Creative Staff:
Story: Matt D. Wilson
Art: Kevin Warren
Letters: Dylan Todd
What They Say:
While a funeral takes place on the other side of town, Copernicus and his by-necessity compatriot, a robot crime boss who now lives in the body of one of his human enforcers, pay a house call.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Who’s the silver private dick that’s literally a machine?
(Copernicus!)
You’re damn right.
Who is the robot that would risk his bolt-studded neck for his brother robot and man?
(Copernicus!)
Can ya dig it?
Who’s the automaton that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about?
(Copernicus!)
He’s a complicated conglomeration of hardware and software and no one understands him but his debugger!
(Copernicus Jones)
As you might have guessed, Copernicus Jones is a hardboiled robot private dick living in a futuristic city where humans and robots live together in somewhat harmony. Currently he’s working on a case involving the death of a much-loved friend to robots and humans, Harold Windstone. Windstone’s death is somehow related to the death and resurrection of a robot crime boss whose consciousness now resides in the body of a human. In this issue Copernicus and the now be-meated boss must break into the Windstone estate to search for clues.
Can ya dig it?
It’s a pretty basic story despite the futuristic trappings and the robot detective. In fact, basic kind of sums up this entire issue. The plot is solid, if a bit underdeveloped, as is the art. The character designs are pretty straightforward and nicely cartoony and the panel placement is fine, but there’s very little here to make this issue stand out. I could nitpick it, saying that it doesn’t do enough to explore what could be a potentially rich and fascinating world of robots and humans cohabitating, but that’s not really what this story is about, so that would be unfair.
This is intended to be a light, fun story that plays with the conventions of the noir and science fiction genres, and a great deal of the fun in reading it derives from the sometimes silly ways they intersect, such as Copernicus wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora, or the vaguely 1950’s sensibility to the character and setting designs. There is a definite sense of whimsy and play here and it’s that sense that makes it worth reading. However, it wasn’t quite enough for me.
That said, the one area where the comic does do well is in the character design. Matt Groening once described his art style as being purposefully simplistic. His reasoning was that the simpler the character design, the easier it would be to tweak it. This is why a single line under Homer’s eyes can impart a great deal of information about what he’s feeling. It’s a deceptively simplistic style that contains the potential for a great deal of sophistication if one knows how to manipulate it, and that same style aesthetic is being used here by Kevin Warren. I love the design of Copernicus. While his body type is basic robot, his face is surprisingly expressive and conveys a great deal of information about his character. It’s dented, worn, and the left eyebrow constantly droops over his eye, making him look like he just finished going five rounds with Apollo Creed. The fact that he keeps his face that way illustrates that he either doesn’t care about how he looks or he doesn’t have the money to do so, both of which speak volumes about his character.
In Summary:
I wish I could say I enjoyed this comic more than I did. I love genre mashups, and there are times when the art style is used to good effect; however, there just isn’t enough to truly capture my interest. Everything appears to be on the surface, and the whimsy of the setting and overall plot concept, along the fun of the genre interplay, only takes it so far. It might be that this is just a so-so issue coming after three great ones, but considering this is the first Copernicus Jones comic I’ve read, I can’t say that it makes me want to read more. Not recommended, ya dig?
Grade: C
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Monkeybrain Comics
Release Date: June 25th, 2014
MSRP: $0.99
