Electric Warrior #1



"The Whole Nasty Night"
writer: Doug Moench
artist/co-creator: Jim Baikie
letters: Annie Halfacree
colors: Tom Ziuko
editor: Doug Moench

grade: A-


Twelve years earlier, Doug Moench co-created Deathlok, a man trapped inside a machine forced to do what he didn't want to do and ultimately breaking free to become a hero. It was an awesome concept, but the short-lived series bored me because there really wasn't anything to it beyond that awesome initial concept.

Moench seems keenly aware of that with Electric Warrior, creating a startlingly similar character (a robot police officer protecting the fascist elite and quickly developing a consciousness and conscience), but this time, there's a carefully developed world circling around him and already filled with several notable supporting characters. Baikie's visuals help to bring this world to life in all its beauty, darkness, and complexity.

I'm not quite sure how 9-03, our mechanical protagonist, will take center stage in this world, but he's already running a compelling thematic parallel with a second character, Derek Two-Shadow, as both are referred to as having experienced past lives and deaths (Derek's former life as a "zig," or bottom dweller, in the city, and 9-03 feeling that he dies each time he is shut down) and both live in worlds in which they do not fit and in which they stand apart from their peers. Interesting.

I don't claim to have a clear sense of where any of this is going, but it's all quite fascinating, and Moench's words are highly evocative and powerful, except for the two times in the story in which he offers stilted dialogue in which characters speak their motives and ideologies a little too plainly (especially 9-03, who seems far too human and clear-thinking for a machine that just gained self-awareness).


The world we see thus far:

- The Zigs: the future punk bottom dwellers who remind me of the mutants from Frank Miller's DKR (this was published exactly one month ahead of DKR #1) only better considered and developed. They speak in a dialect that becomes familiar and understandable partway through the issue, have real wit in their banter at times, are physically altered as infants through disjointing and head wrapping to make better thieves, and are absolutely desperate. They make for a fascinating and terrifying future.

- The Magistrate and his advisors: out of touch lawmakers who realize the civilization they have created is starting to crumble (presumably due to the rise of the Zigs)

- The Primmies: expatriots living like ancient Native Americans.

Of course, the destruction of the main power plant plunges the city into darkness in this issue, opening the floodgates of the series and allowing these three worlds to collide full force.


Lots of questions remain, like when does this take place, what other classes are present, and are the other cities of the world like this one? Only time will tell.


The cast of characters:

- Quintana, seemingly the lover of Magistrate Marder, who goes on "mission"s to the primmies, though her true intentions remains unclear (there's a certain voyeuristic and erotic implication to what she is trying to do there, even before she comes across a holographic projection of two primmies making love). She is clearly attracted to Derek Two-Shadow.

- Derek Two-Shadow, a former bottom dweller whose mother didn't have the heart to fully warp him into a Zig. He fled the city at age nine to begin a new life with the primmies, and now serves as their "mirror" and observer.

- Amber Brightstar, Derek's lover, though she appears tempted by Quintana's technology at one point, and Derek hides a vision painting he has made from her for some reason. Clearly, there is room for tension in this relationship.

- Magistrate Marder, the out of touch ruler of this society.

- Hersh, Marder's subordinate.

- Simon Soaring, another Primmie.

- Rektek, leader of the Primmies. He respects Derek's wisdom and council.

- 9-03, the self-aware Electric Warrior who seems to regret all he is ordered to do.


Minor details:

-Doug's column in this issue about the true allure of comics positively blew my mind, referring to comics being about reclaiming that lost summer as a 12 year old, recapturing the dreams of a two year old staring at the ceiling and wanting to walk on it and, above all else, creating a feeling of the fireworks of the first day of summer vacation, each and every month, each and every issue.

-Several aspects of this story bare a strong resemblance to Metropolis, Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction film masterpiece (which had experienced a high profile re-edit and re-release in theaters two years earlier), including the struggle between the privileged few and the bottom dwelling many, the destruction of the main power house as a climactic moment in that struggle, and a robot servant developing its own mind and taking center stage in that conflict (though, in Metropolis, the robot became a sort of Antichrist instead of a hero).


In conclusion:

With any first issue, you're judging more on the potential of the series than what you've already seen in such limited space, but this series truly does have potential. With a little stronger, more believable characterization for 9-03, this series could really hit gold.

Electric Warrior #2



"Genetricks Berserk!"
writer: Doug Moench
art/co-plotting: Jim Baikie
letters: Annie Halfacree
colors: Tom Ziuko
editor: Doug Moench

grade: A-

In several respects, this second issue was even stronger than the first. The end of the last issue left me expecting all hell to break loose with the loss of power in the city, but Moench actually spent most of this issue on conversations and ideologies and, this time around, it really worked. Derek Two Shadow's debate with Quintana was truly rich, as was Quintana's inner reflections about the city's problems, presented in contrast with what the Magistrate's advisers were planning. It's surprising to learn that Quintana is actually far more sympathetic to the Primmie ideology than we'd originally suspected. It's truly beginning to feel that each character in this story might be a doorway beyond which lies a surprise. For that reason, I'm especially intrigued by the two Zigs following 9-03. I can't tell whether they view him as some sort of redeemer or just an easy target. Maybe there's a third option I haven't considered.

