The city would build a race of worker robots
to perform all the manual labor. To dig the ditches,
sweep the streets, haul the trash. The prototype was
awe-inspiring. A Michelangeloian specimen of mechanical
man. The program was a bold and ground-breaking
stride into the future. But true to big city politics and
cost cutting beaurocratic red tape, the mass production
contract was given to the lowest bidder. Corners were
cut, and instead of manufacturing a tireless, mechanized,
autonomous work force, the company spat out an
army of lazy, stupid robots. The project was discontinued,
abandoned as a failure. The expectation of them getting
any work done has long since been thrown out the
window due to their incompetence and irrational sense
of entitlement. Now this sub-culture of slacker robots
make up the city’s new minority group. They’re a drain
on the economy and an eyesore on the landscape. The
humans have a word used to describe these mechanical
losers. An ugly and incendiary word.
SHMOBOTS
A graphic novel from BOOM! Studios available at bookstores worldwide (and the internet galaxy wide).
Written by Adam Rifkin
Art by Les Toil
"Over the years there have been so many stories about robots that I didn't think there could possibly be a new angle. Boy, was I wrong! Once you read "Shmobots," by the clever writer/artist team of Adam Rifkin and Les Toil, with a surprise on almost every page, you'll never look at robots the same way again!"--Stan Lee
REVIEWSThis hilarious graphic novel shows a futuristic society where robots were created to do the dirty work, only they were built by the lowest bidder, creating a race of metallic slackers-the shmobots. The art (like the cars) has a '70s feel of hotel sleaze and cop drama. The humor is prurient, the subject matter is adult, but what makes it nifty is the whacked-out camaraderie of the four sentient, male beings. A killer's on the loose, but they're more concerned with TV. "Corroded bee-otch!!" Rusty yells at a robot prostitute who spurns them. It's total I-don't-care culture, and Miles, as the one who is supposed to grow up, can't. Meanwhile, Rusty, in his halfhearted attempts to keep the group together, does mature (a bit)...the plot whips along and delivers some dastardly fun.
Publishers Weekly
Shmobots is really an awesome read. From it’s real life dialogue to it’s philosophy. Even the art in this is clean, thorough, and inventive….sometimes a little on the creepy side. (and I don’t mean scary creepy, but more like “Whoa they really put that in there†creepy.) This comic will definitely get you thinking a little about, “If robotics ever get this advanced is this how it would be?†Plus sitting on top of all of that there’s a plot, and little details to everything that keep you wondering and hooked to this fantastic book. Once again another soon to be classic that I’m sure we’ll see a movie for from one of the big CGI movie makers in the next few years. Until then however enjoy this book, absorb it, and then talk amongst yourselves.
Projectfanboy.com