By Larry Jorash — Artificial intelligence has been a hot topic of conversation in recent years. As technology inches towards true AI functionality, many questions pose important debates. What will be their primary purpose? How much power will we vest in them? Can we trust them? How much of their programming and the consequences therein are we as a species responsible for? And in return, the robots themselves have given mixed answers and results; much like the humans that design them. I Not All Robots #1, writer Mark Russell and artist Mike Deodato, Jr., tackle these questions and more with a twinge of satire, combining questions around A.I. with questions around societal roles. 

In Homer’s, “The Odyssey,” Odysseus and his crew arrive at a fork in their journey as they move against the Straight of Messina. Odysseus’s choices were to move in one direction passed the six-headed sea monster Scylla, or to bring his crew up against the other direction and the Whirlpool beats Charybdis. Under advisement Odysseus chooses, “the lesser of two evils,” and opts to lose a few sailors sneaking past Scylla, rather than risk his entire crew sinking within the whirlpools of Charybdis. Lesser-evilism is a concept at the heart of, “Not All Robots.” Witty dialogue and some cheeky shots at the City of Orlando mask a high concept debate about the irresponsibility of mankind and the ever-present danger of a mechanical race manufactured to the peak of efficiency, strength and intelligence. Is it better to see civilization live on in fear and subservience or live on to die off naturally in certain extinction as we burn through our resources and continue to multiply at an alarming rate?

As for the interior coloring, Deodato does serviceable work positioning the narrative for our eyes. When this book was first announced, readers can’t be blamed for wondering how Russell and Deodato would pair together. Deodato’s work to date has largely been serious superhero and sci-fi comics, especially in terms of the visuals. Russell’s clever, satirical instincts ask Deodato to stretch just a bit, and the artist does a great job, incorporating back-up gags into the comic not entirely unlike regular Russell collaborators like Steve Pugh. Deodato’s work also gives the robots the serious, realistic look they need for the artificial intelligence ideas to be taken as seriously as they need to be for this book to work the way it does.

In terms of Russell’s scripting and ideas in this comic, the surface level story is in fact about sentient AI-powered robots growing in number and replacing humans in certain ways as society accelerates and world problems become more severe. Humankind is essentially living in bubbles because the air is unbreathable outside, while robots do the bulk of the jobs in society. There’s an allegory here about gender roles and societal limitations, with humankind essentially keeping house while repressed, frustrated robots go to work all day and come home, severe and emotionally removed like a scene right out of Mad Men. It’s an interesting premise, and one that ties into the title in fairly obvious ways.

Meanwhile, the subtle humor along the way is enough to add a blend of originality as this story echoes conversations within famous works by Phillip K Dick, Orson Wells, and Kazunori Ito. Mark Russell and Mike Deodato look to add their own spin on the robotic revolution sub-genre of science fiction, with a bit of satire about roles in society and families. 

Overall: Not All Robots #1 features an interesting pairing of disparate creators. They come together well in this title, putting together a story with intriguing satirical ideas around artificial intelligence and roles in society. 8.5/10

REVIEW: Not All Robots #1

Not All Robots #1
Writers: Mark Russell
Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Publisher: AWA
Price: $3.99
In the year 2056, robots have replaced human beings in the workforce. An uneasy co-existence develops between the newly intelligent robots and the ten billion humans living on Earth. Every human family is assigned a robot upon whom they are completely reliant. What could possibly go wrong? Meet the Walters, a human family whose robot, Razorball, ominously spends his free time in the garage working on machines which they’re pretty sure are designed to kill them in this sci-fi satire from Mark Russell (The Flintstones, Second Coming) and Mike Deodato Jr. (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Resistance).
More Info: Not All Robots #1

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Larry Jorash (He/Him) resides in Central Florida managing a comic book shop and coaching youth sports. In his spare time he enjoys ice hockey and reading. You will almost never find his hand vacant of coffee. Find him on twitter: (@theREALlarbear)