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Robotika
Niko, the Steampunk Samurai, is in Her Majesty's service. But is he a faithful royal bodyguard or a for-hire yojimbo? A perfect warrior or a soulless weapon? Follow Niko on his journey of self-discovery with Uri Bronski and Cherokee Geisha, as the Three Yojimbo explore a bizarre futuristic world populated by silent samurai, fast talking geisha, deadly mecha-betsushikime, digital djihits and morphing butterflies.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published December 20, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 19 reviews
April 16, 2011
Ok.
I want to give the art five stars. It is gorgeous. I want to give somebody a good shaking for the writing. I don't mean that the story is bad, I mean literally, the writing is bad. On page 21 I was introduced to the words 'enchanced,' 'furtile' & 'trajectoring'. On page 26 I discovered 'fledging' (which, it turns out, actually *is* a word, but I think the writer meant 'fledgling' due to context). While I don't expect artists to be able to spell, I do expect the person sporting the title of Editor to do so. As I understand it, this was released as a limited series comic which was collected in the graphic novel format. The graphic novel contains a Foreword by Ron Marz (writer) and a 'Fore Word' by Ted McKeever ("an accomplished comic book writer and artist of the highest grade," according to this website)... two publishing cycles, an editor, two writers pimping and nobody noticed? Really? That's just unprofessional. Shabby. Crappy workmanship. Also irritating as hell if one is an unemployed English major.
However, by far the worst thing about Robotika is that a character known as Cherokee Geisha speaks vertically.
L t
i h
k i
e s
.
It's clever. It might be original. It is definitely hard to read & goddamn annoying & I can't believe no one pointed that out, either. I realize that this last complaint is style related, and therefore a matter of personal taste rather than technical accuracy, but together all of the above detract from my enjoyment of the tale, which is a damn shame.
One more thing: both the jacket blurb & a sketchbook in the back refer to the main character as "Niko, the Steampunk Samurai." I understand that Steampunk is popular-- I'm doing research on the topic & this title was on a list, which was my whole reason for tracking it down in the first place-- but there is absolutely nothing in here that qualifies for the genre.
So here I am again, being wordy & annoyed when I should be writing a five-star review.
I want to give the art five stars. It is gorgeous. I want to give somebody a good shaking for the writing. I don't mean that the story is bad, I mean literally, the writing is bad. On page 21 I was introduced to the words 'enchanced,' 'furtile' & 'trajectoring'. On page 26 I discovered 'fledging' (which, it turns out, actually *is* a word, but I think the writer meant 'fledgling' due to context). While I don't expect artists to be able to spell, I do expect the person sporting the title of Editor to do so. As I understand it, this was released as a limited series comic which was collected in the graphic novel format. The graphic novel contains a Foreword by Ron Marz (writer) and a 'Fore Word' by Ted McKeever ("an accomplished comic book writer and artist of the highest grade," according to this website)... two publishing cycles, an editor, two writers pimping and nobody noticed? Really? That's just unprofessional. Shabby. Crappy workmanship. Also irritating as hell if one is an unemployed English major.
However, by far the worst thing about Robotika is that a character known as Cherokee Geisha speaks vertically.
L t
i h
k i
e s
.
It's clever. It might be original. It is definitely hard to read & goddamn annoying & I can't believe no one pointed that out, either. I realize that this last complaint is style related, and therefore a matter of personal taste rather than technical accuracy, but together all of the above detract from my enjoyment of the tale, which is a damn shame.
One more thing: both the jacket blurb & a sketchbook in the back refer to the main character as "Niko, the Steampunk Samurai." I understand that Steampunk is popular-- I'm doing research on the topic & this title was on a list, which was my whole reason for tracking it down in the first place-- but there is absolutely nothing in here that qualifies for the genre.
So here I am again, being wordy & annoyed when I should be writing a five-star review.
July 11, 2023
Phenomenal art work. I liked the style and artwork. The story however.. not so good. If you like art have a read if you like a story this one isn’t the best. Tempted to look at the next instalment though. A kind 4. More a 3/3.5
November 24, 2017
Cool art and world, but the plotlines are only mediocre.
October 1, 2019
Four stars for the art (esp great colorwork) and two for the story, which has a person who speaks in vertical text and A Man Who Needs To Find Himself.
September 27, 2021
Artwork is interesting. Story is not.
