“Self/Made” arrived in a flurry of exciting buzz, but with scant details explaining what kind of series it was going to be. Sure, it was clearly sci-fi from the covers, and the solicits implied some sort of robots-discovering-consciousness business, but the actual series has been filled with surprises. And that’s all in two issues! Suffice to say, I am damned impressed by “Self/Made,” but any discussion of the book is going to involve spoilers. You like heady sci-fi? Go grab a copy and meet me back here. We’ve got lots to discuss.
Written by Mat GroomCover by Eduardo Ferigato
Illustrated by Eduardo Ferigato
Colored by Marcelo Costa
Lettered by A Larger World Studios’ Troy Peteri
“OVERTIME” With Amala’s true nature revealed, her creator has just one night to figure out how and why this miracle occurred… before Amala is lost forever.
The first issue of “Self/Made” didn’t appear to be sci-fi at all. It was mostly a fantasy story with dragons and warriors and reptile-men- and a really good one! If Mat Groom and Eduardo Ferigato just wanted to write a fantasy book about an arrogant prince and a clever warrior woman, I’d be here for it. But the first issue ended with the reveal that the heroic Amala was just an NPC in a high-tech RPG.
Issue two takes place in the “real world” and follows Rebecca, the character designer who created the characters in the fantasy world. Rebecca is your typical curmudgeonly genius. She cares a lot about her work and she’s good at what she does. She’s also terrible with people and relates better to her programmed creations. What instantly makes Rebecca a unique character is that she’s a woman, and a slightly older woman at that. This re-contextualizes all of her actions and codes her story as very different from your usual mad scientist robotocist tale. The subtext is clear. Her place in the corporate hierarchy, her interactions with domineering middle managers, every scene can’t help but be a reflection of who she is.
The most obvious comparison to make with “Self/Made” is the HBO show Westworld. But unlike that series, “Self/Made” doesn’t have to crawl all the way up its own butt to imbue the story with false importance. There’s no mystery box, no overwrought symbolism, just good sci-fi questions and world building. Rebecca has wanted to design true AI for years- in order to make a better video game. Her bosses think the project is a waste of time. Like in Westworld, the programmers have a series of intricate tests to determine if their creations are working properly; in this case, the programs have to shoot Rebecca’s avatar to save their own lives. The design of the test is excellent. Anyone who’s ever played an unfinished video game will recognize the untextured space the test chamber floats in, but Ferigato and colorist Marcelo Costa make the digital space a dazzling swirl of blue lightning spilling into a starry void.
The video game conceit also gives the book a great opportunity. Westworld ostensibly takes place in a theme park, but between the “quests” and the “storylines” it very much feels like a video game, as described by someone who has never played a video game. “Self/Made” embraces that aspect, and in doing so creates enough familiarity that anyone who’s spent some time with World of Warcraft or a Bioware RPG will get the basic rules. This helps prevent the book from running into handwavy explanations that Westworld often has to lean on. (How often are the robots replaced? How long is the story cycle? How exactly do guns work so that they hurt the robots but not the humans?) This digital world uses technology beyond anything on our planet, but it’s rooted enough in the familiar to create something more interesting.
Video games also have clear objectives. Instead of being an aimless open world that encourages its users to act consequence free, but cast judgment on them for playing along with the fantasy, “Self/Made” skips over the questions about violence and the abuse subtext to get to the really interesting questions. What is consciousness? How would we know if a computer was exhibiting free will? What separates biological life from manufactured life?
Continued belowFerigato and Costa are doing excellent work, so it’s a bit of a shame so much of this issue takes place in steel hallways and sterile offices. The fantasy world of issue one, and the brief glimpses we see of it in issue two are so lush, that the “real world” setting feels like a prison. Still, the artists make the most of what they have to work with. The glances we see through open doors or windows shows a sci-fi world that looks as compelling as any cyberpunk movie. The artists also do a great job with the characters. The script never gives us an age for Rebecca, but close-up panels show a wrinkled, disheveled, misunderstood genius. She’s been at this a long time. Her face has got a history to it. That’s the kind of power a good artist can have, and Groom trusts his team enough to let them carry a good piece of the story.
Comic reviews often focus on the writer, sometimes to the detriment of the art team, not to mention all the many other collaborators to each and every issue. I would like to take a moment to shout-out the editor of this issue, Kyle Higgins. Long-time comics fans will know Higgins as a prolific scribe of Batman comics that range from so-so to pretty good. Higgins has always been a reliable presence in comics for me, but I’d be lying if I said his books were among my all time faves. That’s why I’m so happy to see his success as an editor here. Groom and Ferigato don’t have a deep resume of big comics, but they are clearly great talents. Under Higgins experienced hand, they are putting out a book with better pacing, panel layouts, and control of tone than creators ten years their senior. Much like some of the excellent series coming out of Berger Books right now, “Self/Made” proves that an experienced editor can make a world of difference in helping creators realize their genius visions on the page.
Wow, did I just call “Self/Made” genius? I think I just did. Between Westworld, Ready Player One, and the return of Blade Runner, it’s clear there’s a lot of interest in stories of virtual worlds and manufactured people. It’s a story that’s been told in one way or another for all time, going back to Frankenstein and even the myths of Hephaestus. We deserve good robot stories, and I have no doubt that “Self/Made” is going to be remembered as one of the greats.
Final Verdict: 8.9 – The human cast is almost as interesting as the robots, and “Self/Made” proves it’s got talent to back up its vision.
