ASTROBOTS #1, by Massive Publishing on 5/3/23, imagines a future where sentient robots are sent to distant worlds to build cities in advance of human colonists. Sadly, there’s trouble in paradise.
The Details
- Written by: Simon Furman, Aaron Thomas
- Art by: Hector Trunnec
- Colors by: Hector Trunnec
- Letters by: Hector Trunnec
- Cover art by: Phillip Knott
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: May 3, 2023
What Is ASTROBOTS #1 About?
When the machines are in charge, who watches over the machines? That’s the question Simon Furman asks when a multi-class system of robots, designed to build humanity’s future, endures strife and conflict over a secret past.
Simon Furman’s cybernetic future story centers on Atlas, the robotic leaders of Atlas City on the remote planet of Colony World-1. Robots were sent to the planet to build a utopia in advance of the arrival of human colonists, and we begin the story less than a day before the first group of humans arrive.
Atlas’s mission is nearly complete, but the vision of utopia is anything but when different robot classes act out in violence over disturbing events of the early days settling on the planet. The rebellious robots insist on not covering up whatever trauma Atlas intends to hide from the arriving humans. Atlas intends to use whatever oppressive means necessary to keep the unpleasantness locked away from the humans.
With hours left to go before the humans arrive, a lone robot, Apollo-8 walks out of the swirling sands of the Dead Zone outside Atlas City’s walls to deliver a message. Something is wrong with the Dead Zone, and Atlas City must hear about it before it’s too late.
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What did we like about ASTROBOTS #1?
Simon Furman backs up a dump truck’s worth of imagination and ingenuity into creating Atlas City and all its denizens. If you’re into science fiction that spares no expense to cover as many details as possible, within reason, to create a new world that feels lived in, fleshed out, and complete, this is the comic for you.
What didn’t we like about ASTROBOTS #1?
The central hook of Furman’s plot is some event or development in Atlas City’s past that the leadership wants to hide from the colonists. We don’t know what it is, why the knowledge would be good or bad, the consequences of attaining said knowledge, or why Atlas is so desperate to hide it. At most, you know there’s a secret, and some robots think keeping it a secret is bad, which is a tough hook to buy into.
How’s the Art?
Hector Trunnec’s designs for Atlas City and the assorted classes of robots are nothing short of spectacular. Each class is designed with vivid details to set them apart from the other classes and give them a sense of functional purpose that underscores their construction. In short, Trunnec’s eye for visual world-building matches Furman’s detail-rich script.
Final Thoughts
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ASTROBOTS #1 regales readers with a richly detailed space colony built by robots on the brink of civil war. Furman’s script captures the essence of a robot utopia on a world that feels futuristic and lived in, while Hector Trunnec’s gloriously detailed art is sumptuous. That said, the excellent world-building doesn’t make up for the lack of a clear, concise hoo
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