Robots Vs Princesses #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Who says that girls can't be both dainty and rough and tumble? The stereotype of the typical fairy-tale princess is put out to pasture in this week's Family Comic Friday review of the new series Robots Vs Princesses.

Robots Vs Princesses #1
Written by Todd Matthy
Art by Nicolas Chapuis
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

In the capital City of Harmonia, a group of princesses are about to participate in a special ceremony. Giving honor to a legendary queen who conquered the now disappeared dragons of her kingdom, aspiring sovereigns must perform a recital with an animal of their choosing. Not wishing to be out done, Zara sneaks out of the castle to search the forbidden woods in hopes of a dragon of her own in which to perform with.

Meanwhile deep in the forests surrounding Harmonia is a region called Chromia. There, an endless war is raging between two races of automatons. Little Wheeler is tired of the fighting and he decides to go off into uncharted territory in search of peace and quiet.

As you might have guessed, these two characters meet. But what you might not expect is that Zara's singing voice turns WHeeler into a mechanical dragon. Could he help Zara successfully perform her musical ritual? And could Wheeler be the key to the return of the dragons of long ago?

Dynamite Entertainment hasn’t been known for doing all-ages fair. But Robots Vs Princesses has great promise. It’s a cross between Disney’s line-up of ladies fair and Transformers. Issue #1 is a great setup in order to explain most, if not all, of the main players. But while there are both princesses and robots in this story, there is very little versus here. I’m assuming that will change in forthcoming issues…

The story so far was good. The strong female roles obviously got some inspiration from Action Lab’s Princeless. But Todd Matthy’s inclusion of automatons and the animal recital are both elements that I have not encountered in Princeless. As I said earlier, hopefully the action will ramp up in issue #2.

The art was a slightly different story. The artwork was good but there was something off about some of the angles. The great Jack Kirby introduced the idea of the dynamic posing of characters. Instead of seeing character character from straight ahead, artists are instead to render them in unique angles.

Nicolas Chapuis attempts to do so throughout this book. Yet as a result, the proportions seems off. His drawings of the robots look like they are all about to tip over. They are impressively designed. But in some panels they look really top-heavy, ready to topple over with their toothpick thin legs.

The first issue of Robots Vs Princesses sets up a very interesting looking story. It’s got a lot of promise, but it’s also got a lot to offer. Because young readers are fickle when it comes to stories that end with that dreaded ‘To Be Continued’, I think this series will be enjoyed more as a collected. Especially since no royal family members battle any androids in this first chapter, it may not be so appealing to those readers ready for Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em Robots from right off the bat. But I really think great things are in store for those readers who are patient throughout the run of this title.

Robots Vs Princesses is recommended for readers of all-ages. However, there’s some very big words in this comic. So readers under the age of 8 might need the help of an older reader. Plus, I don’t know how intense the battle scenes are going to be, so parental discretion is advised with future issues.

Robots Vs Princesses #1 debuted in print and digital platforms on August 8th, 2018.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

This review was concurrently published at Outrightgeekery.com.