Robot God Akamatsu Volume 1
Zetabella Publishing
Created by: James Biggie and Frankie B. Washington
Story by: James Biggie
Dialogue by: James Biggie and Josh Van Reyk
Art by: Frankie B. Washington
Letters by: Josh Van Reyk
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Summary: When an enormous monster rises out of the Atlantic to raid Boston, an ancient robot god awakens to defend the city. But is this mysterious robot Boston's defender, or it's enemy?
Review: While everybody and their grandmother is raging or otherwise over things like Joss Whedon making comments about a Star Wars movie, Affleck being Batman, or whatever it is that Miley Cyrus did recently. I chose to instead ignore all that and focus on something way cooler. Such as giant robots that double as protectors, and as a God too in some cases. Which RGA is just one such case. When I look at the cover of this book, one thing that comes to mind is Samurai Jack. And if you remember him, then you know good cartoons. Which has me wondering if that's what the artist for the cover had in mind when he or she worked on it.
Or just happened to be entirely coincidental, which is cool either way with me as far as I'm concerned. And if you are a fan of Black and White over color, then reading this will be something of a joy for you when you get a hold of a copy. Unless you already have, then awesome on you! James and Frankie give us a nice look at Atlantis back in its hey day, along with a reason for why a God shouldn't let himself get so blinded by adoration and such. Take note all future Gods so that way you don't get blind sided!
And of course there's always a place for fairy tales and the like in science expeditions. Heck on some occasions they could save your life! I didn't really care too much for Reyk's letters in the journal entry portion we see after what happens in Atlantis. I personally found it slightly hard to read. Although I imagine others may not have that issue. But leaves me grateful it wasn't done in cursive, otherwise I really would have had a problem then. Robot God Akamatsu gives us yet another reason to leave things from the past alone. Sure you learn something new, but then there's that possibility of inviting Doom upon us all. Sort of a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation there. Frankie's art is something that I think really shines at times through out this book. As each character truly does have their own unique look which I like a lot. I did notice at times aside from how one character's dialogue is written, that some letters were cut off in words. Not sure if that was intentional or not however.
And Dr. Akamatsu certainly seems to have a slight flair for the dramatics. Makes you want to pity his son Jin, and I can only imagine the reaction his dad would have had once he heard about the school situation. Jin's father is someone I honestly don't care for. Since it seems he'd rather be more interested in all things Science then true bonding time with his son. I kind of think the resolving they do later on is just something on his part to avoid something he might consider to be a troublesome issue rather then true out right desire for it. Now of course, I could be wrong.
I think that particular conversation could have been something that was held off until a way later time in this series. Although Jin out right telling his father he won't forget does spell possible trouble later on. Also in the first part of this title, when a fight all of a sudden breaks out causing all sorts of trouble. I kind of didn't care for it because I wasn't exactly sure of what was going on. Even after reading through it again I still had some slight trouble with it. I'm curious on what exactly the issue is that Robo God's brother seems to have with him. I can't tell if he's good or evil. And with what he says while self monologuing, it seems to suggest he feels Robo God himself is the evil one.
Either way, that whole dynamic is something I'm not entirely clear on. I think Connor and Jin both described Adele pretty darn well to the point I don't think I need to really repeat it. Her attitude makes me think she just might wind up biting the big one. And if she doesn't, maybe she'll wind up humbled. And there's just something I like about Mr. Stache. I'm not entirely sure what it is though. But from what I've noticed so far, his personality is at least one thing I can name of that is part of what I like about him.
Boy, the monsters that appear in this book would probably give Godzilla or King Kong a bit of a pause and maybe think a bit about whether or not to attack. Heck the ending we get for this doesn't even really leave me with much hope for how things will be in the second trade. And an earlier observation of mine about Jin and his father has something of an ugliness to it as I finished reading this. Which makes me want to slap the good doctor. Robot God Akamatsu is something that I think would really fit well as an Anime. The comic's art and the storytelling really helps with that view too. And if this ever did go the Anime route, I would certainly be watching! So go on ahead and give this a try!
3 out of 5 Stars
Editor's Note: To grab yourself a copy of Robot God Akamatsu, head on over to the RGA website!
