Alex is a successful single man living with a tech driven lifestyle in Sunnyvale, California. His brain is connected to Prime Wave, a system that allows him to control the things around him by thought and voice commands. (ie: he can make phone messages play, or television programs go on and off).
His grandma lives with a much younger, handsome android, an X5, that is so human-like it’s required to show a branding on it’s wrist. She encourages Alex to order one for himself. He’s offended by the proposition, still hoping to find love the organic way. He comes home to find that she has gifted him a X5 and his opinion on the matter soon changes.
Alex finds that he enjoys the android’s company but wishes that she could have independent thought and free will. The magic of this book comes not only in the slowly unfurling and beautifully paced narrative by Sarah Vaughn, but also in the questions that it offers to readers. Would you want someone (or something), to partner with that would love you unconditionally if it wasn’t genuine love? Should you be connected to a Prime Wave system for your convenience if it might be at the expense of your privacy? What would you risk to give independence to an android.
The book is also speckled with humor as Alex’s friends react to his new housemate and the number of calories that the androids must consume (although they look gloriously fit), far exceeds what Alex and other humans can eat to stay healthy.
The illustrations by Jonathan Luna are nothing short of radiant. The plasticity perfection of the androids is well mated with the slightly foppish hair of the humans. the color palette is expansive and yet somehow muted to appealing tones which broaden the scope of the illustrations.
This is a slowly unwinding story but this first volume is an incredible platform to build a series which will keep readers waiting for their next Alex + Ada fix.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Pub Date: July 16, 2014
ISBN: 1632150069
Page Count: 128 Pages
Publisher: Image Comics
*Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
HipMamaJenn 