The latest Aftershock series, “Volition,” is a look at the future of robotics and ethics involved, and penned by recent “Power Rangers” scribe Ryan Parrott. With Omar Francia on board to deliver glossy, high-tech artwork, can this be the latest big hit from the indie publisher?
Written by Ryan Parrott
Illustrated and colored by Omar Francia
Lettered by Marshall DillonIn a not-too-distant future, artificial intelligence has spawned a race of robots that serve all of humanity. Robots are considered second class citizens, but a few in the A.I. community are fighting back in a constant struggle for equal rights.
When a debilitating virus called “Rust” threatens all artificial life, salvation lies in the most unlikely of robotic heroes—not a warrior or a soldier, but in an obsolete construction worker and a dedicated caregiver. Together, HALE-19 and AMBER-7T embark on a perilous journey in search of a cure that could potentially change the balance of power on Earth forever.
“Volition” has a lot of good world building going for it. You get a good sense of scope from essentially the first few pages, and then Parrott goes all in from there. The general concept of this book is that the robotic rebellion that we dread as a species happened, but with less cohesion and more humanity than we might expect. Thus we get robots that are liberated from slavery, robots that don’t necessarily want to live to destroy their creators but to simply be and exist like humans. It’s a surprisingly simple concept that isn’t explored all that much in popular science fiction, and Parrott handles it well, treating the robotic society as one filled with workers, artists, and of course, shadier operators that work to sell black market upgrades. I love that the protagonist AMBER-7T is a nurse for robots, and how she struggles with the morality that human doctors go through that she has trouble dealing with dying patients. It brings a lot of humanity to the characters and gives them an extra connection to the readers to care about them.
That being said, I have a few issues with the structure and pacing of this issue. I think the opening sequence is great and breathes a lot of life to the story from the get-go, even if I did get heavy Robots flashbacks from the idea of a robot baby being assembled. But then, we get a four-page introduction to the world, which although is interesting, feels a little preachy and slows the pace right down after the fairly breezy debut sequence. There’s a total disconnect between these first two scenes, and the idea of robot childbirth isn’t really touched on in the world building sequence, which would have at least given the two scenes a shared link to feel cohesive. After this, we’re given a heist scene introducing the second protagonist, HALE-19. It’s a pretty fun scene filled with camaraderie and provides some action to keep the issue exciting. However, it doesn’t really introduce why HALE-19 is important to the story or fellow protagonist AMBER-7T, and for something that’s given narrative real-estate a quarter of the entire issue, this ultimately feels irrelevant to the main plot. Given the space that he dedicated to this scene, Parrott could have provided a more concrete link to AMBER-7T or the Dr. Traymore plot but the fact that he doesn’t is a missed opportunity.
Overall art duties are handled by Omar Francia, who provides a crisp and CGI-esque tone to the art while still retaining the fluidity of sequential comics work. In a book almost entirely dedicated to robots, it’s important to have a good sense of machinery design and aesthetic, and we get a good sense of that from the first page. I love that Francia’s robots appear to be nearly human but the visible lining showing the seams between their skin plates identifies them as robots, giving a very sleek, uncomplicated modern day look. However, it’s great that we still get some more of the traditional stuff, presented in the narrative as older models. Characters like HALE-19 are still relatively humanoid but they have tasteful, chunky armor that gives these guys a look that resembles more Transformers rather than I, Robot. Francia gives these guys just as much emotion as the human and human-like characters too, with my personal favorite occurring in AMBER-7T’s Rust patient. Over the few pages that we see him in, we get a calm acceptance of his situation, to an aggravated determination in trying to fulfill his ‘promise’ and finally a deranged desperation before the hospital security neutralize him. It’s always great to see an artist having fun with humanizing non-human characters, and Francia clearly shows this.
Continued belowEnvironments are beautifully realized in this issue, resulting in a world feeling well thought out and full of life. From the moment that we see AMBER-7T look out from her window into the hover-car filled metropolis saying “IT’S… LUMINOUS, IT’S… PERFECTION” we become witness to a futuristic world that genuinely feels populated. Francia shows that he’s capable of subverting this clean, utopian vision of the world within the next few pages, however, showing in the HALE-19 sequence a more claustrophobic, dark and industrial side to the city, appropriately setting the tone for the heist occurring. Not only that, but the way that Francia draws the robots interacting with the environment around them makes it feel super realistic and fun. Francia will have HALE-19 lifting up a huge, industrial door, or have his heist team hiding behind corners or storage containers. It’s especially visceral when we see HALE-19’s escape vehicle crash into the city sidewalk, leaving a definite KROOOM and having not only the vehicle crumble but the city around it. It adds another layer of immersion when an artist can seamlessly blend both character and environment without leaving a noticeable visual separation between them.
It would be easy for this book to blend in with flat, uninspired looking sci-fi comics, but Francia has such a good grasp on coloring in this issue that it makes the book pop with vibrancy. Every page has a lovely inner glow, but never is it accentuated to the point of being harsh. The palette blends well with the tone of the book too, with Francia adapting to meet a scene appropriately. The opening ‘birth’ scene has a beautiful warm orange tone overlayed through it, pairing well with AMBER-7T’s feeling of hope. But then we move on to the origin story of robotics in the world, and we get a more muted, desaturated tone to go with that of the turbulence and rebellion being enacted throughout this narrative. The heist scene has a great cyberpunk tone to it too, with overcasting the scene with a dark blue/green sky and highlighting the bright neons of lasers and building lights. Francia clearly is adept at rendering high-concept sci-fi worlds, and this is no exception in “Volition.”
There’s a lot of really neat concepts and worldbuilding that feels huge in scope in “Volition” #1, which might work a lot better if Ryan Parrott is playing the long game with this series. However, there are a few problems with structure, with a lack of connection scene to scene and character moments that don’t yet feel important to the core narrative. Omar Francia ensures that this book is a visual treat, regardless of narrative, with sleek robot designs, a huge, interesting and somewhat character interactive environment and eye-popping color palettes. Come for the concepts, stay for the incredible aesthetic.
Final Score: 7.5 – A conceptually interesting debut, “Volition” #1 feels a little disjointed structurally, but manages to keep your attention with fantastic art production.
