NYC Mech Volume 1: Lets Electrify - Softcover

In the underbelly of New York City, the strong rob the weak and the rich play at being heroes. But this New York is inhabited solely by robots—robots that think, act and feel just as we do. This first collection contains two stories of hope and desperation. In the first, a gang of punk robot thugs commits armed robbery as much for the thrill as the meager take. Unfortunately for them, they've sown the seeds of their own annihilation. In the second, a trust fund baby pretends to be a cop so his fashion model sister will be proud of him. But though he can play the tough guy to shake down drug-dealing teens and penny ante hookers, when the city is plunged into a blackout, he is unready to be a real hero. While the stories are satisfying enough, this book owes its narrative structure and gritty style to Frank Miller's Sin comics, but doesn't dare to tell such unconventional stories. Where the book excels is with MacDonald's art, which captures an off-kilter, stylized world of mecha-humans. NYC Mech has the potential to break new ground, but it hasn't strayed yet from the tried and true. (Sept.)
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Grade 9 Up–This story is populated entirely by humanoid robots that use cameras, eat food, take cabs, have pets, take drugs, have hair, and display physiologies with sexual characteristics. With the exception of one minor and unfulfilled subplot involving a household droid, the fact that they are robots seems largely irrelevant, and therefore merely a hook upon which to hang the illustrations. The artwork is not without interest or flair, but is hardly remarkable, and there is no parallel, thoughtful application of setting and world-building. The color work lacks definition, oftentimes rendering scenes in monochrome and preventing key action from achieving clarity. The stories are pleasantly urban and have a compelling voice to propel the action, with a hustling, bleak outlook that is occasionally undercut by pat circumstance. Intriguing, but muddled and in dire need of a more clearly defined purpose or perspective.–Benjamin Russell, The Derryfield School, Manchester, NH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.