TECHNOFREAK #2 – Review

In TECHNOFREAK #2, available from American Mythology on October 27th, 2021, Jon Sherlok responds to an alert that someone is trying to shut down the Technofreak program. What he finds is a trap related to the program’s origins.

The Details

• Written By: John Charles, Barry May, Stephanie Mary Jackson, Lew Stringer
• Art By: Tom Newell, Emily Moore, Lew Stringer, Tabitha Pulford
• Colors By: Guilherme Lindemberg Mendes, Tom Newell, Emily Moore, Lew Stringer, Tabitha Pulford
• Letters By: Nikki Foxrobot, Ian Sharman, Lew Stringer
• Cover Art By: Tom Newell, John Charles
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: October 27, 2021

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Was It Good?

TECHNOFREAK #2 is an amusing issue where it helps to plant your tongue firmly in your cheek to enjoy the humor of it all. Whereas most comics take a serialized approach to their issues, Technofreak opts for the episodic approach with a self-contained story that references the prior issue but isn’t continuing an arc of any sort.

What I like about this issue is that the story or the characters don’t take themselves too seriously, despite the danger of the situation they find themselves in. Maurice the Robocat is, as with the first issue, the standout character as the 4th-wall-breaking narrator and sarcastic voice of reason in the adventure at hand. Maurice sets the tone by calling out the sometimes-archetypical choices Jon makes and by poking fun at the narrative structure used by the writers. In effect, Maurice is incredibly self-aware of the silliness and he’s having just as much fun enjoying it with the reader as he is in participating in the silliness.

That said, the silliness can be a bit over-the-top. There’s a fine line that humor of this type needs to walk between amusing and annoying, and for the majority of the issue, the humor stays on the amusing side of that line. However, humor tastes vary and you may find (as we did) a few jokes are a little too corny for comfort.

The art is significantly improved over the first issue, so kudos to the small army of artists that worked on this comic. It’s tough to say which area of improvement was most impactful as everything about this comic looks better. The lines, the colors, the shading, the panel composition, all of it is noticeably superior.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

If you’d like to know more about the references made in this issue, read our TECHNOFREAK #1 review.

We begin with Maurice, Jon Sherlok, and Neville drinking their sorrows away in a local pub. Jon is lamenting a recent fight with his girlfriend, Loretta, because he’s been tracking her for her own “protection”, and she’s not keen on the invasion of privacy. Neville is loathed to go home to the trio of Loretta clones because they’re too happy all the time. And Maurice is just here there for moral support.

Suddenly, Sherlok receives an alert that a hacker is attempting to shut down the Technofreak program, and he takes off to investigate with Maurice and Neville tagging along. When they arrive at an old house in the countryside as the source of the alert, they find the alert was tripped by the presumed-dead creator of the Technofreak program, Dr. Felix Scrutner. Dr. Scrutner tripped the alarm on purpose to lure Jon to his lab for a special request – use his cybernetic systems to restore the second remaining Technofreak survivor – his son.

Jon is appalled that the Doctor would experiment on his son in such a manner but he agrees to help the comatose lad, if possible. When Jon connects his interface to the machine keeping Dr. Scrutner’s son alive, he enters the son’s mind to find nothing but pain and madness. Maurice frees Jon from the machine when he sees Jon is in terrible pain from the connection.

The Doctor is not so easily deterred, however. We conclude the issue with the Doctor proposing a more extreme and permanent alternative, with Jon receiving a choice that could be the ultimate sacrifice, and with lots of singing.

Final Thoughts

TECHNOFREAK #2 amps up the tongue-in-cheek humor in a story that unveils a little background on the Technofreak program and the consequences of its earliest subject. The humor mostly lands, but there are a few eye-rolling moments, and the art is significantly improved on all fronts.

Score: 8/10

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