 Robotika is a 128-page hardcover reprinting the 4-issue Robotika mini-series, plus two short stories, all by Alex Sheikman (plus a few other artists for the shorts). A sketchbook, almost a requirement in trades nowadays, is also included.
This review covers some general plot points, but doesn’t spoil any surprises.
The Story
Robotika is a rather strange comic. It’s described most often as “Steampunk Samurai”, and although not quite accurate, it’s closer than anything else. It reminds me personally of an Oriental version of China Mieville’s Bas-Lag books, particularly Perdido Street Station. As in those books there’s a combination of Victorian sensibilities, fantasy adventure, and strange biological technology.
Robotika is actually set in the far future. Technology has advanced to the point where it can be grown and molded. Huge futuristic cities and cyborg armies both fill the stories. However, the protagonist, the ever-silent Niko, is clearly a Samurai, complete with sword, martial arts, and a code of honor. The technology and the fantasy mix surprisingly well, alongside a touch of what could be magical horror, though it’s never quite clear if we’re seeing spirits and demons or more biological monstrosities (and really, it doesn’t matter).
This unique background is as much at the heart of Robotika as the individual plots that fill the book.
There are actually two stories in Robotika, each of which is two issues long. One centers around Niko’s quest for a lost invention and the other is about him and two fellows guarding a group of religious pilgrims.
The Continuity
There is no past continuity for Robotika, as this is the author’s first trip into this strange futuristic land. However there is a planned follow-up called Robotika: For a Few Rubles More, due out late this year.
The Storytelling
The stories in Robotika are told tersely, with a briskness appropriate for the genre. They tend to center around action scenes which are well structured and well depicted in the art as well. The action scenes work particularly well thanks to author Sheikman’s almost cinematic visual storytelling--which we’ll return to shortly.
There are just a handful of important characters in Robotika, including Samurai Niko and his two companions, Bronski and Cherokee. In this volume they’re fairly lightly characterized; we learn more about the latter two characters in some six-page short stories that fill out the volume than in the main plots.
The overall depth of the stories in Robotika is somewhat shallow. There’s not much in the way of metaplot or deeper meaning. However, that’s also not the strength of the book. Instead it’s the thematic and moody portrayal of this Steampunk Samurai world and the three protonists of our story. In these elements, the storytelling in Robotika is dead-on.
Overall, Robotika is a book that lives or dies based on its moody, thematic portrayal of a fantasy land, and here it excels, earning a “4” out of “5” for Substance.
The Artwork
 Much of this moodiness and theming of Robotika comes out through Sheikman’s artwork which is entirely appropriate for the world he portrays.
One of the forewards describes the artwork as chiaroscuro and that’s not a bad starting point in describing it. As with the Italian art style, Sheikman’s art often presents strong contrasts between light and darkness--particularly in the first few issues where silhouettes are used extensively.
This stylistic design meshes with primary colors and simple line work, producing art that could just as easily have been painted on a scroll hundreds of years ago as printed in a comic for a modern audience--and it’s part of what really makes the comic work.
The other thing that really makes the comic work is Sheikman’s excellent feeling for action scenes. Sheikman seems to know the exact freeze frames to capture in order to take the violent action of his world and portray it in the stuttering seconds of time that make up comic panels. It keeps the comic moving forward in smooth motion.
The one problem I have with the graphical design of Robotika was the decision to have one of the characters speak in vertical speech balloons. The result looks somewhat Oriental, adding to the thematic appeal of the book, but I found them very hard to read. They slowed me down and constantly knocked me out of the story as I had to struggle through them, to the point where I groaned whenever said protagonist appeared on the page. That’s a single (but notable) misstep in an otherwise nearly note-perfect depiction of theme.
The Presentation
Robotika has been printed as a 128-page hardcover with high-gloss pages and a dust jacket. The bright white pages really show Sheikman’s artwork off to best effect.
Overall I would give Robotika a full “5” out of “5” for Substance if it weren’t for the vertical speech balloons which made much of the book harder to read. As is I’ve given it a high “4” out of “5”--excellent other than that one element.
Usage in RPGs
If you’re running a post-apocalyptic bio-tech Samurai RPG, you should head out and get this at once for the wonderful world building hinted at in the stories. However I’ll also acknowledge that’s a pretty narrow niche. GMs running Oriental stories of any sort might have some interest in Robotika, since that’s where the prime theming springs from.
Conclusion
Robotika is an unusual comic due to it free inventiveness. It’s also a wonderful action adventure that’s likely to appeal most to fans of the old Heavy Metal comic--when it was at its height, and regularly depicted fanciful, well-developed worlds.
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