MECHANIX #1, from Source Point Press on July 27th, 2022, takes readers back to the future when Jiji and his granddaughter, Keiko, struggle to make ends meet with a time-traveling towing service. Their fortunes change when a mysterious stranger arrives with an unorthodox request.
The Details
- Written by: Ben Slabak
- Art by: Edoardo Natalini
- Colors by: Edoardo Natalini
- Letters by: Edoardo Natalini
- Cover art by: Edoardo Natalini
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: July 27, 2022
Is It Good?
MECHANIX #1 is a fun, intriguing adventure story about a girl, her grandfather, and their barely-making-ends-meet time-traveling towing business. It’s a weird confluence of elements put together by Slabak and Natalini, but in this case, weird results in intriguing and charming.
The highlight of this issue is Slabak’s wholly imaginative premise. Decades from now, time travel is a common event, and towing services are required when a time-traveling vessel gets stuck in a faraway millennium. That’s where Junpei’s towing service comes in, run by Jiji (one of the original engineers who helped invent time travel) and his granddaughter, Keiko.
Slabak creates a collection of characters who are immediately likable and have a relatable relationship with each other. Gruff on the outside with a tender heart on the inside. From page one, you get the characters and are invested in what happens to them.
Natalini’s playful, comic strip-styled art, elevates the charm of the book with character designs oozing with personality. The facial acting is easy to pick up, and the linework is relatively solid. However, the watercolor coloring is muddy in spots, and the occasional use of onomatopoeia for sound effects doesn’t always work.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with Jiji, the owner of Junpei’s Time-Traveling Tow Service, working on his broken-down tow ship. It runs, but only barely. Suddenly, a call comes in for assistance from a cruise ship stuck in the year 65 million B.C., and Jiji rushes off to assist, but his too-eager granddaughter, Keiko, stows away.
Jiji arrives just in time to tow the ship back to the future just before a giant meteor strikes the Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs. However, the cruise ship is overloaded, and the tow ship starts to fail. When Jiji and the cruise ship appear to be joining the dinosaurs in death, Keiko uses a mech suit to assist and save the day.
Later, Jiji works on his heavily damaged tow ship when a stranger arrives with a proposition. We conclude the issue with a flashback to Keiko’s “lost” parents, an illegal question, a technical question, and an illegal act.
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Final Thoughts
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MECHANIX #1 is a fun, wholesome, emotional story about a family of time travelers forced to rise to a challenge when one of their own is kidnapped. The story is imminently charming and relatable, the art is better than serviceable, and the cliffhanger will get you hooked for more.
Related Information
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