An excerpt from that fantastic debate between Quintana and Derek:

Quintana: So you reject progress only after a certain point. You build huts to shield against rain and sun, but you reject air filtration. You fashion spears but spurn parbeam pistols. How do you determine the point of rejection? Where do you draw the line?

Derek: As in all art. Wherever it looks right.



This issue presents our first look at the Genetrix - mutant rejects from society who are mostly cognitively retarded, though they are clearly able to organize as a nomadic society, and some appear to have technical skills (repairing an ancient car). A nice parallel is drawn between how the Primmies deal with the Genetrix (giving them what they want in order to find peace) and how the city deals with the Zigs (attempting to beat them into submission).

I wonder if Moench's exploration of these ideas isn't a little too one sided, though. Would the Genetrix truly only take what they absolutely need if there were no reprecussions for doing so? What would stop one (especially one with little cognition) from deciding that, if it's okay to take food, it must be okay to rape too? Take whatever you need. It's all good.

I'm a liberal, to be sure, but this outlook might just be a little too tree-hugger for my taste.

Of course, Moench may have more to say on the matter. Clearly, he enjoys surprising us, and Derek doesn't seem completely in love with the Primmie society. Perhaps this is an ongoing debate that isn't finished yet. After all, Moench's narration makes it clear that Quintana will get her wish -- Derek will come to the city.


Meanwhile, 9-03 still hasn't become the major focus of this book (though it's named after him; of course, calling the book "Derek Two Shadow" would probably drive away fans by the truckload). Still, he's making strides in this issue, not appearing until 14 pages into this 28 page story, but finally fully going rogue against his controllers. An explanation is finally given for his self-awareness, as well:

"Could it be that the enzymes in its bio-chips somehow mutated, bridging new wetware configurations--spontaneously generating a false "hive mind" within a single unit?

Yeah, it doesn't make too much sense to me, either. The semi-disassembled EWs shown in this issue appear to be full androids, not cyborgs, so why would 9-03 need bio-chips? What about this "hive mind" presence? Do they mean amongst his various internal systems? But the hive-mind or "net" controlling the Electric Warriors has no independent conscience, so why would 9-03's internal hive? Oh well. Like most great sci-fi, the "sci" isn't as strong as the "fi".

My one real regret with this issue is that the power is turned back on, and the chaos that ensued from the loss of power occurred off-panel, between issues. I really thought (and hoped) this would be the center of the entire series -- a fragmented society in chaos, with each faction no longer contained because, when the power blows, so does law and order. Ah well.


Minor details:

- Check out the graffiti on the cover. I caught "Love and Rockets," "Red Hot Chili Peppers" (I had no idea ANYONE knew who they were prior to 1990!), and "P-Funk" (Parliament Funkadelic?).

- We've learned that Rektek was named for the ideas he instituted when he became the village leader ("wreck tech"). This leaves me with several questions. If he didn't earn his name until then, was he an immigrant from the city like Derek? If so, then Derek has remained an outsider only by choice. Also, if the names they are given reflect something they are or have done, what does "Two Shadow" indicate about Derek?

- What does "the net" actually do? Is it some form of collective conscience for the electric warriors, or is it just their kill mode?

- When one of the warrens-level structures is damaged, a luxury home on the top level comes crashing down. This moment implies that there are only two levels to the city (and, by that logic, two classes). If that's the case, where do the workers we saw in the power station live? If you look closely at the luxury home before it falls, there is one building top at a lower level, but when the structure crashes down, it really doesn't look like there was anything more beneath it. The only bodies seen are ones adorned in luxurious garments. No indication of a middle level structure (nor middle level inhabitants) having been beneath them.

- Series 5 robots are sent out to stop the unstable Electric Warriors. Were the EWs we've been seeing all along from series 4?

- The EWs record their inner workings in "red boxes" that appear to work like the black box of an airplane. Is it a coincidence that 9-03's dreams occur in a "red space"?

- Who is the editor of this series? Moench's "Meanwhile" column from last issue implied that he was, this issue's credits state that he is, but in the letters column, he indicates that "Barbara Randall is the fresh-faced editor of this title."


Another strong issue. While it missed a great (if predictable) opportunity to give us some powerful conflict in a power-drained city, it took some unexpected approaches that truly worked. However, for the series to progress, we need 9-03 to develop more character, and Derek Two Shadow and his Primmie society to seem a little less perfect and self-assured. Let's get murky, Doug! Showing us a more complex portrait of Quintana was a good start!