This is how you do a first issue
Opening remarks:
The last thing I read by Jonathan Luna was the miniseries Whispers. It was pretty enjoyable until the end where it seemed pretty rushed, but I'll still take a stab at anything he puts out.
Story:
We follow the life of our main protagonist, Alex, as he deals with the everyday doldrums that encompass what passes for normal life as put forth in this comic. As we learn towards the beginning of the book, he's recovering from a breakup and is in a world that is quite technologically different from our own. From the very first page we get the feel that the story is futuristic as there is considerably intelligent A.I. at his disposal that helps him with everything from waking up and getting a jump start on the weather, to locking his car and answering his work phone. My initial reaction to this was "Oh boy, we've got Skynet," but that's just my personal bias showing. Don't get me wrong, the A.I. that he uses is actually able to respond to his thought commands and I still find that creepy but it doesn't come across like that in the book. In fact, it's just a normal, accepted part of life.
We're introduced to a cast of characters such as Emily, Jacob, Alex's grandma, and Isabel, who liven up the scene as the main character is a bit boring but believable. The grandmother is my favorite so far followed by Isabel, and she steals the scene as she's very open about things and speaks her mind (a bit too much at times), but she remains loveable and her zest for life comes across quite clearly. I'm definitely looking forward to her making future appearances, even if they're only by holoprojector. We don't get to see too much of Emily and Jacob, but Emily's a friend of Alex who’s involved in his surprise birthday party and Jacob actually doesn't have A.I. interfaced with his brain so that sets him apart. Isabel seems to be outgoing, animated, and really cares about Alex so I'm also looking forward to seeing more of her as well.
Art:
It's what you'd come to expect if you've read some of Jonathan Luna's other work, but if you haven't don't worry. Characters' portions are realistic, there's a nice bit of attention given to facial expression and wordless panels, and the colors really do shine and add a lot of feeling to the story. In short, the art is most enjoyable, and is on par with the cover art which is always nice as you don't come across that too often in comics. peaking of the cover, having read the book I think it perfectly captures Alex's affect and it's gorgeous to boot.
Reasoning:
While I did take a chance on this, this was a bang-up issue and a great way to reel in readers. This is how you do a number one-give us an interesting story with a great hook at the end. Even though we're only one issue in, the way it ends coupled with Alex's personality makes you really want to see how things will come into play in the future. I'd give this a 4.5/5. It has a nice pacing and build to it, sprinkled with a nice bit of heartfelt humor and a development at the end that makes you smile as you knew it was coming but are still glad to see happen.
Afterword:
It also has the potential to make commentary on the role of technology in our lives to a vast degree and even challenge our concepts and perceptions of mindedness. It probably won’t go that far but it definitely could.
