Cyborg, Vol. 1: The Imitation of Life

Cyborg (2016)

by John Semper Jr., Will Conrad (Illustrator), Paul Pelletier (Illustrator)

Cyborg is a member of the Justice League. He is one of Earth’s greatest heroes. But is Cyborg really who he thinks he is? Find out in CYBORG VOL. 1: THE IMITATION OF LIFE, a part of DC Rebirth!

When a shocking discovery about his own origin makes Victor Stone question everything he thought he knew about his identity and his humanity, it seems Cyborg might be more machine than man after all. But if that’s the case, which side will Cyborg take when a mysterious cybernetic entity decides to start a war between man and machines?

Now, the people Victor Stone cares about the most are caught up in the crossfire, and the choices he makes may mean the difference between the survival of mankind and an artificially intelligent future. Can Cyborg display the heart of a hero...or will he be torn in two by his dual nature?

Cyborg is reborn for DC REBIRTH in this great new starting point graphic novel, thanks to animation writer John Semper, Jr. (Spider-Man: The Animated Series) and artists including Paul Pelletier (AQUAMAN), Will Conrad (NIGHTWING), Timothy Green II (RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS) and more! Collects CYBORG #1-5 and CYBORG: REBIRTH #1.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 7, 2017

About the author

Emmy-nominated, Harvard University graduate John Semper Jr. has been developing, writing and producing television and film for over forty years, with a special emphasis on children’s television and animation.

His extensive and extremely varied writing and story-editing (head writer) credits include multiple episodes of such classic and well-known animated shows as Scooby-Doo, Smurfs, The Jetsons (Hanna-Barbera Productions); My Little Pony, The Moondreamers (Marvel Productions); Duck Tales (Disney); Alvin and the Chipmunks (NBC Productions); and many others. He produced, story-edited, and wrote the Fraggle Rock animated series for Jim Henson Productions and he co-created the original, live-action Dog City, also for Jim Henson.

Mr. Semper is probably best known for his work as both producer and head writer on Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the hit action-adventure animated series for Fox Television, based upon Marvel’s pre-eminent super-hero character. He subsequently received an Emmy nomination for his work at Warner Brothers Television Animation as story-editor for the successful series, Static Shock.

He has also branched into writing comic books, handling a 19-issue story arc for Cyborg as part of the "Rebirth" of all of the DC Comics super-hero line-up.

Mr. Semper’s feature film writing credits include the live-action comedy Class Act, released by Warner Brothers. Afficionados of Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki have appreciated Mr. Semper’s English language scripts for the Disney-released feature films, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Mr. Semper’s pre-school children’s television show credits include the puppet series Puzzle Place for PBS, for which he was also a co-creator, and the long-running, popular Jay Jay the Jet Plane on PBS, for which he served as writer, executive story-editor, and producer. Several of his stories featuring the Jay Jay characters have been adapted into children's books.

In the interactive computer software field, Mr. Semper has written for Disney (“The Hercules Interactive Storybook”), Knowledge Adventure (“The X-Men Cartoon Maker” and “The Spider-man Cartoon Maker”), Broderbund and LucasArts Entertainment. Mr. Semper also worked personally with George Lucas developing projects for the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Mr. Semper indulged his love of Sherlock Holmes mysteries by writing and illustrating The Singular Affair of the Missing Ball, the first adventure in a new, full color picture-book series featuring the “world-famous” canine detective, Sherlock Whippet; his companion and biographer, Dr. Dogson; and, of course, the nefarious villain, Professor Murray R. Catty, notorious cat burglar of London. This humorous parody of Victorian “penny-dreadful” dime novels is a treat for readers of all ages who enjoy both Sherlock Holmes and absurd humor. Details are available at the Sherlock Whippet website where a selection of illustrations are on view.

Early in his career, he had the pleasure of directing animation icon Walter Lantz in a live-action and animated clip compilation short film that Mr. Semper wrote for Universal Studios/Walter Lantz Productions. The film, entitled, Walter, Woody and the World of Animation, played for one year in a special exhibit devoted to Mr. Lantz on the Universal Studios Tour. It was then released by Universal for sale on videocassette and a copy of the film was donated by Mr. Lantz to the Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. Semper also was a host and producer of the Experience Talks radio show on KPFK-FM Los Angeles and other Pacifica Network stations from 2012 through 2019. He interviewed guests such as actors George Takei, Kathy Garver, and George Chakiris; author Charles Phoenix; musician Jerry Lawson; and many more creative people.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my gaaawwwwd, I can’t get over how tedious this book was! Seriously, it shouldn’t take two weeks to read a superhero comic but this was so shitty I kept finding reasons to read other stuff over this garbage!

