Love Machines #1

Love Machines #1 is a 32-page, B&W comic with color covers created by Josh Trujillo with Ryo Kawakami, Michael Schisler, Adam Pruett, Chris Northrop, Dylan Todd, and James Barry. Published by Lost His Keys Man Comics.

Love Machines #1 is a prophetic tale of advances in technology and the human need for close relationships resulting in techno-human intimacy. This issue presents two stories, the first being Workers of All Lands, Unite! and the second Old Appliances in Love. Workers of All Lands, Unite! is the longest story of the two. It’s a tale of a young woman working a summer job at a theme park to raise money for college. As she starts her new job she is assigned to the “Hall of Philosophers,” an attraction featuring automations of famous philosophers repeating quotes from their better known works.

The second story, Old Appliances in Love, is a short tale of relationships, but this time it’s between the machines themselves and the humans only act as the unwitting instruments of the machines’ will, responding to and servicing machines unaware they are actually enabling the machines to connect with one another and advance their own agendas.

Each of the stories explores our relationship with technology. The first looks at the naivety of youth, embrace of technology, and self discovery. The second story illustrates the obliviousness of humans and the concealed sentience of machines.

The artwork in Love Machines #1 is handled by various artists. Workers of All Lands, Unite! is illustrate in a manga style that is fitting for the Japanese setting and seems even more appropriately suited to the subject matter. The art for Old Appliances in Love is done in a more traditional western style and works well at depicting the more industrial setting. The artists on each story lay down clean lines and convincing backgrounds. Gray screening is used effectively throughout each of the stories as well. The first story uses a standard manga layout for page and panel composition while the second story’s layout adopts a western appearance. Lettering and balloon placement compliments the artwork across both stories.

You can plug-in to Love Machines at http://bit.ly/1qgFDbr and http://bit.ly/1v1atg5 and you can connect with Josh Trujillo at http://bit.ly/1v1av7y

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