ITTO, our determined tour guide robot, has found itself in a post-apocalyptic London with no inkling as to why the humans are gone. There are hints as to what happened, but nothing is clear.
Walking through decayed buildings and overgrown foliage in search of a new power core, it finally finds one at a recharge station, but there’s one unread message, as well: ITTO is being recalled to the factory to be repurposed. With a new directive and an upgrade, ITTO heads out only to be attacked by another robot with an electrical jolt. It is a Beanie Barista who feared “bad people.”
ITTO has no lasting damage but discovers the Barista bot was not only recently reactivated but has no idea what happened to the humans either. All it knows is the military was in charge until it wasn’t, and then there was chaos. Beanie has another problem: Its battery is compromised. In hopes of finding power for the Barista bot, the two head out together to find the factory, passing old signs for quarantine zones and more destruction. What they don’t realize is they are being watched. But whether this new robot is friend or foe, we’ll have to wait and see.
This second issue does a nice job of setting up new obstacles and questions as more about this world is revealed. The ads in the background tend to be prophetic and sometimes emphasize the urgency of the situation. I like that ITTO has a buddy to talk to, and we learn information organically without huge chunks of exposition. Whatever happened in this world, you get a sense of human desperation, as whatever occurred accelerated to the point that all hell broke loose. What is interesting is ITTO has a sense of self-preservation. Was that part of its programming or something else, as that is a very human attribute? There are also nice action sequences in this issue that break up the journey and move the story along at a nice pace.
The bonus pencil sketch of the “Beanie Bot” bus stop poster is fun and adds to the overall worldbuilding. I look forward to issue three.
Creative Team: Phil Chapman (writer/artist)
Publisher: Blue Fox Comics
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