Review: The Art of gen: LOCK

Typically when a book of art comes out for an animated franchise, studios and producers wait a couple of seasons to do so. For Rick and Morty, it was the first couple of seasons. For Castlevania, the producers waiting until the show was pretty much announced for cancellation after four seasons. Rooster Teeth’s gen: Lock opted to wait for it’s first season to come out with a book featuring 160 pages produced by Daniel Wallace and published by Viz Media.

The hardcover release features full-color artwork from the animated show by Rooster Teeth with exclusive commentary from the writers, animators, creators, artists, and voice actors of gen:LOCK. Included in the pages is full-color artwork from the show and sketches and notes about the development of the series. It’s a great primer for a series that is currently streaming on Rooster Teeth and HBO MAX.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing here about the just launched second season of gen: Lock, nor is there much input from show producer Michael B. Jordan nor much input from any of the “big name” voices. Images more than insight take up the majority of the book, so, at best, this book is a coffee table book and less of a journey for any animation aficionados looking to really dig deep on how an animated sci-fi series comes to be.