LOOKING UNDER THE HOOD OF NYC MECH

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Imagine a world where eight million robots walk amongst us. A world where, instead of humans – or mutants, robots are the ruling species. The only difference is, this isn’t science fiction. This is not a post-apocalyptic future a la Terminator. This is New York. But this isn’t the NYC that you know. These robots are in agony, ecstasy and everything in-between, searching for love, sex or just enough spare change to get them through the day.

Welcome to Miles Gunter, Ivan Brandon and Andy MacDonald’s NYC Mech, an ongoing series from Image Comics set to debut in April.

“NYC Mech's an ongoing look at everything that happens in New York City, with everything you'd expect and a lot you wouldn't. And robots,” co-creator Ivan Brandon told Newsarama.

“Andy MacDonald and I have been working together on assorted gigs for a few years, and Miles Gunter and I both wanted to create the perfect work for what he does. The level of detail he puts into every shot is unparalleled in the medium. The dynamics and personality are on par with the old masters but decidedly new,” he continued.

“We came up with the idea for Andy,” co-writer Miles (Bastard Samurai) Gunter added. “I’d seen his work and the thing that grabbed my eye were these damn cool robots. I had the idea one night while vacuuming, called Ivan at the bar and we started putting it together.”

Speaking of robots, incidentally, Brandon and Gunter have previously worked on the Terminator comics, with the latter on Terminator 3: Before the Rise (the comic book prequel to last summer’s T3: Rise of the Machines movie) and the former on Terminator 3: Eyes of the Rise.

However, the inspiration for NYC Mech, according to the 29-year-old writer, was from a hit action/comedy anime from Gainax and Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion), and as mentioned, it’s set in present day New York, instead of the city of Mabase in the anime. “In terms of form, for me the main inspiration is FLCL- a Japanese cartoon made by Gainax that has this insane spastic dynamicism that just blew my mind. For my part, this book at least the first two issues, is a love letter to Gainax and director Hideaki Anno.”

“That, and I think there's a really strong synergy to the book that comes from the three of us bringing our different experiences and views,” artist Andy MacDonald said. “We're all really excited about putting together a book that we haven't seen before.”

It also stemmed from a need to do something for New York, according to Gunter. “To honor its beauty. One of my biggest pet peeves is when you have New York in comics and it’s obvious the writer doesn’t know the city. They’ll have a scene that takes place in an alley, but there’s virtually no alleys in Manhattan! New York is more than just having skyscrapers in the background. It’s a way of life completely unlike the rest of America.”

The ongoing series status presents to the creators unlimited possibilities in terms of characters, themes and plotlines. “There are a lot of windows in NYC and a lot of them are worth looking into. We've promised Image an ongoing series, and there's no end in sight,” Brandon said.

“We created the book specifically for Image,” Gunter added. “It’s important that we have the freedom to do any kind of story we want, and Image is the only place where we can do that. They immediately understood what we are doing and fell in love with the project. They’ve been fully supportive of our vision.”

“[Image’s Director of Marketing] Eric Stephenson had a big smile on his face and [Image Publisher] Jim Valentino told us to get to work,” Brandon laughed. “It's great to work with a publisher who's as into the book as we are.”

“The great thing about this project is that it can encompass any genre: crime, romance, comedy, drama, horror - any kind of story. There will be a large rotating cast that will change with each story. Everything from skyscraper window washers to trust fund psychos to 11 year-old girls going to private school,” Gunther said.

“We dip in and out of a lot of different environments that interlace to make a bigger picture,” Brandon added. “Depending on where you are, the people you see will vary.

“To whatever degree, what we start off with revolves around Nika, the gal on Dave Johnson's cover. Nika's the robot girl you want; she carries a gun and a lot of control. She speaks softly but her actions are incredibly loud.”

“Comics have always been about progress, and this is not at all the same old thing. Andy evolves constantly from issue to issue, it's stunning to me to see the changes in perspective and the upgrades his eyes have made along the way. The approach on every arc is different and equally electric, it's amazing to me to see what he's absorbed into his technique from day to day.

“And the stories are full of real situations with unexpected consequences, each one bigger than the last.”

There’s nothing like good communication between the creative team to make this project worthwhile, even if personalities do not always gel, according to the writers. “Miles and I have a different approach to things and that's a huge help to the level of what we're trying to achieve,” Brandon said. “We're sort of a good cop/bad cop combination to the work and we get some really interesting and new stuff out of collaboration. Andy and I see each other pretty often and with a good glass of scotch and some paper we can really see eye to eye. All of us want to make progressive stories that can be read by anyone in the world.”

