Titan Comics 2016
Created, Written & Illustrated by Andre LIma Araujo
Coloured by Arsia Rozegar
Lettered by Tom Williams
AS OLISSIPO’S CRACK POLICE SQUAD PIECE TOGETHER THE CAUSE OF THE RECENT ANDROID ATTACK, A DANGEROUS THREAD OF VIOLENCE AND CORRUPTION BEGINS TO UNRAVEL, LEADING FROM THE CITY’S SEEDIEST GHETTOS, TO THE DIZZYING HEIGHTS OF ITS BUSINESS DISTRICT.
After last issue I was left very intrigued by this book. I like the idea behind it, this city grown out of a corporation's placement causing it grow into a huge metropolis. Also the technology available in this city is intriguing as well as robots are mainstays and it would appear the police department is not necessarily a joke but more for show. All things considered the first issue really went above and beyond in creating this city, world and characters.
Alright so when we left last issue the team had caught up to the rogue android and that is where we pick things up. I’m really enjoying this too because it’s the right kind of weird. To see that perhaps this android is far more different than we were originally led to believe makes this much more interesting. Not only because of her actions this issue but the ongoing action sequences we see with her skill sets as well. She’s a complex character already and with everything we see from her that intrigue only strengthen my resolve to learn more.
I’m also very much enjoying the characterization we are getting from the police squad. Aside from the Chief looking Linda Hunt they really do have this whole kind of modern day police show feel to them, yes NCIS LA or Almost Human in nature. I’m really getting behind the way they think, operate and support one another and more so since their plays have been backed like they are this issue. Andre really has gotten this incredibly strong grasp of the characters he’s created and is taking great pains to make them as human and relatable as possible and it resonates at least with me.
Meanwhile there’s just as much care and mystery going into the bad guys as well. We kind of know whom they are working for just not the why so there’s so much room for growth and development plot wise with them that while at the moment they seem more like common hired guns and less a true threat somewhere along the line it wouldn’t surprise me that they find themselves adrift completely and they become a much bigger and more dangerous problem. Just that we can think of them this way and that I see a bigger picture surrounding them means that Andre really has crafted a place where the reader’s imagination is just as vital to the story as is what puts on the page.
Part of what makes this as successful as i’m finding it to be is Andre’s ability to catch your attention, keep it and involve the reader in ways that both subtle and unexpected. It’s easy to get lost in something but another to get lost and explore places we’ve never seen presented yet and he’s doing that with me here.
I'm really enjoying the artwork here granted I do find the blocks or x’s throughout a tad distracting but all in all i’m captivated by the style and detail presented to us. Part of me wonders if this would be better in black and white but that’s not really relevant since it is incredibly engaging, expressive and wonderfully done.
Science Fiction on a whole different level mixing things up with more intrigue and excitement than you’d expect.