In the future humanity has been wiped out. Their excess and lack of caring for the planet has destroyed them. Robots have risen in their place to rule and care for the planet. But, even robots have work they don’t want to do. So, humans have been grown to perform the labor the robots no longer feel like doing. But, enslaved individuals strive for freedom. Metal Society #1 pits two warriors, a human and a robot, in an MMA-style battle to prove… something. That part’s not totally clear but the comic’s overall themes and focus is.
Zack Kaplan takes us into another sci-fi world using its setting to explore our own society. Fear of replacement by tools, yearning for freedom, choice, it’s all here in a first issue that’s packed with a lot to chew on and debate about. The comic is both breezy entertainment and dense debate at the same time. It’s rather impressive in that way.
As a fan of MMA, I’m super excited to see the actual fight to come but the first issue is a lot of setup introducing us to the world, the conflict, and the combatants. It does a solid job of building it all up delivering an easy to understand cause and a simple and different outlet to see that play out in. I finished the issue and immediately wanted to read more.
The art by Guilherme Balbi with color by Marco Lesko and lettering by Troy Peteri is fantastic. There’s a futuristic dystopian aspect about it that doesn’t feel depressing. The comic is definitely the future but it doesn’t deliver a neon skyline like so many. Instead, it’s foreign and familiar at the same time. And that futurescape is mixed with the grounded reality of the humans which reminded me a lot of the shanty town in John Carpenter’s They Live. The clash between worlds is clear and interesting and it too adds some depth to the debate and challenges the reader to reflect on our own world and reality.
Metal Society #1 is a hell of a start. It does what good sci-fi does, entertain and also explore our own world. But that exploration is even more interesting in that it takes on so much to reflect upon and forcing the reader to think and chew on their own. Wear a mouth guard, this looks like it’s going to be one hell of a read and fight to come.
Story: Zack Kaplan Art: Guilherme Balbi
Color: Marco Lesko Letterer: Troy Peteri
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
