mostly set up. Lady Mechanika is independent and self-reliant, but has a working relationship with Mr. Lewis, an inventor who supplies her with handy gadgets and might have a tad bit of a crush on her. He’s also a drunk, but whatevs. By the end of #2, our heroine is facing three different bad guys – Lord Blackpool, a scientist who would like to take Mechanika apart, Commander Winter, the leader of Blackpool’s soldiers, and the yet to be really seen Mr. Cain, who might be using black magic to do very evil things. A vast and important history is hinted at between Commander Winter and Lady Mechanika and a previous short encounter with Lord Blackpool make up the events of #0.
In this small amount of pages, it’s hard to really create characters, but Benitez at least gives you an idea who all the players are and glimpses of who they might eventually become. There are hints to a much bigger world with much odder creations. This is only scratching the surface of what a wondrous world Benitez has the potential to create. I hope he’s able to realize even a portion of that potential.
Storytelling-wise, it’s nothing really new. There are some basic conflicts, people trying to kill other people, Lady Mechanika trying to swoop in and save the day. Then again, you have to consider that in the first three issues, there are only about 50-60 pages of story. That’s not a lot of room for much plot. Lady Mechanika is a private investigator that, so far, only takes cases that might tie back into her own lost history. It’s hard to get very original in such a short time period with that setup.
The dialogue in #0 hit me as very cliché and full of as many British phrases Benitez (who is American) could think up. He dials it down a little by the time to official story begins, but the overall lessons – of being different, accepting yourself, repressed memories – are nothing new and he’s not addressing them in any new way. But then again, that’s not really the point with this book, is it?