Metal Society #5 (of 5)
(W) Zack Kaplan (A/CA) Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko
In Shops: Sep 07, 2022
SRP: $3.99
Fight night. It’s the finale, and the bell has rung. The courageous Rosa Genthree and the resilient WOL-421313 will face off in the ultimate battle between man and machine. Who will have the heart to deliver the final blow, and who will walk out of the stadium a champion?
Since it’s first issue, Metal Society has been an intriguing series. While the concept on the surface might seem like a MMA fight between a robot and a human but as you dig deeper, the series delivers far more. The comic tackles castes, slavery, society as a whole, and freedom. There’s been a lot to chew on. Metal Society #5 wraps up the series as our two combatants deliver blows to see which society is the most dominant.
Written by Zack Kaplan, Metal Society has scratched multiple itches for me as I’m both a fan of MMA and a political junkie. The series has been interesting to see how Kaplan not only handles the challenge of a human fighting a robot that can adapt but also the philosophy itself about the fight. Is it even the right thing to do?
Metal Society #5 takes that all further as Rosa battles WOL in the ring in a brutal battle. What does victory look like for each? Does WOL need to kill Rosa? Does Rosa just need to make WOL submit? Is just getting in the ring enough to prove humans deserve more than being a slave cast?
All of that is answered in a conclusion that feels logical and generally where I expected it to go. But, it does so in a rather quick way. The story itself needed a little bit more showing the brutality of the fight and the moments that follow. But, it does wrap things up nicely and the issue features a bit of a bonus at process art.
Guilherme Balbi‘s art continues to look great with color by Marco Lesko and lettering by Troy Peteri. The movement of the fight looks solid as MMA holds and moves are thrown and countered. There’s a fantastic use of page layout that at times turns the fight into a dance between its two warriors. My one criticism is the bruises on Rosa didn’t feel quite as pronounced as one would expect and taking some time to show how beaten she is would have emphasized her actions even more.
As a finale, Metal Society #5 delivers a satisfying ending. The story itself feels a bit short but the fight is brutal and as far as MMA, it’s pretty satisfying. On it’s own, the issue is a bit mixed but as far as wrapping up the series, it ends things in an interesting way.
Story: Zack Kaplan Art: Guilherme Balbi
Color: Marco Lesko Letterer: Troy Peteri
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle
Metal Society #5 (of 5)
(W) Zack Kaplan (A/CA) Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko
In Shops: Sep 07, 2022
SRP: $3.99
Fight night. It’s the finale, and the bell has rung. The courageous Rosa Genthree and the resilient WOL-421313 will face off in the ultimate battle between man and machine. Who will have the heart to deliver the final blow, and who will walk out of the stadium a champion?
Forever Forward #1 delivers an interesting spin on the time travel concept and shows off a lot of potential for the series.
Story: Zack Kaplan
Art: Arjuna Susini
Color: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
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I generally enjoy time travel stories. The concept of someone from a different era exploring another is interesting. You get to see a world through someone else’s new experience. There’s also so many that leave the future unknown with the traveler stuck and attempting to find a way home. Forever Forward #1 adds to that niche of the genre.
Written by Zack Kaplan, Forever Forward #1 follows a group of friends who are launched 30 years into the future after a lightning storm accident. Friends really should be used loosely as there’s some friction. At the center of it is Lewis who discovers time travel and is obsessed with changing the world and getting it right. He’s shunned his friends, blowing them off over and over for “his work”. He’s confronted on his birthday when the accident happens and the adventure begins.
There’s something familiar about the concept but new at the same time. Kaplan puts in the nice twist that the only way for them to get home is to keep going forward until the way to go back in time is discovered. At least, that’s what we’re lead to believe and think. But, there’s a choppiness to the story that holds it back. We’re presented with a series of scenes that don’t quite feel like they flow well together. Each is solid on their own and they work together but it’s weirdly off. The emotional hits are also not quite where you’d expect. The confrontation with friends is great but when the travel begins the reactions don’t quite match what you’d think they’d be. Everyone’s a bit too calm in a way.
Some of that oddity for reaction is in the art from Arjuna Susini. While overall it’s good, there’s a lack of detail in the faces that downplays what’s going on. Where a good shock or wtf face would go a long way, the art lacks that minute detail which lessons the emotional shock. The color from Brad Simpson is solid as it helps convey the time with the first jump delivering a slightly darker and dirtier location of where the individuals launched from. The lettering by Jim Campbell too is solid delivering a lot of dialogue that flows well from panel to panel.
Forever Forward #1 is an intriguing start and one well worth checking out. There’s a lot of potential as to where Kaplan takes the series and the vision of the future. That’s often a lot of fun of these types of stories and so far what’s been teased promises an entertaining read going forward.
