Robotika (1)

By Alex Sheikman

Niko, the Steampunk Samurai, is in Her Majesty's service. But is he a faithful royal bodyguard or a for-hire yojimbo? A perfect warrior or a soulless weapon? Follow Niko on his journey of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932386211
• ISBN13: 9781932386219
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Archaia
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.3" x 0.6" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

A TERRIFIC hard-cover comic!

How good is this book? Honestly, it's one of the most gorgeous comics I've ever seen. I put it up next to my copy of PRIDE OF BAGHDAD and fit right it. The ROBOTIKA hardcover looks THAT good. And reviewers have noticed. Every single review I've seen for this series notes that Alex is a special talent who could easily make it at any of the bigger comic companies. But Alex wants to make it one his own terms, and with ROBOTIKA, I think he has. It's hard to argue that you've not yet arrived when your work is showcased in a major hardcover from one of today's hottest second-tier publishers. Where critics have occasionally come down against Robotika is in its writing. There are some valid criticisms there, but the story is still weird, violent, and visionary enough for even the most discerning steampunk sci fi fans. ROBOTIKA reads a little more like a pair of related short stories more than it does a single four-issue story, but so what? That's hardly a killer, especially in this format where the whole story is collected in one gorgeous volume. Unfortunately, the odds are pretty good that your local comic shop didn't order this book. That's too bad. This book is well worth your time and as well illustrated as anything on the market.

A brilliant work, a fine collection

I think that the brilliant quality of format of this book cleary is in response to wonderful comic it holds within the pages. The art is amongst the finest in the comic book world, Alex Sheikman is an award winning artist, and the story is absolutely unique. There are quirks and missteps but overall this is a fun story, done wonderfully and is offered to the reader at a fair price for such a good comic story. If I were to create a rating system of 1-10 with 10 being the best The Art would get a 10 The Story/Writing would get a 8.5 The format would get a 10. that is a pretty fine tally. It is a pretty fine book.

Sci-fi Samurai!

This was a great book, a futuristic look at traveling samurai. Sheikman integrates old and new ideas into a sci-fi extravaganza with a feudal feel, and the art, layouts, and even lettering are all inventive and exciting. This kind of freshness doesn't come along very often in comics, and it's great to see it in such a nice hardcover package. Well worth your money.

An impressive artistic vision

[4.5 stars, actually] Alex Sheikman has crafted a visually stunning (props to Joel Chua for his outstanding color work) sci-fi spaghetti western that ultimately serves as an entertaining and thought-provoking introduction to three very intriguing characters -- the silent swordsman (samurai? ronin?) Niko; the enigmatic Cherokee Geisha; and the two-gun toting, cybernetic eye-having Bronski -- and an equally intriguing "far future" where technology has run amok. The four collected issues tell two separate but connected stories, both centering on Niko, while offering a peek at a much larger world that is tantalizingly full of storytelling potential. There are two backup stories included that add some depth to Cherokee Geisha and Bronski's characters, and the Steampunk Samurai Sketchbook offers a look at Sheikman's amazing pencil work. This is an absolutely beautiful hardcover edition -- Archaia Studios Press clearly doesn't know how to roll any other way -- and Robotika is very different from anything I've ever read, an impressive artistic vision that mixes several familiar elements into something very unique. It is, I daresay, an ambitious masterpiece -- not without its flaws, but impressive, nevertheless -- and highly recommended.