Zetabella Publishing
Created by: James Biggie and Frankie B. Washington
Story by: James Biggie
Dialogue by: James Biggie and Josh Van Reyk
Art by: Frankie B. Washington
Letters by: Josh Van Reyk
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Summary: When an enormous monster rises out of the Atlantic to raid Boston, an ancient robot god awakens to defend the city. But is this mysterious robot Boston's defender, or it's enemy?
Review: While everybody and their grandmother is raging or otherwise over things like Joss Whedon making comments about a Star Wars movie, Affleck being Batman, or whatever it is that Miley Cyrus did recently. I chose to instead ignore all that and focus on something way cooler. Such as giant robots that double as protectors, and as a God too in some cases. Which RGA is just one such case. When I look at the cover of this book, one thing that comes to mind is Samurai Jack. And if you remember him, then you know good cartoons. Which has me wondering if that's what the artist for the cover had in mind when he or she worked on it.
Or just happened to be entirely coincidental, which is cool either way with me as far as I'm concerned. And if you are a fan of Black and White over color, then reading this will be something of a joy for you when you get a hold of a copy. Unless you already have, then awesome on you! James and Frankie give us a nice look at Atlantis back in its hey day, along with a reason for why a God shouldn't let himself get so blinded by adoration and such. Take note all future Gods so that way you don't get blind sided!
And of course there's always a place for fairy tales and the like in science expeditions. Heck on some occasions they could save your life! I didn't really care too much for Reyk's letters in the journal entry portion we see after what happens in Atlantis. I personally found it slightly hard to read. Although I imagine others may not have that issue. But leaves me grateful it wasn't done in cursive, otherwise I really would have had a problem then. Robot God Akamatsu gives us yet another reason to leave things from the past alone. Sure you learn something new, but then there's that possibility of inviting Doom upon us all. Sort of a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation there. Frankie's art is something that I think really shines at times through out this book. As each character truly does have their own unique look which I like a lot. I did notice at times aside from how one character's dialogue is written, that some letters were cut off in words. Not sure if that was intentional or not however.
And Dr. Akamatsu certainly seems to have a slight flair for the dramatics. Makes you want to pity his son Jin, and I can only imagine the reaction his dad would have had once he heard about the school situation. Jin's father is someone I honestly don't care for. Since it seems he'd rather be more interested in all things Science then true bonding time with his son. I kind of think the resolving they do later on is just something on his part to avoid something he might consider to be a troublesome issue rather then true out right desire for it. Now of course, I could be wrong.
I think that particular conversation could have been something that was held off until a way later time in this series. Although Jin out right telling his father he won't forget does spell possible trouble later on. Also in the first part of this title, when a fight all of a sudden breaks out causing all sorts of trouble. I kind of didn't care for it because I wasn't exactly sure of what was going on. Even after reading through it again I still had some slight trouble with it. I'm curious on what exactly the issue is that Robo God's brother seems to have with him. I can't tell if he's good or evil. And with what he says while self monologuing, it seems to suggest he feels Robo God himself is the evil one.
Either way, that whole dynamic is something I'm not entirely clear on. I think Connor and Jin both described Adele pretty darn well to the point I don't think I need to really repeat it. Her attitude makes me think she just might wind up biting the big one. And if she doesn't, maybe she'll wind up humbled. And there's just something I like about Mr. Stache. I'm not entirely sure what it is though. But from what I've noticed so far, his personality is at least one thing I can name of that is part of what I like about him.
Boy, the monsters that appear in this book would probably give Godzilla or King Kong a bit of a pause and maybe think a bit about whether or not to attack. Heck the ending we get for this doesn't even really leave me with much hope for how things will be in the second trade. And an earlier observation of mine about Jin and his father has something of an ugliness to it as I finished reading this. Which makes me want to slap the good doctor. Robot God Akamatsu is something that I think would really fit well as an Anime. The comic's art and the storytelling really helps with that view too. And if this ever did go the Anime route, I would certainly be watching! So go on ahead and give this a try!
3 out of 5 Stars
Editor's Note: To grab yourself a copy of Robot God Akamatsu, head on over to the RGA website!