Comic Review: gen:LOCK “siege:ENGINES” Chapter 02

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The pilots attack the Union forces with their Holons while Chase narrates very basic information about them. But before they can take the upper hand, the leader of the Union forces fires a laser at the Renegade (which is apparently the name of the ship). They retreat, with the ship considerably damaged but no one was was hurt or killed. Kazu still would rather not enter his former stomping grounds, but seeing anyone he knows risking injury pushes him to overcome that. He has them touchdown near a gate, alerting General Anno to their presence. Anno forces seizure of the Holons, which I guess means the action is going to take a hit.

Elsewhere, two red-haired women answer to their “sibling”: Sycorax, who seems to be interested in someone on the gen:LOCK team.

OUR TAKE

About a couple of weeks later and we finally finish the first issue! I kid but this IS kind of a weird thing to see happen. I get that it’s easier to get something out even if it’s only half of it, but it still seems like it would be better to release a whole issue all at once. The previous episode barely had what one could consider a proper ending, so I hope it’s not this jarring going forward. Also, I have to ask, was Chase’s narration of things really necessary? People picking up this comic are likely already going to know who these people are, as well as probably not needing constant reminders from Chase that he no longer has a physical body. And is he referring to Val by the right pronouns? It looks like he’s still got his male version during the fight, so did Chase get it wrong or did the writers?

Anyway, the plot this time is basically the follow up from last time, which is the team fighting Union mechs and learning more about Kazu’s past. I’m plenty eager to see a different side of the Polity that doesn’t immediately warm up to our pilots…in fact, this might be the first proper look we’ve gotten at the Polity since the first episode since every episode after that was set at the Vanguard or RTASA. Same with the one running this side of the Union’s forces, who actually gets a couple of lines! Might we finally get to meet a real character working for the Union who isn’t a faceless mook or an evil deranged clone?

And lastly, Team Sycorax, who we get a better glimpse at in the Ether/Internet. They’re still shrouded in mystery, but the name does seem to imply some things. The name Sycorax comes from a play by William Shakespeare called “The Tempest”, where she is the mother of Caliban, a character that shares a name with the David Tennant-voiced robot who is working with the gen:LOCK team right now (and as an aside, Sycorax was also the name of an alien race who appeared in David Tennant’s first full episode of Doctor Who, “The Christmas Invasion”.) So, we seem to have a lot of balls up in the air with the Japanese Polity forces, whoever’s in charge of the Union forces, and Sycorax, all of which we will have to explain over the course of this miniseries. And while you’re reading it, maybe pick up the first season on DVD?