Nobody’s favourite Justice League member, Vic Stone aka Cyborg, fights robotic monsters. One of them’s called Kilg%re which takes the prize for worst-named villain of the year! How do you say that name? In my head it’s “Kilgore” for readability but I guess the way it’s written is “Kilgpercentagere”? Awful! We also get Cyborg’s dreary origin story again. Yay…

Vic is such a dull character. Some of the blame lies with writer John Semper Jr but I’ve read another Cyborg book before, David Walker’s failed attempt, and that was awful too. Some characters just aren’t meant to have solo titles and Cyborg is definitely one of them! None of the characters here are remotely compelling though and the blind black jazz guy was an embarrassing cliché.

At its core, the book has an interesting philosophical quandary: is Vic a human or a machine that thinks it’s a human? Shame it’s not addressed! In its place is the usual superhero crap of hero punching villain, snore. One forgettable storyline, when Vic’s software is compromised by a virus and he starts attacking ordinary people, even makes the argument, inadvertently, that Vic is more of a liability in general than a useful hero!

Cyborg, Volume 1: The Imitation of Life was overwritten and beyond boring. Purely for being so monotonous and taking me the longest to read, this is the worst of the Rebirth bunch - and it hasn’t been a stellar line either! I genuinely don’t know who would find this drivel worth reading. Unless you’re looking for a sleeping aid, don’t do it!

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Six issues of Cyborg moping around wondering whether he's man or machine. Sounds exciting, right?There's some mystery bad guy who's replaced Cyborg's dad but he doesn't do anything. Almost half the book is Cyborg's dreams or Cyborg trapped in his head while he fights off a computer virus. This may be the most uninteresting book DC has ever produced. Paul Pelletier's art is really wasted on this book.

Received an advance copy from DC and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few good things about The Imitation of Life -- Vic 'Cyborg' Stone jumping into action to assist the police in stopping an armored-car heist / pursuit; Stone's two conversations with an old, blind jazz musician who offers some kind words of wisdom; and the harsh nightmare sequence when Cyborg witnesses the Justice League perish in battle. Then the book hits the half-way mark . . .

The 'man vs. machine' inner-turmoil gets old really fast, the main plot - featuring the awkwardly-named villain "Kilg%re" - drags on, and the artwork style abruptly changes for the worst in the last chapter. Maybe Cyborg works better as an ensemble player (Teen Titans or JLA) than as a solo hero.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the few annoying things about collected volumes is when they suddenly switch artists between issues. What's that like for people who read issue-to-issue?

[Koen · Rating 1 out of 5]

OH...my...gods... this was just terrible :/
Didn't like 1 thing about it:
- worst story with worstnamed character ever LOL
- toooootally not funny
- lame action
- and to top it off: how lousy was that art??

Wow, this can easily be categorised as "worst comic ever"

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay let's get this out of the way. I am very disappointed with the artwork of the last two issues of the first volume for the Cyborg DC Rebirth series. Paul Pelletier and Will Conrad's illustrations on the first four issues are really good and the coloring is done well. I feel like the books should have been delayed so that Conrad or Pelletier could continue the story with John Semper Jr. Because of the art on the latter issues of the series I ended up not liking this book less than the DC You run for Cyborg by David F. Walker. I mean DC publishing seemed more serious about making Cyborg more top tier because Walker was partner with the phenomenal Ivan Reis. I feel like DC needs an artist who understands robotics or a great science fiction artist or painter on this book. Technology and where it is going is what works for a character like Cyborg. Cyborg as a character has so much potential. I wish DC Comics would team him up with other technological based characters like Steel, Blue Beetle or maybe even the Metal Men. Semper Jr. does a good job with the dialogue and I was interested in the motivations of the main antagonist. Semper Jr. also takes the time to build up Detroit and an interesting supporting cast around Cyborg. Ultimately the thing that really keeps me interested in this series is Semper's focus on the internal battle between whether Vic is still human or is he just a machine. David Walker explored this as well with his run with the character but he focused more on evolving Cyborg and his technology. Which I thought was a good direction. I am not sure how I feel about the female Cyborg. I am just gonna wait an see how it pans out. I hope fans will continue to give Cyborg a chance and that DC Comics expands use of the character besides playing in the background and I hope to see him crossover with the Titans regularly since he was originally a Teen Titan. If your interested in more books focused on Cyborg read Justice League, Volume 5: Forever Heroes, Justice League, Volume 1: Origin, Cyborg, Vol. 1: Unplugged, Cyborg, Vol. 2, &Teen Titans Spotlight: Cyborg.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cyborg finally rates his own title. While there are some interesting moments in this book, overall it's pretty lackluster.

