38th Book Club Discussion: Alex + Ada, Volume 1 by Jonathan Luna - February 2015

[Taylor]

Okay first off SPOILER!
Ada is a robot! Basically in this first book Alex gets Ada as a present. Kinda like a creepy futurist mail order bride.
The story arc is solid and I will look to read the second one. It's supposed to get much better with Ada's development as a character.
Art is good but not great. Luna has his own style and I'm going to look for some of his other works.
Worth checking out from a library but I wouldn't buy.
Cheers

[Xavfro]

minor spoilers: I really liked. If you like the movie "Her" this will definitely be something up your alley (and if you liked this and haven't seen her yet, go do that now :)). The drawing style isn't what I'm used to but I got used to it now and can even appreciate it.

[Nicholaus]

What a beautiful cover: a young, gloomy-looking man in a drab suit staring off into space beside an angelic girl in a white dress with some sort of trash bag obscuring her eyes. What is their relationship? They don't seem to be intimate yet, based on their body language. What is the reader meant to infer. Why does she have the plastic over her face? A plastic which has some sort of writing on it. No, it's not a garbage bag. Is there some kind of map drawn on there? The remnants of some expensive or futuristic wrapping? I enjoyed Girls immensly by The Luna Brothers so I'm looking forward to reading and discussing this.

[Albert]

I like the story but not sure i enjoy the artwork. I can see how the artwork's rigidity works for the type of story --- robots and humans relationships. Don't think I will follow the series to the next volume.

[Kevin]

Xavfro wrote: "minor spoilers: I really liked. If you like the movie "Her" this will definitely be something up your alley (and if you liked this and haven't seen her yet, go do that now :)). The drawing style is..."
SPOILER
I agree as soon as I started reading this I was reminded of 'Her' having just finished the first volume now I feel like it's more of a mash-up of 'Her' and the anime 'The Time of Eve'. I'm excited to see where the story goes now that she is sentient and I'll keep reading as long as the story stays this interesting.

[Kevin]

(view spoiler)[ There is no mention of Asimov's 3 laws. If a sentient AI was possible should it only be built with the 3 Laws as a directive? If it were possible to build the 3 Laws into human DNA, is that something that should be required before allowing a human couple to conceive. (hide spoiler)]

[Kirsten]

I haven't started this yet, but I'm looking forward to it! I wonder how it differs from Chobits, Vol. 01, especially coming from a different cultural perspective. I have an e-book version of this, but I'd really like to get a physical copy because I expect it to be great!

[Kirsten]

Wow, I loved this! And I didn't mind the art at all. I have read so many western comics and graphic novels with really, really, REALLY bad art (here's looking at you, Arana, Volume 1: Heart of the Spider) that the art in this one was refreshing. I loved the story and when I finished I immediately pre-ordered the second volume. I am also going to get a physical copy of the first book.

So, no spoilers really, but the story was a bit like Chobits, Vol. 01 (Ordinary guy happens to come into possession of a female robot), but fortunately the strong anime tropes were replaced with more realistic characters. This is basically what I said in my brief review, as well.

[Danielle]

I actually just read this in January and I loved it! I can't wait for the second volume of this. I am a big fan of the artwork. The story is very relevant and will be a part of our not too distant future.

[Mel]

I really enjoyed this. I was scared that it would go down the "I'm here to please you master" sex-doll route, but thankfully it added a more thought provoking path of questioning what makes a human a human, us and them, free will etc. I can't wait to see where it goes next. I also happen to love the art. Yeah it's simple but it's clean and I think it fits the story perfectly.


Spoiler-ish speculation: I wonder if that incident where all those people were killed is going to be revealed to be the work of a human, or maybe some kind of radical sentient robot group? What does anyone else think?

[Anna (Bananas)]

I found this very humorous and sweet, very relatable and fun. It was better than I expected.

[Anna (Bananas)]

Oh, Mel, I like your ideas. I hadn't thought of that. It makes a lot of sense that a radical group could be behind it, breeding fear of robots on purpose.

[Anna (Bananas)]

Kevin, why would Asimov's laws be included? I'm not familiar with them, but I'm wondering why another author's ideas would be explored in this.

[Anna (Bananas)]

Also, regarding the art, it felt stiff to me at first but now I'm enjoying it. I like the subtle shifts in expressions.

[Tatiana Alejandra]

At the begging I felt as Kirsten said: it looked similar to Chobits and Sky Doll (check it out ^^) but I still like the idea. The artwork is not the kind I am used to but I think it's pretty simple to and let you focus on the story. I want to buy the first and second volume ^^

SPOILERS
I like the restrictions on the IA because it reminds me of Asimov. I think those movements for robot rights were quite realistic and I really enjoyed the part when Alex is on a chat and he met the other robot, who will free Ada.
I like the way the characters are portrayed and how the authors send us pieces of information (casual conversation, news, etc.) I think Alex is quite interesting and I hope his friends will appear more, to make him more "human" and not as "a fictional character". He is not perfect, he has some fears, he has a past and his grandma is cool!
I also want to know about the incident. Maybe it was some kind of experiment that went wrong, maybe for the army. I hope that whatever they thought, it does not seem as a cliché.

[Tatiana Alejandra]

Anna (Bananas!) wrote: "Kevin, why would Asimov's laws be included? I'm not familiar with them, but I'm wondering why another author's ideas would be explored in this."
The Three Laws are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

I think there is something similar on this comic because they cannot harm people, animals or proprieties and then they cannot harm themselves unless it is a direct order from its master or mistress.

[Kevin]

Tatiana Alejandra wrote: "Anna (Bananas!) wrote: "Kevin, why would Asimov's laws be included? I'm not familiar with them, but I'm wondering why another author's ideas would be explored in this."
The Three Laws are:
1. ..."

I meant it more as a moral question, suppose you design an AI should you build in the 3 laws, take away the AI's complete free will to allow the AI to be accepted into society. If you're answer is yes you should, what if you could code the same limitations into human beings through DNA, would you take away a human's free will to the extent that they would not be allowed to hurt another human being or themselves.

[Tatiana Alejandra]

I think that has already happened in Asimov, the part of robot without these laws or in an different order (for example I, Robot). I haven't read them so I can't tell more about it.

I'm sure that in some other dystopian literature there must be something as what you are telling us :)

[Anna (Bananas)]

Thank you both for explaining. And interesting moral question, Kevin.

[Mel]

Anna (Bananas!) wrote: "Oh, Mel, I like your ideas. I hadn't thought of that. It makes a lot of sense that a radical group could be behind it, breeding fear of robots on purpose."

Exactly! A hate group could be purposely trying to spread fear. I just switched to trades on this series so I'm in the loooong wait. I can't stand it! I might have to cheat and order the single issues too... this is my life

[Nancy]

I enjoyed the pacing of the story. It really let us see Alex's world and how his reactions to Ada change. That said, I think I could only read this in trades, as the story is so measured, I prefer to sit down and read it all in one. I've seen quite a few critical comments about the artwork here and in reviews, but I actually loved it. The simplicity made everything so stark and the minute facial changes really popped off the page. I'm excited to read the next volume - I want to see the advancement of Ada and Alex's relationship as well as Ada's discovery of herself.