We've had a few comics lately about prejudice, class difference, and general dystopia. You know what we haven't had so many of?
Robots. Let's fix that.
I haven't been especially shy about Webtoon not being my preferred way to read comics, but I'll put up with it when the work is good. And
Emmy the Robot by Dominic Cellini (
First Page) is good.
The eponymous Emmy is one of a line of mass-produced maid/nanny robots ("Nandroids"), each given a name and a unique hairstyle like a Cabbage Patch doll, but looking more like a china doll. She starts off receiving her "programming" in a classroom setting, where she's told about how she's superior to the dangerous "outmodes" that her line renders obsolete, and how her superior engineering makes it impossible for her software to contain an error. (I wouldn't describe this as an
overtly political work, as the politics is there to serve the story rather than vice versa, but neither would I call it subtle.)
I don't think it counts as a spoiler to say that eventually, Emmy gets a firmware update that doesn't agree with her. You saw that coming, right? Burdened with the expectation of perfection, she of course hides this until she makes—gasp!—a
mistake. The company "temporarily" repossessing her for "diagnostics and repairs" leads to her getting lost, damaged, and introduced to a new cast of much more colorful characters than she's used to (literally and figuratively).
As of now, the comic is up to page/chapter/whatever (sigh...Webtoon)
#137. Updates are a little unsteady, but the goal seems to be weekly updates.
It's a comedy, overall, but it has plenty of plot to go around. It starts with gag strips, but it's not long before you notice that they're being used to sneak in bits of world- and character-building. It's not much longer before you can't really call it sneaking anymore. Admittedly, it takes the plot a little while to get rolling, and once it does, the story frequently falls back into this mode. I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you prefer the tight pacing of some of the other COTMs. But if you're willing to relax and enjoy the ride, you will be rewarded. There is very much a real story being told here, with mysteries, stakes, status quo changes, and real peril.
The art style is charming, but it's not the comfy-cozy kind of charming that I usually pitch. It's a very clean, often angular style. It gives me Cartoon Network or perhaps latter-day Nicktoon vibes with its often angular designs, but it doesn't come off as cheap or rushed in the way those designs often do. I'll level with you: Some characters do have those perfect-circle eyes, and there are some less appealing designs in general, but more often than not, the characters are a treat to look at.
I just noticed something as I was writing this: There's one character who (like most of the recent additions to the cast) was introduced as a foil to Emmy, and his huge, hunched shoulders and slender lower body give him a silhouette that looks almost exactly like that of Emmy's maid uniform,
but upside-down.
It's the little things that impress me.
Content warnings? I can't think of much. Thus far there's virtually no actual violence, though there is some mild peril and people do get hurt on occasion. There's simulated non-lethal violence in an early strip ("My fragile human eyes!"). There's a minor injury that I think does draw blood, though I haven't done a full reread yet so I won't swear to that. Okay, there's some dismemberment, too, but that character is a robot and anyway she did eventually get another arm. It's fine. Ratings-wise, it's probably somewhere between ESRB E10+ and TV-Y7. I don't have kids, but I'd have no qualms about them reading this if I did. (I'd also let my kids read Animorphs, so maybe I'm not the best judge, but c'mon. Pixie and Brutus has more violence than this comic.)
I may or may not get around to posting my usual art sample collage. I've temporarily lost access to my Web host and I'm not sure how much I want to count on my Mastodon account for this.
