Robot Boombox

We here at RBX have been given a unique opportunity. Spike, friend of the site and one of the many People Who Are More Talented Than Us™ is a bomb-ass artist. And this bomb-ass artist has a bomb-ass comic coming out in a few. And we’ve got an exclusive first look at it. So, in keeping with RBX’s never-ending quest to bring you guys the Good Shit™, we proudly present this look at Gs: Issue 1. We hope you enjoy it.

Hey, remember Samurai Champloo? Big fan of Ruroni Kenshin (or Samurai X, depending on how deep you are)? Remember Soul Calibur before it was complete shit? Do you wish these things were more FUCKING BRUTAL? Than Gs just might be the comic for you.

So we open with a dude who looks like Strider Hiryu fell into a ketchup vat and JESUS CHRIST.

Eat your heart out, Ed Boon.

Nothing like jumping right into the action. The first thing that strikes me about the artwork is how lush and detailed everything is, without feeling too cluttered. There are a lot of ways to screw up over-the-top 300-esque battle scenes (and Frank Miller invented most of them), but the art here avoids all of them. The action is free from being overly frenetic while still being dynamic, and it’s clear what’s happening. And what’s happening is that a dude is spontaneously inventing Mountain Dew Code Red via stabbings. Ketchup Strider doesn’t fuck around. But unfortunately, neither does the commander of that guy he just annihilated.

I especially like the art here. It gives us a full view of the battlefield, not to mention a full view of some Matrix action from Strider as he dodges what can only be described as a “Giant Combat Katana”. This is like watching Akira Kurosawa’s Ran as remade by Takashi Miike circa Ichi the Killer. And if that last sentence wasn’t weaboo-y enough for you, then check this out:

This is the best game of Shogun: Total War EVER.

The fight goes on for a bit, but eventually Strider deals the killing blow. Great battle scenes, but where’s the context? What’s going on? Where is this going? Come on, after reviewing Punisher: A Man Named Frank, I can’t deal with a story not holding my hand. OH, it was a framing device. I see. Me am smart.

This hour of story time brought to you by the magic of W33D.

This gigantic scarred dude toking on what can only be described as a double-barrel pipe is Uncle Kuma, who seems to have been on a strict regiment of Uncle Hogan’s special vitamins since his days making Yoshimitsu clones spontaneously explode. The pudgy kid with the afro is Suoh, his nephew. Kuma’s been telling the kid all about the War of the Old School, which is probably the coolest name for a war between feudal Japanese clans since Quentin Tarantino duct taped a samurai movie to a spaghetti western. Suoh’s mom, however, isn’t so enthusiastic about Uncle Kuma’s Gory Time Playhouse. I watched Rambo when I was his age, and I turned out fine. Well, aside from all the megalomania.

Kuma and Suoh’s mom go off to talk alone, and we’re treated to some ominous dialogue about how Suoh is his mom’s until he turns 8. If that doesn’t sound like an Ancient Warrior Prophecy or something, I don’t know what does.

On a side note, I’d like to compliment this comic for having good lettering. There are studios with 10x the budget that still somehow fuck up having legible text. Good job, guys.

If that dude is fat, you can call me Jabba the Hutt.

Looks like I was right about that Ancient Warrior Prophecy. Suoh, now sporting the Bruce Lee look and with a hairstyle that is somewhere between Spike Spiegel and Akuma, is preparing for some sort of mysterious warrior test that his friend Koto of the Multiple Hair Colors is being a total douche about.

From their exchange, it sounds like they’ve probably known each other for a minute. They both walk through an archway, and into some sort of Kumite Game-Of-Death Bloodsport Budokai Arena.

What happens next? We’ll have to wait until the 16th to find out. Until then, you can check out the full 20 page sneak peek in all its glory here. Also, check out Dirty1/2Breed comics at www.breedcomix.com, or on their Facebook page, and be sure to check out Spike’s Facebook for more rad art. Catch you guys on the 16th. G’s UP!