Reviews 

“Geisha”

By | May 22nd, 2020
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Androids indistinguishable from humans may not yet exist, but they are a prevalent force in science fiction. There are many tales of one robot’s struggle to fit in with human society, but few are handled as elegantly and humanely as Andi Watson’s “Geisha”. In four chapters and less than 100 pages, Watson explores themes of following your dream, dealing with family pressures, and doing what you think is right through the lens of Jomi, a pleasure bot raised as a human by a caring father. All Jomi wants is to be a painter, and “Geisha” examines what it might take for a non-human to be accepted as an artist in a society not too unlike our own.

Cover by Andi Watson

Story, art, and letters by Andi Watson
Jomi Sodoho is an android with creative aspirations. While she may have started life as a standard M.I.N.X. model, her father raised her like a normal girl. This instilled in Jomi a strong creative drive, which she channels into painting.

However, her recent solo exhibition was a massive failure, so she has to make ends meet at her father’s security company. When she is assigned what is meant to be a cushy job of guarding a popular model, Jomi’s life opens to some new opportunities and new dangers.

Andi Watson naming the series “Geisha” hints at many aspects of the comic to come. The first is Jomi’s aspirations of becoming the literal translation of geisha given on the first inner page – that of an ‘art person’, or artist. Jomi is doing everything that she can to both fit in with humanity and make art. The first few pages show the main obstacle that she will have to overcome in order to do so – the ever-present prejudices that people have against androids doing either of these things.

Some of these are obvious, outright displays of prejudice, like Jomi having an argument with a bouncer simply to be let into the bar where her brother Cherry’s band is playing a show. The bar simply doesn’t allow her kind (androids who are more typically sex workers) into their establishment. Rules are rules. Jomi has also struggled unsuccessfully to try and get a bank account, and has to do most of her business in cash.

Some, however, are more subtle. One of Cherry’s friends expresses her surprise at Jomi being “…an android”. A prominent critic claims that Jomi’s work lacks the “subtle touch” of the Flemish masters that Jomi seeks to follow, and that her art has an “awkward rigidity” to it. Tut tut, of course no mere assembly of metallic parts could ever match the artistic integrity of an actual human! Everywhere she goes, she must face the eyes of the general populous looking down on her, simply for being what she is.

And, like all of the strongest characters, Jomi fights against this. Watson has created a well-rounded and relatable character that the reader roots throughout the story. Most of the characters surrounding Jomi are less nuanced, but this helps to give “Geisha” a clarity of vision and sense of direction. The story is paced nicely, and progresses at a comfortable speed, while giving Jomi and occasionally the other characters space to breathe and grow. Reading “Geisha”, I felt less like a kid sitting down to watch a Saturday morning cartoon filled with superheroes and explosions, and more like I was sitting with a friend, catching up with their life after not seeing each other for a while.

This comfort and clarity extends into the art style. “Geisha” only features three colours throughout the interiors – white, black, and aquamarine. This makes “Geisha” feel like a black-and-white manga swimming in a pool of calming aquamarine. Watson’s linework is clear, and there are no extraneous lines. The character designs, while not entirely groundbreaking, are distinct and give each character their own space to work in. Jomi is physically what you’d imagine an android designed for sexual purposes would be, without being sexualised in any way. A sex object who made itself into a human. There is a bald underground art dealer with a pathological desire to keep his wife happy. A giant mecha even makes an appearance. And yet, all of these fit the world that Jomi and those around her inhabit, and don’t distract from her central narrative.

“Geisha” shows the power of a writer who knows the kind of story that they want to tell, and fulfill their design at every turn. From the first moment the reader sees Jomi, ignoring deriding looks from all around her, until the very last page, Watson invites us to come along and witness her journey. “Geisha” never tries to bludgeon the reader with moralizing or dazzle with a host of zany characters. At its heart, “Geisha” is a story about someone who is trying to follow their dream and fit in. What could be a more human story than that?


//TAGS | evergreen

Jodi Odgers

EMAIL | ARTICLES


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