From MonkeyBrain Comics and the creative team of writer Ryan Ferrier and artist Valentin Ramon is the comic D4VE. It follows a former defense-bot who’s in the middle of a midlife crisis. With a dead end job and a yearning for his glory days, D4VE is more than happy to jump into action when the Earth is invaded after centuries of peace. With the first issue released on Comixology in November, D4VE follows up with a second issue full of dark humor, great sci-fi concepts, and big personality.
The arrival of a new threat to Earth and D4VE’s new chance to do something big at his job just so happen to coincide. All the while D4VE dreams of his former glory, only to be brought back to how mundane his life is by his unruly new son and his wife leaving him. When the new visitors finally arrive and the rest of the robots on Earth are losing it, D4VE just might be able to find something that he needs desperately.
Writer Ryan Ferrier easily imbues D4VE and the odd robotic world that he lives in with very human qualities. D4VE, like most of us, feels a bit lost and yearns for better days. Unlike most of us, his better days were spent killing aliens and defending the Earth. There’s a great sense of dark humor mixed with fantastic sci-fi concepts. Ferrier’s often hilarious story and dialogue make the personal feel of the story all the more impacting as D4VE begins to feel very much like one of us.
Valentin Ramon’s artwork brings D4VE to a whole other level. His ability to have characters without proper facial features emote in such a succinct and easily understandable way is amazing. The design work put into D4VE and his fellow robots, as well as the aliens, is fantastic and really helps to flesh out the world that these robots have constructed for themselves. D4VE’s daydreams wouldn’t be near as sad/fun if it weren’t for Valentin’s art, nor would the hilarious real-world situations be half as funny.
D4VE continues to be one of the best digital comics around. Ferrier’s darkly humorous, yet personal story about a bored robot hits a chord with many, all while Ramon’s art makes the story as a whole just so immensely enjoyable. Great art and a fantastic concept deliver one of the most unique and human books around. It’s probably the best book I never knew I needed. Issues one and two can both be purchased on Comixology for just 99¢ each.
Script: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Parental Concern: Probably for mature readers. Cussing, mature situations, and “vajazzle” gets used, which may be a bad word?
