Alright, so I'm going to do a quick synopsis and then kind of break down what I think of it. So, this book is basically about this character named Noa, and her misadventures. She is what they call in this book a "Sky Doll" which is basically an android designed for prostitution, and a bunch of other jobs that no one wants to do. I guess some deity that these people worship said it's okay to have sex with them and that there's no sin involved because they're not people. So this chick hooks up with these space emissaries of that deity and kind of gets sucked into their mission. As the mission progresses you kind of get to know these characters a bit, but the story telling is so ambiguous it's not very much. Roy is the nice one who gets a crush on the main character and tends to be the more understanding. Jahu is the other emissary and he's a total dick. I think he's supposed to be remotely likable, but I can't see how. The way everything goes down, he tries very hard to go above and beyond asshole, and into the territory of someone who should just be killed off. He's like a racist, drug addict, murderer and still there are parts where they want you to like him... And then there's the android, Noa. She's like the "There's got to be more out there..." kind of character, but very quickly they start alluding that there might be more to her than what's skin deep.
My biggest problem with the book, and in all actuality what will probably lure in more people than the actual story, is that the sexual innuendo is so heavy. I mean... at times its not even insinuated, but more so beat over your head. I mean there are tits all over this comic. There is almost boob on almost every page, but a lot of the time they go a step further and don't even bother to cover them up, and worse so because the characters aren't really people. They look more like anthropomorphic animals, so when there's sex and boobs throughout the book on people with whiskers and cat ears, it's a little creepy. The worst part is that, other than these sex doll robot people, the main characters that show their boobs off the most are the two religious figures. These two sisters were apparently head of this religion at one time until it split in two, and almost every scene with either of them in it, there is next to nothing done to cover up their goods. This is mostly in the first half of the book, but some of the themes here are so heavy and important, that having tits on every page, and people fucking left and right, takes away from the message they're trying to convey. My other biggest problem is that there is almost no action. And I'm not the kind of guy who needs explosions every ten minutes to keep him entertained, but the dialogue in this book isn't that amazing to the point where I feel like I can go without anything happening. With scenes this dry I would have liked a few more gunfights and shit like that...
Now on to the stuff I did like! The themes of racism in this book are apparent from almost the beginning. Noa is a chick who's mostly robot so everyone else thinks she's a thing, and her struggle to be a person and have emotions is really great. There's this part about half way through where they go to this city that you have to peacefully meditate to get into. There's some good dialogue where she wonders if she can even do it because she has no soul to put at ease. I won't ruin it, but what happens is a little funny and they tie it together well too. I like the character Roy, I found him pretty easy to relate to, because it wouldn't matter to me if the lady of my life was a robot or not, I'm still going to dig on her. Also, the art from start to finish is really great. The artist does a fantastic job displaying everything and making it all look very nice, and every panel is very full and detailed. It's just a shame that he, or the writer, felt the need to over display sex everywhere. Also, a much tinier thing i noticed, but a lot of the text and word bubbles are towards the edges of the panels instead of being right next to the character that's speaking. So a lot of times it lets the art breathe a a little more I think, but there was a time or two that I had trouble telling who was talking and in what order because of it...
All in all this is a really strange story with some kind of heavy themes. I can't say it's a really good story, but it did keep my attention. There was no part in the story where i was wondering why i was reading it. I liked a lot of the themes and symbolism, but the sexual nature of the book threw me off. I can dig stuff that's supposed to be sexual, most of the time not my thing, but the way this was done I just didn't see why it was so prevalent. And in closing I'm not really sure what the book is about. I mean I read the whole thing, but the narrative was a little sloppy and there was no clear cut objective to the book. I got the feeling that this is just an opening of a door into a much larger world, but the way the story is told and book ended, it seems to be a story in itself, it just doesn't feel that way. There are some weird scenes that happen that i'm not quite sure where they fit into the mythology, but maybe i'm just dumb. So I guess my recommendation goes: If you're smarter than me and you think you can figure what the fuck is going on, if you want something really different from a lot of stories out there, or if you're just want to see a lot of softcore scenes with tits and sex but don't feel like watching porn, then go check out this book. Otherwise you may want to stay away. If you do want to check it out you can head to Amazon.com right below, or ask your local comic shop to get it for you!
Thanks again!
James
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