Russell's toxic masculinity parable continues to highlight the issues in societies when those in charge will not resolve problems and feed of the conflict that division created whether is wealth, gender, race or any other difference the point is to blame each other not the leaders. The ludicrous robots are straight out of a 1980's 2000AD story but that makes it all the better. Read Full Review

Don't missNot All Robots #2. Heck, go back and buy the first issue, too. This is a comic thatdeserves your hard-earned money. Read Full Review

Not All Robots #2 continues its farcical look at the robot revolution, this time pushing the metaphor between the robots and impotent white male rage a little further. Read Full Review

The series has real potential to cast weird electric light into the beating heart of inter-human relations with a deep look into the nature of technology. Still, Russell seems a lot more interested in creating a world that feels strangely unlike our own with weirdly appealing contrasts to current political pop culture. This isn't a bad thing, it just kind of feels like a missed opportunity to do something more profound. This is not to say that greater depth might not be around the corner. The series is just getting going in its second issue. There's plenty of opportunities to get deeper into the satire.  Read Full Review

Not All Robots #2 - A Run Up to Judgment Day
Words: Mark Russell | Art Mike Deodato, Jr. | Colors Lee Loughridge Publisher: AWA Upshot Studios

Review:

Not all Robots is an interesting title that gives a tongue-in-cheek take on the classic trope of Man versus Machine. Make no mistake this is a bleak setting but the heavier implications and themes are undercut by a joke, wink, or a nod.

This issue explores the fallout from a mass casualty event in which 200,000 humans died horribly as a result of a robots actions. The alleged murderer is tried and exonerated within seconds which causes a fissure between an already tense relationship between Humans and the Robots they depend on.

The remainder of the book hones in on the Walker Family and their assigned Robot “Razorball”. Within each community, factions prepare for war while others remain delusional about danger brewing underneath the surface.

I generally cringe whenever a story features a resistance movement because it's such an overused trope across fiction but it works well here in light of the circumstances.

While there aren’t any bombastic action sequences here Deadato’s art style lends itself well to the deadpan humor and horrific subtext of the series. The Robots don’t care about the fate of Humanity. However, this indifference is conveyed beautifully in the lack of expression in the designs of the machines.

The lack of Human features also plays into the story thematically as Robots are afraid of being replaced by less inhuman variants called Mandroids.

In the first issue of Not All Robots, Mark Russell mentioned that the story was about Toxic Masculinity. I’m still not convinced of that. I am keying in on the theme of Humanity giving too much agency to third parties that have no need for them and are passively working towards their destruction.

In Short: Not All Robots presents a nice change of pace from the typical Man Vs. Machine tropes across fiction.

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This is some seriously well done satire. Mark Russell is so damn good and always has something worthwhile to say. Even if you don’t agree with his politics 1:1 (which I and I assume many others do not) doesn’t mean what he has to say isn’t worth thinking and talking about. He always manages to make situations feel real with his perfect blend of humor and politics so when he does come at you with more heavy handed messages, it’s able to land because the characters actually feel like real people, and not just plot devices to progress an author’s agenda. I have always said you can have an agenda, just please tell a decent story!

Only problem I have with this book is I cannot tell any the robots apart for the life of me. They all look exactly the same and it can kind of mess up the flow of the story when you are double checking who is who from issue 1. The rest of the art is great thought, as the artist is able to potray real
emotions from these robots, I just don’t know who is who.

Other than that, amazing second issue. Took me forever to find a copy though, my LCS has been sold out. more