Storywise, we’ve got a slow build. Some mysterious entity is, with apparent nefarious intent, putting together a team of robot characters, and they're out to get Cyborg--whether to recruit him or to defeat him … it’s unclear. As of the end of this volume, their identity is still a mystery. Various operatives are sent. Fights happen. Cyborg mopes about whether or not he’s human. It's all pretty standard How To Write A Cyborg Superhero 101.

It doesn't help that the artwork keeps changing--once in mid-issue even. Clearly the book is having trouble keeping a creative team.

Although the action is all set in Detroit, there's very little sense of place. It could just as well be New York or St. Louis or Dallas or Seattle or anywhere for all I can tell. Every once in a while they throw in some recognizably Detroit street names, but no actual landmarks or anything. I get the feeling that none of the creators have actually been there, just Googled it.

Really, only two scenes stood out for me. One is in a jazz club, where Cyborg learns a little something about soul and humanity. Yeah, it's a bit of a cliche, but it's handled reasonably well. The other was more of a geek out moment where the mystery villain is speechifying and we see a series of video monitors with various DC robot characters visible on them, and I’m stupefied by how many I recognized …

I like some of the ideas here, but the execution leaves a great deal to be desired.

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rep: Black mc

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasnt sure about starting this series and this first volume did nothing to change that. The art was so uneven and alot of times messy. It works in a title like Harley Quinn but not for one of your JL main members. I'll probably try another volume but I dont have alot of hope.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does Cyborg have a navel? And do we need 140+ pages of him gazing into it?

Wake me up when something interesting happens.

[Nathaniel Darkish · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent Cyborg story-- some interesting twists and turns, and it leaves me wanting more. I'm really not sure about [spoiler] the idea of this leading into a female cyborg being made as well but I suppose they could do something interesting with that. I just get tired of so many female heroes just being the female analog to an already existing male character. [/spoiler]

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unresolved body-snatching, cheap JLA dream-sequence cross over, and the lazy, creatively bankrupt introduction of 'Exactly the Same... but a WOMAN' makes this a should-avoid rather than a good-read.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Cyborg, Volume 1: The Imitation of Life' has a clever title that has at least a couple different meanings.

Vic "Cyborg" Stone has a crisis of his very nature when he finds out some things about himself that had been hidden. He is also attacked by a villain named Kilg%re, which I just pronounced as Kilgore, so the name felt like a lame attempt at hacker-speak or something. Vic trouble getting along with his distant father, but his father is acting even more distant these days. Vic also finds himself infected with some malware which could be dangerous for himself and those around him.

I like this character, but it's hard to find interesting stories about him, including this one. It's not helped along by some of the mediocre art, especially in the last issue in the collection. There is some interesting things in this, and I'm looking forward to seeing Cyborg on the big screen, but this story left me underwhelmed.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't very thrilled at the beginning but then it grew more on me. Good introduction for people like me who know almost nothing about the character. But for the same reason, it was a bit disappointing at the start, since the backstory's pace is quite confusing: at some point, they use 2 sentences to explain loooots of things (in other words, to leave you even more confused if you're not familiar with certain concepts of his background). But in general an entertaining read!

