In and around other projects over the course of the past few years, Transformers artist Livio Ramondelli has been working on a six-issue, 135-page sci-fi action mini-series about a mismatched group of robots. Having finished writing and drawing The Kill Lock, he pitched the idea to IDW. The series has officially launched. The first issue is a lot of fun. Ramondelli is a very entertaining storyteller who is working with a very sharp fusion of art and writing. The cast of characters is psychologically and physiologically diverse. A group of four androids have been cast together with the common cause of survival. 

An artisan-class robot is having a drink at a bar when he casually goes to work on a robot sitting next to him. He’s disgusted by the ugliness of the bot sitting next to him, so he disengages its sight and voice. He probably would have done more had he not been hauled out of a bar by a cohort who takes him and a shiny, new juvenile model to see the fourth member of their group: The Wrath. All four of the robots know that they’ve done something wrong. The authorities have exiled the four and linked them together by a Kill Lock. If one of them dies, all four of them die. It doesn’t matter if they’re right next to each other or on different planets. Artisan thinks he might have a lead on how to disable the lock, but they’re all going to have to work together. 

“Excuse me,” Artisan says, “But that is the most fucked up face I’ve ever seen.” It’s a hell of an opening line. Artisan makes a strong first impression in an ensemble of four robots who are all quite distinct and appealing. Artisan is a sociopath. Wrath comes across as a devoutly religious warrior who is wracked with guilt over whatever it was that he’d done. The world is seen through the eyes of the kid, who provides a really nice opportunity for Ramondelli to deliver essential particulars about the sci-fi world he’s developing without getting too bogged down in exposition and world-building. It’s a very sharp debut for a very promising new mini-series. 

Ramondelli’s character design is impressive. None of the leading ensemble have anything in the way of facial expressions, but he manages to make the four strikingly expressive. Wrath is a towering soldier robot with a glowing Russian cross-like display on his face reminiscent of the helmet of an ancient paladin. Artisan has a face like a double edge razor blade, which suits the personality of someone who would literally dissect his co-workers to see what makes them tick. The initial action takes place on a snowy planet out in the middle of nowhere. The frigid feel of flakes falling in a snowy waste gives a sharp visceral contrast to the shiny surface and glowing eyes of the ensemble. When the action asserts itself on the page, Ramondelli makes it look beautifully brutal. It’s a compelling visual package.

The basic premise of the series is deliciously simple. The title device takes away all of the usual problems that usually go along with a diverse group of characters who typically wouldn’t want to hang out together. Questionable motivations for remaining together are dispatched right away, allowing Ramondelli to dive right into the adventure once the initial premise is outlined. It’s a quick intro to what promises to be a really, really fun series.

Grade: B