“He smokes cigarettes. I do yoga. But we have just the right amount of commonality to know how to click and bring different things to the table,” Gunter added. “With the art, Andy does thumbs and we iron out any storytelling concerns, but he tends to get it right 95% of the time.”

“Along with proper diet and exercise, this comic may help you live longer,” MacDonald concluded.

NYC Mech #1 (featuring a cover by 100 Bullets' Dave Johnson) is available for order now in the February issue of Previews and will go on sale April 14.

For a five page preview of NYC Mech, click here.

[D. Morris]

Actually Hideki Anno didn't direct FLCL, it was his understudy Kazuya Tsurumaki who did.

[Zadillo]

Sounds sort of interesting, I definitely might check it out.

Although I have to say, it kind of bugs me when you have these stories that are supposed to be about robots, but then they have emotions and basically act like humans. I'm not sure why this is, but it seems like it is a lot rarer to see a story about robots/androids who actually act like machines...... making them basically act and think like humans just doesn't seem to have much of a point.

I guess there is the generic "what does it mean to be human?" philosophical question.....

Anyway, I'm interested to see where they go with this.

-Zadillo

[OM]

...Okay, if there are no alleys in NYC, what *is* there, then? Are all the buildings snug up next to one another and 300 stories tall, or are the subways filling in for them?

*How* is NYC different in this regard?

[marksable]

I don't know if OM was being serious or not, but...

....really, there are pretty much no alleys in Manhattan (which is only a fifth of NY anway). The ones that exist are not usually the size you see in comics, where it appears you can stand five people side by side. And yes, there are plenty of buildings right up against one another (ovviously not 300 story ones...skyscrapers are pretty much confined to midtown, which occasionally makes me wonder how Spider-man gets to work from Queens).

...but that's kind of nitpicky, Miles' is right, most artists do a piss poor job of depicting New York (ironic considering how many are from there). Not that comics need to be an accurate reflection of reality, but it's nice for a native New Yorker to see when someone really gets it. Alex Maleev does (although you have to suspend your disbelief and pretend Hell's Kitchen's hasn't been a nice area to live for the past decade) and from the looks of things, so does Andy MacDonald.

Regardless, Andy's arts looks absolutely beautiful (along with Dave Johnson's cover), and I can't wait to see what Ivan and Miles deliver.

[IvanBrandon]

>>>...Okay, if there are no alleys in NYC, what *is* there, then? Are all the buildings snug up next to one another and 300 stories tall, or are the subways filling in for them?

*How* is NYC different in this regard?<<<

the buildings in manhattan are built flush against eachother, with an occasional lot or garden to break the whole thing up. alleys are an exceptional rarity and subways run below the surface of the city with the entrances opening onto the sidewalk corners or a doorway on a building.

there are numerous differences between the real NYC and what you see in most comics. each neighborhood is a totally different world, and lots of people never venture 20 blocks outside of their circle. skyscrapers are not as abundant in the average person's every day and the empire state building is nowhere near the statue of liberty.

the best answer i can give you though, is pick up the book. andy macdonald will draw it all out for you in stunning detail.

thanks to everyone for checking out the work. you'll see tons more very soon.

-Ivan Brandon

[Dru]

Speaking of robots, incidentally, Brandon and Gunther have previously worked on the Terminator comics, with the former on Terminator 3: Before the Rise (the comic book prequel to last summer’s T3: Rise of the Machines movie) and the former on Terminator 3: Eyes of the Rise.

So, uh... What?
I guess it's tough breaks being "the latter".

[IvanBrandon]

Originally posted by Dru
So, uh... What?
I guess it's tough breaks being "the latter".

haha- yeah for the record, Miles is the latter in this case, he wrote the eyes of the rise story

[Royal Nonesuch]

Regardless of what movies, TV, and comics might have you believe, Manhattan is a tiny, tiny place, so no one's going to waste any space on any damn alleys. Especially ones that lead nowhere, you know, the ones that just end in a brick wall.

[John G]

Damn this book looks great. These pages gave me a concussion.

John G

[orcafresh]

I think its going to be a hit. In fact, I'm thrilled to have the NY Mech creative gang coming to guest at my convention on June 5th & 6th.

Good luck and have fun with it!