[Tia MB · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 I'm new to reading comics and this comic was a great choice for me!! Black scientists, Black father and son relationship, a Detroit based story, conflict between the two sides of Victor Stone and the conflict between humanity & technology. I will be reading the rest of the volumes. And I bought this and the next two volumes at Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse, a black woman owned bookstore in Philadelphia, Pa https://amalgamphilly.com/

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.
Cyborg and his dad. Cyborg and his past.
A story of missed opportunities.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't terrible - Cyborg is being hunted by a robots first villain (never unmasked in the volume) while also spending a fair bit of time moping about whether he's human or not. The action sequences are okay, if a bit over-narrated. The nightmare sequences are much better than the real world ones, even if they lean a bit too heavily on cameos. There's some navel-gazing that actually works, although a focus on Detroit and its soul gets overused, even if the use of a blind Jazz man to tell it has its moments. The relationship between Vic, his father, and Sarah gets leaned on a lot, with some expected 'surprises' playing out.
The biggest knock I have against this volume is the art - the first half is very good, especially the color work on the dream sequences and the detail work throughout. But then issue three hits and the style goes from realistic to Justice League animated series style - it's a significant jolt and not a trade-up. Also, this volume ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger; the final issue really doesn't feel like it was part of the same storyline and didn't get resolved at all, so I'm surprised it was included here instead of in a second volume.
There's nothing particularly amazing here - lots of introspection and fantasy violence don't make for memorable books. But it's not outright bad either, which still puts it a step above a number of other Rebirth titles.

[Lateef Amodu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story covers Cyborg's origin (how he became who he is), his relationship with his mother and father and shows how he deals with being the human cybernetic hybrid he is. There's his relationship with his Dad's lab assistant, Sarah, which has a relevance to the story. There's also main antagonist (refers to himself as the father), whose history/identity is not quite revealed yet, so there's still an air of mystery to the character. The Justice League make a surreal appearance in this volume. Overall, I thought it was good story. There's enough depth for me to want to read the next volume.

The comic book is partitioned into four parts (chapters) and each part's artwork is different from each other (last part has two different artwork). The four parts range from realistic to a cartoon comic style. My favourite was the first part as it was more balanced. Generally, the artwork was okay.

[John Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victor Stone is Cyborg.
Teen Titan
Member of The Justice League
Hero.
But is he a man in a machine shell?
Or a machine that thinks it's a man?
He has to look deep inside himself to see if
he finds a soul or a hard drive.
All while battling threats that seem
to me monstrous versions of his own worst fears.
That he is just a machine, his humanity gone.
Which side of Victor will be there at the end?
Man or Machine?

[Adam Spanos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Six issues of Cyborg moping around wondering whether he's man or machine. Sounds exciting, right?There's some mystery bad guy who's replaced Cyborg's dad but he doesn't do anything. Almost half the book is Cyborg's dreams or Cyborg trapped in his head while he fights off a computer virus. This may be the most uninteresting book DC has ever produced. Paul Pelletier's art is really wasted on this book.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Po przeczytaniu kilku opinii o tym, jakim to Cyborg z DC Rebirth jest chłamem, obniżyłem swoje oczekiwania do zera i szykowałem już swoje oblicze z ciętym językiem, żeby w końcu zgnoić jakiś tytuł z tego okresu. I trzeba przyznać, że wraz z umykającymi stronami moje myślenie nieco się zmieniało, bo ja nie widzę tu kupy.

Jest coś innego. Tęsknota za dawnym życiem. Rozważania nad tym, czy nadal się jest człowiekiem. Poszukiwanie tego aspektu, który świadczy o duszy bohatera. I trzeba przyznać, że będą w skórze... w pancerzu Victora, sam pewnie miałbym takie myśli. Tyle, że ten pozytywny aspekt troszkę się oddalał, kiedy uświadomiłem sobie, że o tym samym traktował cykl o cybernetycznym członku Ligi Sprawiedliwości w New 52. Tam też przewodnim motywem było człowieczeństwo herosa.

Czułem zatem wtórność, ale momentami przyjemną, bo wątek niewidomego muzyka, który podnosi Cyborga na duchu jest naprawdę pokrzepiający, a rozciąga się on także na spotkanie z weteranami. W końcu sam Cyborg przeszedł piekło po stracie ciała na rzecz metalu. Podobały mi się też sekwencje akcji, gdzie Cyborg wykorzystuje swoje nowe dary i chociażby skanuje łapanych ludzi i nie tylko. Coś fantastycznego.

Mamy tu też zakulisowego przeciwnika, który celuje w Vica, ale trafia pośrednio także w jego ojca. Więcej nie zdradzę, bo jest to spory twist w środku historii. Mamy tylko nadzieję, że wyniknie z tego coś więcej, bo przeciwnik ma zaiste zaskakującą motywację. Inny przeciwnik, jaki pojawia się na łamach tego komiksu, jest nijaki Kilg%ore czy jakoś tak. Nie jest to co prawda odkrywczy charakter, ale sekwencje walki są naprawdę fajne.

