Comic Review: gen:LOCK “siege:ENGINES Part 1”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Some time after the events of the season finale, Chase is still adjusting to being a ghost without a shell. Gen:Lock Team is flying over to Japan to fight off a Union naval blockade but Kazu, a native, is reluctant to return and warns the team that they’ll regret it. Cammie hasn’t gotten out of the Ether since they left Chicago, so Chase dives in with her into a game of Siege to fill her in on the plan, though character calls him out by name and tells him to find “Sycorax”. Once they reach the blockade, the group and their Holons head out, but the Union forces begin spreading nanotech clouds.

OUR TAKE

Hot off of a pretty solid run on Toonami, we pick up where that episode left off. I sure didn’t expect to be continuing the story of gen:LOCK only six months after the first season ended, let alone in comic form, but here we are with the first (or first half?) installment of a miniseries covering events taking place after Chase’s group flew off and said their goodbyes to the Anvil crew. I guess it was never explicitly stated where they were headed, though I guess the only good guess at the time would probably have been back to the RTASA base. I CERTAINLY didn’t think Japan was on the table, but that is apparently where this series will be primarily taking place in.

And as the brief talk with him implies, Kazu doesn’t seem to be too keen to visit his old stomping grounds, meaning we’re probably going to be learning why pretty soon. Kazu was one of the least developed members of the main cast, so while I’m a bit irked that we’re getting this in what is essentially supplementary material, I’m at least glad we’re getting it at all. Also we finally get to see this Siege game that was talked up so much in the show. Gotta say, not that great.

Also, as expected when moving from 3D animated cartoon to 2D comic, there are some VERY noticeable shifts in the artstyle which aren’t a great improvement for the most part. Usually they’re not BAD, but there are a couple bits (in particular the rollout of the Holons near the end) that make me pause a bit. And then there’s the dialogue, which is also pretty hit or miss. Chase is really angsty and reflective, which they got down well enough, as with Cammie’s own distinct way of talking, but Yaz and Kazu feel like they are being written to sound like fluent English when those who have seen the show know that isn’t quite the case. They DO acknowledge that Kazu is speaking Japanese and being understood because of translator programs, but I still feel like his words would be more linked to translations of that than very easily understood English, while Yaz’ accent would probably also impact how things are verbalized

At $0.99 for twenty three pages, you could certainly do worse than pick this up. The story hasn’t quite gotten into full swing yet, but if you’re a fan of the show, seeing these characters and this world again will likely be worth the wait.