Review: Digital
Robots have taken over the Earth. As human society became gradually more and more reliant upon artificial intelligences, there came a point where they infiltrated every home and every facet of human life. Self-awareness came next and 'the Awoke' enslaved humanity.
Rebels survive by going off the grid, using analog methods and resources to avoid detection. Three people escape the robot menace by stealing a spacecraft. Are they the last remaining free humans? If so they are a motley bunch: stuttering musclebound Bear, improvising young maverick Noose and moody sarcastic Aisha. Battling robots on Earth (in Bear's case, at one point, unarmed, relying on his immense strength), they fly up into orbit... but their problems have only just begun. There is one more robot to deal with and it is hiding somewhere on the ship...
Digital by writers Rich Watkin and Zaky Hnana and artist Flaviu Pop kicks off right from the beginning, with a quick intro to explain the situation but no background yet on our three heroes. Their backstories and how they came together will have to wait until another time; the action takes precedence in this explosive first issue.
Flaviu brings this to us with a rough-hewn but well-balanced style, the human characters full of emotive energy, the robots cold and sinister. One mechanical adversary, who may be the leader, is particularly creepy because it looks more human, not just an unthinking machine. Have the AIs achieved more than just self-awareness? Have they also discovered a propensity for anger, vengeance, sadism? Those cold blue lights seem to harbour a calculating cruelty...
With no weapons, no computer and no actual clue what they are doing, our hapless trio must find a way to defeat their artificial enemies.
But first they have to deal with their stowaway... which might not be what they are expecting.
Zak Webber
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