Najgorzej prezentują mi się tutaj sekwencje koszmarów sennych, jakie trapią Vica. Heros kontra Liga Sprawiedliwości. Przewidywalny motyw, mało porywający. I będę zły, jak cały ten motyw przeciwnika rozstanie rozwiązany przez Sempera Jr. po macoszemu. Teraz czas na nieco słabszą stronę komiksu. Warstwę wizualną. O ile początek jest w miarę fajny, tak zamiana rysownika w końcowych zeszytach to był błąd. Niby to kreskówkowy sznyt, niby szczegółowy, ale... Zupełnie nie pasuje do postaci. Osobiście liczyłem na jakiś występ animków...

Cyborg, choć ma momenty wywołujące ziewanie, to zaskakująco mnie ubawił momentami, w których można złapać oddech pomiędzy akcją, a które zwyczajnie krzepią. Hejterom marki zaś radzę, posłuchajcie muzyki na żywo. Może Wam zejdzie para.

[ScarlettMi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time I've read much of Vic Stone/Cyborg outside of team books. He's always been an affable presence in the Titans/Teen Titans/Justice League, but I haven't really read any of his solo stories before. John Semper Jr. does a good job of having us jump right into his life. Aside from his father, I wasn't familiar with the other characters he was interacting with, so I've no idea if they were old characters or new creations of Semper.

The story that Semper is exploring is an interesting one. There are all kinds of issues related to identity that are being examined. Cyborg questions the nature of his own humanity, as he wonders how much is man and how much is machine. Semper also delves into Vic's life as a black man in Detroit dealing with police harassment during a pointed and well-written moment. (Seeing the threat assessment on his heads-up display of the various individuals he encounters says as much as the actual dialog in the issue.)

The art is, for the most part, really solid and works well with the story. Reading these issues in a collected edition did, however, make for a really jarring moment when there was a switch in artists. The fact that it came about in an issue that had a lot of dreamscape scenes did soften the blow somewhat. Still, there was a moment where I flipped to the next page and was startled by the contrast. The fact that I didn't really care for the new art made the change in style even more noticeable.

The only real criticism I have of the story would be how each individual issue ended with a really dated kind of cliffhanger. There was an understatement to a lot of the rest of the story but suddenly the final pages would become over the top and you could almost hear a hackneyed "dun-dun-dun" coming from somewhere. I get they need something of a cliffhanger to bring you over to the next issue, but these ones went a little too big.

I'm hoping that tendency to go over the top with the cliffhangers explains a bit of that final page of this volume, because I can't say that it left me really enthused for the next issue.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't like the slapstick humour associated with some of the superheroes, however, I can usually ignore it. It's one of the reasons I just can't seem to get into the Avengers' movies. I don't know if that is a Marvel thing, but it is one of the reasons I jumped into the DC world instead of Marvel.

This is my first volume on Cyborg, with my only previous exposure through other DC volumes I've read up to now in the rebirth series. I was on a pretty good sprint through many of the first and second volumes of the Rebirth series, but for some reason I read the first couple of issues of this volume and then let it sit for almost 2 months before coming back to it. Life's been busy, so any reading time I had was spent reading a novel. However, tonight seemed right and I blasted through the rest of the volume. The plot and characters grabbed me toward the latter half with a classic super powerful villain and a darker side to Cyborg; questioning his father's love and his own humanity. This is obviously going to be a theme going forward as the imposter that is now in place of his father starts wreaking havoc; the first of which ends the volume with the creation of a female version of Cyborg!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually a pretty fun read and I remember reading it at the time it was coming out so strangely feels nostalgic and its very fun, seeing how the writer does well to establish the origins of the character again and the threat of the technological villains is omni-present in the book and t can get mundane redoing the "machine/man" stories but its the drama here that gets the reader so engaged and then seeing his relationships with various people and like making Detroit a part of his character does wonder for the books and establishing a new cast of people, jazz music, the spirit of the city and what it means to be a black man in Detroit and USA at large, this was brilliantly written and I freaking love this book!

