Napoleon from the Machine #2 is a comic written by Jaromir Francois with art by Konstantin Vitkov-Titis and colors by Sonya Anastasova. Napoleon tries to avoid the rioting and the violence that is ramping up in New York City. This is a futuristic, science fiction, and supernatural comic that stars people just trying to survive and deal with grief. The main man for this story is Napoleon, he is an artist with a special ability that he rarely uses due to tragedy in his past. With him is Justine, she is the adolescent daughter of his next-door neighbor and has a determined spirit and intelligence. We’ll meet some people from Napoleon’s past and run across more than a few of the attackers from the group called “The Angels”. The story begins where the last issue ended with Napoleon getting accosted by a man while trying to get Justine to safety. We get a good scope of the violence and destruction taking place in the city during this moment. This takes place in 2094 in a world that looks much like ours with fancier versions of tech we have now. The major theme here is grief and how to handle it as this is a volatile time. The action here is bloody and explosive but not gory. The pacing is steady and there is a stressful and dangerous atmosphere throughout. There are intense moments dispersed here with some mildness in-between. The dialogue here is all conversational with good back-and-forth and more than a few thick text bubbles. There is one word-heavy page. This is an action-filled sequel comic that builds on these characters, answers questions, and raises the stakes for future issues.
The art here is drawn in a purposely roughish but detailed style that gives everything a slightly gritty look. The range of colors is realistically vast with great variety. This takes place in New York City so while there is the occasional tree most of the scenery is skyscrapers and stores. The central location for this story is the comic shop where Napoleon used to work/live with other areas visited being rooftops and the city streets. The panel backgrounds usually show the scene which adds weight to each moment. The expression level here is a bit below-average as most characters seem to be trying to maintain a stoic look. The range of emotions here includes fear and sadness with some shock. The faces here are well-drawn and clearly show the different expressions. The violence here gets bloody and explosive with firearms being the primary weapon of choice. The action scenes tend to be short and they flow smoothly.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like futuristic stories with science fiction and supernatural elements that star a depressed man and a little girl with optimism and that involves drama and large-scale violence by an invading force then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, death.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“Great, some gift I didn’t ask for.”
Digital Link: https://skysurfer117.gumroad.com/l/nftm2
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/the-alien-heroes/napoleon-from-the-machine-2/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
*
*
*
*
*
Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 26
Violent Pages: 9, for 35% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 2
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 3
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 1
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