April 17, 2013
Publisher Archaia is probably my current all-time fave publisher tied with Image Comics of sequential art/graphic novel books. I remember when I asked them about what it takes to be published with them last year, I was told that it takes awesome art and story, and dedication. The production of the book is superb, for they try to be different than the rest of the industry here in the U.S.
The story is kind of not new, a quiet samurai with awesome skills who gave up his weapon in exchange of an adventure/enlightenment. The scifi feel reminds me of the Euro or Manga type of scifi (will blow your mind) stories. With the world building is really nice, I do not know if it is set in a parallel universe or distant future mixed with steampunk vibe. With the character design superb the artwork probably is one of the best I've seen in the industry today.
What caught me by surprise is how a different dialect/language portrayed, with one of the characters word balloons formatted in a way where the words are read up and down like how the Japanese characters are written. It was fun and a bit of a challenge for I got used to the regular format.
I am looking forward in reading the rest of the series, and more of Archaia's books.
The story is kind of not new, a quiet samurai with awesome skills who gave up his weapon in exchange of an adventure/enlightenment. The scifi feel reminds me of the Euro or Manga type of scifi (will blow your mind) stories. With the world building is really nice, I do not know if it is set in a parallel universe or distant future mixed with steampunk vibe. With the character design superb the artwork probably is one of the best I've seen in the industry today.
What caught me by surprise is how a different dialect/language portrayed, with one of the characters word balloons formatted in a way where the words are read up and down like how the Japanese characters are written. It was fun and a bit of a challenge for I got used to the regular format.
I am looking forward in reading the rest of the series, and more of Archaia's books.
August 14, 2014
I'm okay with books trying to be weird if they justify it, but this one really doesn't. So much of it seems intentionally obtuse (the practice of vertical dialog in particular seems like an intentional slap to readers) and when you get through it, there's not a whole lot of story there. The art's not bad, but a silent samurai who teams up with a Cherokee Geisha for two adventures really doesn't have the depth of weirdness it needs to abet its poor dialogue and inconsistent art (some parts are beautiful, some parts look very much like early 90's computer art). As the fore word says, different isn't enough if it's not good. And this doesn't really come across as good. Maybe it's just the time has changed, and all the genres the book collects have been put together better (Ronin predates it, and East of West does a lot of the same stuff in a much more stylistically interesting way), but it didn't click with me.
April 25, 2008
As all the past reviewers have said this is visually amazing with a capital "A". But I just can't let the writing slip. This could be my favorite comic ever. But instead it's more like a beautiful ming dynasty vase sitting on my shelf. If Sheikman could get together with someone who writes amazing stories but who wouldn't overpower his (Sheikman's) originality this is the book I would be taking with me to a deserted island.
On another note does any of this remind you Aeon Flux? I'm in no way saying he stole ideas only that they are both so original and out there that they remind me of each other.
On another note does any of this remind you Aeon Flux? I'm in no way saying he stole ideas only that they are both so original and out there that they remind me of each other.
August 25, 2014
I would give the illustrations five stars and the storyline two stars, so I averaged those components out to three stars overall. I tend to find graphic novels in general, though admittedly I haven't had thorough exposure to the genre, have stronger visuals than plots, narratives and dialogue, and this one is no exception. There is very little writing so its a short read, one that is definitely worthwhile for gazing at the visuals alone.
March 30, 2011
First of all, the art in this book is beautiful and Sheikman plays with the comic form in fascinating ways. And if this were an art book, this would be enough. But the book's lack of strong characterization and narrative prevent this thing from really coming together as a comic.
December 16, 2012
I loved the imagery and artwork, it really worked with this story to bring out the best in both "stream-punk" and robotics and just the feel of this world, exotic and strange tasting. I want to learn more about it, to see other places, to go on adventures there. Wonderful world-building.
March 2, 2016
I enjoyed the artwork, but the story felt a but jumbled. I feel like I missed out on some missing insights as I made my way through the story. A fascinating world here, though, that I would be happy to return to.
June 27, 2016
I have abandoned this book. The story could be good but I couldn't follow the vertically written dialog. It was so close together and in columns, that is was so hard to figure out what was being said.
July 11, 2010
The sideways writing was super annoying to read.
January 5, 2011
Cool concept of a cyborg samuri, but not a great implementation.
May 4, 2011
Subpar story, subpar artwork. Pass.
June 3, 2012
Shiekman does an amazing job of throwing together cyborgs, samurai and demons. Unlike anything else I can think of.
January 4, 2015
A really wild mashup, very original and indicative of how much potential the genre may find on the other side of the Pacific.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 19 reviews