Books like these just makes me love comics all over again, and its so perfect in so many ways, new villains, new yet nostalgic concepts, love interests, forgotten memories and the drama from there and so many great villains and the lead character in the middle of it and it makes for a great concoction of a read! I highly recommend it!

P.S. The art starts off great but then there are new artists and it gets somewhat uneven so thats the only negative thing about the book I will say.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book started out okay, but went downhill pretty quickly. It's not all bad. The writing in particular did not appeal to me though. I felt like it fell back on some really bad tropes from superhero books, specifically bringing back villains thought dead and nonsense dream sequences. These elements could have been integrated so much better into the story. Instead it takes hold and goes over the top.

Having thought about this book compared to the very first volume of Teen Titans, it is interesting to see how some things have remained with the character. The relationship with his dad is fleshed out a bit more here. It manages to carry some of the struggle that existed between them from the beginning. I would have liked to have seen more of that emphasized, especially with numerous references to Cyborg's mother and the way her death created tension for him and his father.

There is certainly more of his background mentioned in this book, which should make it easier for new readers to get into it. It just falls short in a lot of the dialogue and the plot that it could easily turn someone off of the book. Mostly I enjoyed the art. There are instances where it is difficult to make out exactly what is going on. The times where it gets things right art wise far outweigh the moments that left me scratching my head. I like where this book was going. I'm not sure its enough for me to take a chance on the next volume though.

[Megan Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I won this through a giveaway for an honest review*

I've read several negative reviews of this Cyborg graphic novel and I have to highly disagree! I loved learning more about Victor Stone's backstory! The overall drawn style of the comic was an interesting way for the character.

Synopsis:
A machine called Malware busted into STAR labs with the intent to battle Cyborg. He had a message to send to him from his creator. The message was for Cyborg to join them in destroying humanity. Unbeknownst to Cyborg during the battle, Malware inserted a worm into Cyborg that prevents/helps him retrieve blocked memories. In order to get those memories, Cyborg has to get through horrid nightmares that involve the Justice League attempting to kill him. The worm really taps into Cyborg's insecurities and fears.

I have loved Cyborg as a character since the 2003 Teen Titans series. This graphic novel proved that Cyborg has enough of a story to write about and after The Justice League movie comes out soon, hopefully, a Cyborg solo movie will follow!

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok let's start with it is objectively great that a comic book about a Black crime-fighting android-human hybrid is titled "The Imitation of Life." Great, now that that's out of the way, this book is but one example of why more people of color should write comic books. I won't belabor a point that's been made so many other places, but: placing a bona fide superhero within the context of larger conversations around police brutality, racism, ableism, mental health, simply wouldn't happen in a comic written by (most) white folks. Argue if you want, but the entire tone and dynamic drastically shifts when you're reading something written by someone who has, in at least one dimension, been discriminated against and/or disenfranchised.

(Also the big fight scene was really smart and sets up the #2 issue quite nicely.)

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say that this is probably my least favorite so far of the Rebirth line of DC comics. The writing is tedious at best. It reads very much like a 60's 70's comic with a lot of exposition and cheesy dialogue.

The story centers around whether Cyborg is more human than machine, or a machine that thinks itself human. Its similar to the Swamp Thing situation, but without the nuance.

It doesn't help that there isn't a dedicated artist. The art ranges from excellent to good, so its not a problem of quality. The issue is more that the book already feels "flimsy" because of the plot, so the constantly changing art really gives the book an unsteady feeling. But to be fair, a lot of the art is really good, which is why I gave it an extra star.

I hope the next volume is better, but I cant really recommend this unless you are a die hard fan of cyborg.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I really want to be able to give this at least 3 stars just because I like the character, but the writing here was terrible. There were good ideas so poorly executed, and so boring, I was falling asleep every few pages. And Semper seems to try and use some 70's nostalgic writing here and there but it just comes off as outdated since he doesn't commit to it. The art in the first few chapters was good, even great sometimes...but then someone else takes over that is drastically different (not bad) and it kills the momentum even more. Maybe the series gets better? Hopefully? Cyborg deserves better.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was slightly better, story wise, than the previous Cyborg title I read, Cyborg, Vol. 1: Unplugged, but the art was only good for about 3/4 of the book, and then it tanked, Then, in the last issue of this volume, half was good and the other half not so much. There was some awkward dialogue in that issue as well, giving it in particular a rushed feeling.
Overall, this is decent, but still not GREAT.