NYC Mech- Beta Love

i ran into my man Miles Gunther (who, 'longside his buddy Ivan Brandon, writes NYC Mech for Image Comics) today, intent on catching up with him, and finding out what he's up to... he gave me the issues i was missing from the NYC Mech mini, Beta Love drawn by the phenominal Andy Macdonald, with covers by Eric Canete (cover to #1 seen here). and lemme say, this mess is the BOMB (i just got to the end of #4 of 6, and i'm savoring it, cousin)!

i readily admit it: NYC mech is one of those books that i was intimidated by at first... it's deep: according to miles, the book is "not science fiction", but it takes place in a new york city that is full of robots, for no apparent reason at all... it's sort of a crime book (closest thing i can think of is lapham's Stray Bullets), with a huge cast of characters, all of whom live (and many of whom DIE) in... (wait for it) New York City. it's gritty, funny, and chock full o' robots! i imagine the use of robots for people is an allegory or metaphor of some sort (actually the root for the word robot means "SLAVE")... but hey! don't crush your brain, cousin! just get into the raw dialogue and finely dressed robots doing bad things!
In Beta Love, the decidedly dangerous street diva- Nika- is back, gettin' her Love on with the unwitting sweethearted bus driver, Quentin. He seems a normal enough cat, but falling for Nika threatens to drag him into her life of raw-dogged, wild-out criminal activities... the book's hot! Ivan and Miles are writing this twisted love story so well, shifting from danger to tenderness to foreshadows of impending doom so quickly and frequently it'll snap that neck, son!

the art, by Andy Macdonald takes full advantage of the visual interest you can create using robots for anything from a seemingly pointless interlude (like the one seen here), to a love scene (yeah, i said robot love scene!). whenever i feel like i'm used to the level of craftsmanship and skill in andy's work, i turn a page and he surprises me with his power over the page!
there are currently two NYC Mech collections available, but Miles said he wasn't sure if Beta Love would be collected. you should definitely get your hands on this story, though... holler at'chour comic shop to track down the individual issues (and get the nifty guest pin-ups with 'em!) so you won't have to wait!

i'll make an honest effort to get at Miles and sit down and interview 'im about his new zombie/samurai story (nope. not kidding) project and other news, until then slide over to the NYC mech message board and geek out...

holla!
samax.