Why We Call Them Robots

By Sarah Becan
www.jakze.com

If you've read this site for more than five minutes you know that I Love (capital intentional) monsters. However it may just be possible that you were unaware I also Love robots, it's just that there seem to be more monsters in the zines and minicomics I seem to review than there are robots.

This comic is all about robots! Hurray

Becan tells about the origin of the word "robot" and how it came to mean what it does today. She tells of Karel Capek, a writer from Eastern Europe who wrote the now-famous play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), how he created the new meaning of the word, a description of the plot of the play (I really need to get around to reading it at some point), and information about Capek's life and death (he was "vehemently anti-Nazi", hurray!).

The art is mostly photos that have had their contrast increased so there is only black and white visible. It works for a comic such as this which is basically just short bio about a specific person, though I've found photo comics to be annoying sometimes when used to tell narratives. Also, I'm not totally enamored with the design of Unit 09011-2, but it's still better than all those fleshy meat bags.