Comics on artificial
intelligence you must read
by rick olivares
I remember when I first saw the film Blade Runner
starring Harrison Ford in his first post-Star Wars hit, as a bounty hunter who
is tasked to hunt down Replicants, rogue androids who merely want to live and
not head for the scrap heap. It was an incredible story (I thought the film
adaptation is far superior to the science-fiction novel “Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep?” by the late Philip K. Dick) as it postulated about, “Is
artificial life real life?”
Since then we have been treated to robot-centric
books and films from Astro Boy, Terminator, Transformers, the heroic Vision and
homicidal Ultron in the pages of the comic and film, “The Avengers,” Wall-E,
Battlestar Galactica, and the Steven Spielberg movie, “A.I.” to name a few.
It is a fascinating topic especially now in this
world of unmanned drones that bomb terrorist targets or map out the sands of
Mars. There is even the debate about creating artificial life.
In the light of this, the comic book world presents
four excellent treatises on this controversial subject. And I wholeheartedly
recommend them.
Alex + Ada
(Image Comics) written by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn and drawn by Jonathan
Luna.
Synopsis: After Alex sinks into depressing following
a break-up with his girlfriend, his grandmother sends him, Ada, a Tanaka X-5
android which is a human-companion robot that is designed for human
communication or even sexual interaction. The one thing these androids do not
have is self-awareness as everything is pre-programmed. In order to get more
out of his Tanaka unit, Alex seeks the help of others in freeing Ada and making
her more “aware” and capable of independent thought and feeling. This is
however outlawed by the government and has dangerous repercussions.
Written and drawn by Filipino-American Jonathan Luna
with scripting chores by Sarah Vaughn, Alex + Ada is a 15-issue series from
Image Comics. The series is wrapping up in a few weeks and we are braced for an
explosive conclusion as Alex + Ada are now on the run from government forces. I
will say this about this series, it is thought provoking.
Synopsis: A story about an android name Tim 21 who
was activated after 10 years in stasis. In the years before his rebooting, the giant robots known as Harvesters nearly eradicated
human life. The world since then has become an even more dangerous place with
survivors having outlawed robots and the galaxy disintegrating between warriors
racing. The threat of the return of the Harvesters remains. And the race to
uncover the relation between Tim-21 and the Harvesters is on (as they share
some similarities but not all in their programs) as an unlikely band of humans
led by Tim-21’s creator, Dr. Quon and military types Telsa and Tullis join
forces with Tim-21, its robot “dog” Bandit, and protector robot, Driller, to
find the truth behind the extinction event.
D4VE (IDW
Comics) written by Ryan Ferrier and drawn by Valentin Ramon.
Synopsis: Years after robots overthrow their human
masters, life for robots has become sedate. They curiously adapt human life and
all its quirks, mannerisms, and jobs. D4VE, a Converse wearing great robot war
hero now has to deal with life during peacetime. His only battles are with
boredom, traffic, an unhappy wife and a rebellious and Will Smith-worshipping robot
son and dealing with the monotony and tediousness of office work. But salvation
for D4VE is at hand as alien invaders save What began as a web comic via Monkeybrain is a
runaway five-issue limited hit series with IDW Comics. The next series is
slated for this September.
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