 |
 |
|
||||
 |
|
|||||
 |
|
        |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
||||
 |
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
 |
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
 |
|
|
|
GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS Written by Stuart Moore "When you don't want to use nukes, you use bio-weapons! And when you don't want to use bio, you use chemical! And when you don't even wanna to go that far- you use Giant Robot Warriors." In an alternate 2002, Rufus Hirohito is the star player in the US government's Giant Robot Warriors division - not that he and his team actually have a finished, working robot that the president could drop on an unsuspecting country. But that's just what the President has in mind - he wants Hirohito's robot to lead an assault on the Middle Eastern nation of Paraqan. Why? Well, er… they've got a giant robot too! When I was but a wee lad of eight years old, and reeling from the Challenger tragedy (hey, that was a BIG DEAL back then), I briefly wondered, Transformers fan that I am, how cool it might have been if Optimus Prime and the Autobots had flown up and saved the shuttle at the last second. Then I started thinking a little more about that, and what it really would be like if giant robot warriors were stalking the earth. The picture that formed in my head was quite…chaotic. I'm now a wee lad of twenty-six, still eagerly anticipating the release of the third volume of TRANSFORMERS: THE WAR WITHIN (but none of the James McDonough sludge - Christ, I've got standards) and I enjoy the occasional giant robot anime, and yet, the intellectual half of my brain wants a SERIOUS giant robot story. I know, I know; that trick is for kids, but I've always wished an enterprising writer could mine something else from the genre besides well-done (or in most cases horrifically done) adolescent entertainment. Why? Just because, I suppose. Former DC, Helix, Vertigo, and Marvel Knights editor Stuart Moore has answered the call with the aptly titled GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS, a graphic novel published late last year by AiT/PlanetLar. It's a surprisingly light satire of the mood this country's been in since 9/11 and the comic consequences of American pride that may seem a bit too cheery for the current climate, but nonetheless is an entertaining and quite insightful satire. Moore takes care to ground his story in a workable reality- it takes place in October 2002, just one year shy of 9/11, in an America not at war but not exactly preoccupied with the possibility of it. A perfect place, perhaps, for Rufus Hirohito's star to be on the rise- he's the resident super-genius of the G.R.W. division. Moore deftly establishes the reality of the G.R.W. program in just the first few pages - it was first established in the 50s, has been around an in the public consciousness fairly frequently, and like everything in the infotainment era its existence has been co-opted by the media establishment as just another spun entertainment. Moore doesn't go for the cheap geek gags- there's not an Otacon in sight, because the reality of it is that a guy like Hirohito would have to be presentable for the cameras so a budget for such a program would have to be "sold" to Americans so that Congress would approve the budget. Rufus has become the celebrity figurehead. Instead of some specialized "geek nirvana" with a big base, a gruff commander, some cute big breasted girls with glasses, a suave a leader, and a ragtag group of misfits, the G.R.W. division is crammed into a New York City office building and looks, well, like a lot of government projects- underfunded, understaffed, and barely held together with scotch tape. Rufus Hirohito is a very well drawn protagonist- while he's essentially well-intentioned, he's a bit of an asshole too, and by the end of the book I wasn't quite sure if I liked him all that much, to Moore's credit. Agent McManus, the CIA agent who informs Hirohito of the President's plan, comes off as the typical cold CIA stereotype, but soon reveals she's a closet idealist. Hirohito and McManus' clever verbal parrying as they flirt with each other is one of the book's little pleasures. I think that's one of the more interesting aspects of Giant Robot Warriors - no one in the story is wholly noble or patriotic, from the overworked members of the G.R.W. to the dictators of Paraqan - they're all trying to hold down their jobs and stay in their comfort zone, rather than trying to affect real change. The lone exception to this is Moore's President figure, a ridiculously broad caricature of President Bush that seems too silly, but his behavior pays off in a surprising way in the latter half of the book. Ryan Kelly, an artist who's worked on titles such as BOOKS OF MAGIC and LUCIFER for Vertigo, steps out of the fantasy realm and into the realm of Tom Clancy piss, taking GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS with him. His artwork is chaotic and bizarre, but for the most part fits the satire of the script, though it's better suited for the first half of the book, as Rufus scrambles to get his robot together, than the second half, where the script shifts from comedy to action as America's Giant Robot Warrior clashes with Paraqan's Giant Robot Warrior. The graphic novel's big set piece, the battle between the opposing G.R.W.s, is staged chaotically, which works for and against the narrative - Kelly ramps up his exaggerated style to the point where it's difficult to tell what exactly is going on, but it's also in keeping with the stitched-together nature of the battle itself - these guys are working on something that's barely functional as it is, and Moore throws in a nifty third act twist that gives our heroes another ball to juggle in the air while they're fighting for their lives in the desert. Kelly's art seems to almost break down, and it's difficult to tell what's exactly happening during the battle without a very close reading. But for the most part, Kelly's artwork gets the job done. In the book's afterword, Moore discusses candidly, and at length, how the world around him changed form when he first wrote the original script back in October 2002, when war in Iraq wasn't quite the brutal reality it is now. The book was written with the initial spirit and good will that had taken the country after 9/11, "A cautionary tale, but a light hearted one… infused with the underlying belief that we can work together for a better future." Moore ultimately made the decision not to make changes in the script, and make the book darker, more reflective of the place America is in right now. And I think he made the right decision, for despite the fact that it's not a brutal beating, the satire in Giant Robot Warriors really manages to sting in today's climate. Sure, it's an ultimately hopeful tale, but the people that populate it, while basically trying to do the right thing, aren't trying very hard. It could be argued that Hirohito gets out of the jam he's in just as much out of pure luck as he does out of skill. Everyone tries to get by on good old American know how, but is that really enough in today's world? The problem is that far too many of our leaders just think it is, that being American means automatically good, or in the right. The President wants his robot to invade Paraqan because, well, dammit, that's what Americans are supposed to do, right? Play hero? The dark side of GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS is that Rufus and his friends- especially evidenced by the final pages- are caught up in the righteousness too, a little bit. And the way the country's going today, We need to be a hell of a lot smarter than that. GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS is a swell, effective satire that announced Moore as a writer to watch, and another feather in AiT/PlanetLar's cap of varied, interesting graphic novels that are the true "mainstream" of comics. I'm definitely looking forward to Moore's next project, and I recommend you all give GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS a shot - it's the one book featuring cartoony metal beasts pounding the hell out of each other you won't be slightly embarrassed to own. RECOMMENDED |
