Robot 13, Vol. 1 : Colossus! by Thomas Hall (author) and Daniel Bradford (Illustrator)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Robot 13 is an adaption and extension of the legend of Talos, the mythological protector of Crete. In the opening pages Robot 13 has been pulled from the sea in a fishing net, with no memory of himself or his past. He is also innately capable of speaking the language of each of the people he meets. Essentially he is interchangeable with Jason Bourne from the film series. As is the nature with epic heroes of Greek Mythology, his mere presence seems to call forth powerful mythological creatures to challenge him. Him must fight them in succession, leaving a wake of destruction and casualties.
The design of the character Robot 13/Talos is whimsical, kinetic and absolutely infused with personality and energy. Daniel Bradford poses Robot 13 in alternately subtle and heroic postures. He is the best part of every scene and your eye is drawn through color and composition to his face. The textured backgrounds and nearly paper cut-out treatment of the sun and moon have a beautiful graphic style which is very complimentary to the Robot 13’s character portrayal. The human characters are inconsistent and often unpleasant, and most unfortunately the mythical creatures are overly crude and disappointing. The blocking of the scenes feels off and releases a lot of the energy and emotion.
Thomas Hall’s writing is very stilted and awkward, although as a translated work it is difficult to tell where the fault lies. The dialogue balloons are digitally placed and feel disconnected from the art in style and composition. The text and background colors are matched to the characters which is a nice touch, but difficult to read for the cyclops. Although the writing does not hold up to the artwork it is more of a distraction than a detraction, and the book is still worth recommending based on strong concept and character work.
I backed the project on Kickstarter and it can be purchased through Blacklist Studios‘s website.
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