Review -- Lady Mechanika No. 0 by Benitez & Steigerwald

For most of my life, comics have been looked down upon as something "nerds read." In my younger years, I admit that I held that opinion. As I got older, I learned to see comics as a way of adding a visual aspect to storytelling. Not every comic has to be about superheroes in ridiculous leotards. Hell there's even a category out there called "graphic novels" which are basically novels with well-crafted pictures to augment the narrative. So I went out on a limb and bought Issue 0 of a new steampunk comic called Lady Mechanika. This is a first for me. I've never reviewed a comic before, and I've never actually read a comic that wasn't collected in trade paperback form either.
Because this is a zero issue, I had to go online to the creator's website for the official back story: "The tabloids dubbed her "Lady Mechanika", the sole survivor of a serial killer's three-year rampage through England. Authorities found her locked in an abandoned laboratory amidst an undeterminable number of corpses and body parts, her own limbs having been amputated and replaced with mechanical components.

With no memory of her captivity or her former life, Mechanika eventually built a new life for herself as a private detective, using her unique abilities to solve cases the police couldn't or wouldn't handle. But she never stopped searching for the answers to her own past."

Unfortunately none of that is conveyed in this issue. Instead we are introduced to Mechanika and the fact that she doesn't know who she is. While investigating rumors of a half-mechanical demon haunting a place called "Satan's Alley," Mechanika encounters the none-too-likeable Nathaniel Blackpool of Blackpool Armaments. Apparently, he had heard of Mechanika before and wants to capture her so he can study her mechanical limbs--technology that is one of a kind.

I got to see a little bit of Mechanika's personality in this issue. Instead of killing the demon, she treats it with kindness. But at the same time, the issue shows that she can kick ass when she has to. She sounds like a fascinating character, but this issue was so short that all I really got was a tiny taste. It could be that zero issues are supposed to be shorter, almost teaser-like versions of the regular issues. I don't know.

The art style was visually striking with steampunk elements very present. From an interview included in the issue, the creator says that he was inspired by steampunk cosplayers he saw at conventions. I could definitely see that influence in the artwork, and I enjoyed it. Even though outfits eschewed toward stylization rather than functionality, it worked within the overall steampunk aesthetic.

Despite enjoying the overall aesthetic, there were a few things that bothered me.

One: so much is made about Mechanika having mechanical limbs, but you barely get to see them in this issue. There is one panel where there's a closeup of her hand, but it looks like she's wearing a gear and cog fingerless glove. It didn't quite live up to the hype. I'm assuming we'll get to see more evidence of her altered physical state as the series progresses.

Two: I understand that Aspen Comics -- the publisher of Lady Mechanika needs to promote itself and sell ad space to survive, but do the ads need to be included in the middle of the narrative? It was really jarring to turn the page and be greeted by a full color ad for some other comic series instead of a continuation of the story. Again this might be something that all comics do and I'm not aware of it because of my limited experience with them. Still, kind of of annoying.

Three: I got the impression that this was going to be a mature series. I mean, Mechanika had her limbs removed and surgically replaced with mechanical ones. That's not something for the fainthearted. But then why is the word "asshole" censored with $s replacing the letter s? It felt very out of place. This could just be a matter of taste--the creator of publisher not wanting to include too much swearing. But after reading Northlanders: Sven the Returned and seeing them print "fuck" a number of times, it made this comic feel a little juvenile. Either censor the word completely or just go for it.

I'd have to read more issues before I could really come to any conclusions about Lady Mechanika. I could see the series going off in multiple directions, and here's one that worries me. In the same interview, the creator says that he enjoys drawing "strong, sexy, female characters." The word sexy is what sets off warning bells in my mind. Mechanika could be attractive, but why does sex appeal have to be included with strength? I've written at length about gender and sexuality within science fiction, and I don't want to get into it here, but I do want to point it out. I hope the series doesn't include gratuitous sexuality just to draw in the male audience. That would do a disservice to the strong parts of Mechanika's character.

Still this is a steampunk comic, and I like steampunk. I want to read more because the back story seems interesting enough, but I'm not sure if I'll rush out to buy each issue when it comes out. It might be a series to read when they all get collected into a single volume.