Story: Zack Kaplan Art: Arjuna Susini
Color: Brad Simpson Letterer: Jim Campbell
Story: 8.05 Art: 7.8 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Read
Zack Kaplan provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics
Forever Forward #1 (of 5)
(W) Zack Kaplan (A) Arjuna Susini (CA) Jacob Phillips
In Shops: Aug 31, 2022
SRP: $4.99
Sci-fi writer Zack Kaplan and artist Arjuna Susini take you on a sci-fi adventure like no other, one that imagines time traveling through “the future” as an Odyssey-style mythic journey home. When brilliant young scientist Dr. Lewis Moody accidentally launches himself, his secret longtime crush and three best friends 33 years into the future with his unproven quantum time machine, they find a mysterious message from their future selves: “The Only Way Back Is Forward.” Now, as they jump again and again through strange future times, will they one day find the technology to time-travel back, or are they doomed to hopelessly travel forward… forever?
Metal Society #4 (of 5)
(W) Zack Kaplan (A/CA) Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko
In Shops: Aug 03, 2022
SRP: $3.99
The pressure is on. As news of WOL’s upgrade goes live, humans protest and riot in the streets, resulting in a violent late-night robot attack on the human settlement. But while both fighters realize that this divisive fight is tearing their society apart, the stakes are too high, and there is no turning back.
Man vs. robot in a mixed martial arts-like battle. At stake? The future of humankind and the future of robotkind. Taking place in the future, robots are now the dominant lifeform. Humanity had been wiped out but has now been brought back to work in the lowest rung of society. But, some of humankind strives for more. After a robot is put out of work, a fight is set up and that fight has spiraled. Metal Society #4 focuses in on how this bought has grown and what’s at stake at the center of it all.
Written by Zack Kaplan, Metal Society #4 is an interesting story, the quiet before the battle. Each side gives their speeches to their supporters. And, like so many real fights, the rhetoric has gotten out of hand whipping up supporters. In this case, each has incited violence in some way making the fight a powder keg of tension ready to explode. For humanity, the fight is seen as proof that they can do so much more than clean waste and that they are at least equals to the robot society. For the robot society, it’s a way to show off their dominance putting down an insurgent humanity that threatens their way of life. Race. Gender. Workers rights. Castes. You can see how this fight and series as a whole is an examination of so much. The depth to its story runs deep and an examination can go many ways.
But Kaplan also examines how rhetoric spirals. Each fighter confronts their words and what it has caused. We get a better sense of where they see themselves and their role in it all. What are they trying to prove for themselves, not what society has implanted on them. Again, a simple examination brings layers as this fiery rhetoric can be anything from the incitement politicians use in today’s landscape to simple stance taking on mythic proportions and becoming what the individuals want to see it as.
The are by Guilherme Balbi continues to look great. With color by Marco Lesko and lettering by Troy Peteri the series looks fantastic with a society that looks both advanced and rundown. You can see the technological advances but there’s a smoothness about it all that’s missing. The design tells so much about the world. The riots and violence too is captured well giving us a grand picture instead of focusing on too little of what’s going on. We get a broad idea which is exactly what we need as readers.
Metal Society #4 is another fantastic issue. The series might on the surface feel like just a “fight comic” but it features a depth that feels like it goes on and on and begging to be explored and debated.
Story: Zack Kaplan Art: Guilherme Balbi
Color: Marco Lesko Letterer: Troy Peteri
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: 8.5
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle
Metal Society #4 (of 5)
(W) Zack Kaplan (A/CA) Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko
In Shops: Aug 03, 2022
SRP: $3.99
The pressure is on. As news of WOL’s upgrade goes live, humans protest and riot in the streets, resulting in a violent late-night robot attack on the human settlement. But while both fighters realize that this divisive fight is tearing their society apart, the stakes are too high, and there is no turning back.
Vault Comics has announced it’ll be at this year’s upcoming San Diego Comic Con International, July 20-24 2022.
Though not formally exhibiting this year, Vault Comics will be attending San Diego Comic Con as a kickoff to a packed “Return To Conventions” programming season, and to continue celebrating Vault’s 5-Year Anniversary.
As part of the SDCC convention programming, Vault will be co-hosting signings with We Can Be Heroes (Booth #1901) throughout the weekend debuting the *exceedingly rare* convention-exclusive cover of the record-breaking MINDSET #1 (featuring never-before-seen cover art by Liana Kangas). The Kangas MINDSET #1 cover will be limited to 50 copies available at the show.
Mindset #1 Exclusive Signings:
We Can Be Heroes Booth #1901
In addition, Vault will have exclusive giveaways, and several other surprises in store for attendees throughout the convention. To participate, attendees and fans of Vault Comics should follow along on Twitter and Instagram, and make sure they’ve got notifications turned on.
