Everybody knows I get mad nervous about robots, but giant human-shaped machines driven and maintained by humans are still cool. Anyways, I recently became one of the supporters of the giant not-really- a- robot comic
Giant Robot Warrior Maintenance Crew, which is told entirely from the innards of the giant armored suit held together by the stars of the comic.
GRWMC (as the creative team calls it) will be in stores in just a little while, but series creators Nathan Hill and Mervyn McCoy gave permission to leak the first issue online, so of course, I was happy to oblige, because I KNEW I had to show you this...
So there you go! If you're anything like me, you've got lots of questions to go with the kudos for the first issue of
Giant Robot Warrior Maintenance Crew... Maybe I'll get a hold of the creative team and ask 'em some questions!
Anyways, but I thought that was dope... These guys have brought a new perspective to the tired... I mean TRIED and true "Super Robot (
スーパーロボット)" genre of anime and manga (
Voltron, TranZor Z) that shows love for the source material while making fun of it at the same time. After he skewers the conventional characters and situations of the genre and lets us know that every member of the Maintenance Crew has a jaded contempt for Robot Warrior Herotron's grandstanding pilots, crafty scribe Nate Hill reminds us why the genre has stood the test of time.
"Herotron still operates because he just looks so impressive. Like a hero..." explains senior technician and pudgy badass Jeb... "and after all the evil, horrifying, alien monsters the human race has met, a hero is exactly what people want to see." In a way, these words speak not only about the appeal of Herotron (whom Hill promises we will NOT see in the miniseries), or the appeal of Super Robots in general, but also for all the places we look (in fiction and in life) to find heroes: politics, sports, religion, etc.
Even when the seams are unraveling, we keep holding on to outmoded ideas and personalities... IF they give us hope. Thank God (or... whomever) our heroes have the Maintenance Crew holding them together...
Okay, what was I talking about? OH YEAH! The art on this book is great too! Mervyn McCoy pretty much looks like a vet on this. He has good page composition as well as good drawing skills. I really enjoyed the sequence where Jeb takes the rookie crew member Erica to prepare the sword and take a measure of her. As I noted before, their conversation really anchors the book, and demonstrates Hill's grasp of the concept, and McCoy really holds the talky scene together by keeping the layouts and backgrounds interesting. He probably could have phoned it in and gotten away with it, but by doing it right, he really helps the scene shine! We are also reminded that Herotron is freaking HUGE! Remember, all of this conversation takes place while Herotron is fighting! In this way, the creative team hints at the scale of Herotron's battles and combatants, without breaking down and showing the robot. If they a slick about it, they can add to the myth of Herotron for those readers who can't resist trying to decide what he looks like.
The character designs are superb too. Hill and McCoy took it further than stereotypical anime or manga characters with the crew. I thought it was a nice touch to start off showing Erica idolizing the Robot Warriors as a child, and carrying that childlike wonder into her assignment on Herotron. She enters the crew still naive about it all...
it's like watching older kids telling younger kids that their cartoons are unrealistic, only to realize their own favorites are unrealistic too. Like the real life versions, the "older kids" of the Maintenance Crew rationalize their continued participation with Herotron, and eventually Erica does too.
Anyways, I already pre-ordered the whole series. Production of the three issue miniseries should be wrapping up at the end of June, so you'll definitely hear more from me when they the first issue becomes available. Whether there are more adventures of the Maintenance Crew after that probably depends on how well it performs, so stay tuned, and be prepared to vote with your dollar.
holla!
samax.
Everybody knows I get mad nervous about robots, but giant human-shaped machines driven and maintained by humans are still cool. Anyways, I recently became one of the supporters of the giant not-really- a- robot comic Giant Robot Warrior Maintenance Crew, which is told entirely from the innards of the giant armored suit held together by the stars of the comic. GRWMC (as the creative team calls it) will be in stores in just a little while, but series creators Nathan Hill and Mervyn McCoy gave permission to leak the first issue online, so of course, I was happy to oblige, because I KNEW I had to show you this...
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