Sci-Fi & Fantasy Illustrated: The Perfect Mate
Mature Audiences only
Written by: Joe Brusha
Illustrated by: Claudio Sepulveda
Released by: Zenescope
I have to admit when I looked at the cover of this comic I was a bit worried at what I was going to find in the issue. The words “mature audiences” splashed on the front cover and a mysterious scantily clad woman coming out of what looks like a crashed spaceship. I was worried that it might be a bit too racy for my tastes. Instead it’s a well-told story where perfect doesn’t always equal happy.
We begin our story at some unnamed time in the future in an average looking city. Although there are elements of the world that look very much like our own, there are subtle differences, such as video calls being a reality…and Lifemate technology. Our main character, Andy, is lonely in his new job and in this new city, and after seemingly being shot down by a co-worker he decides to visit the Lifemate Company. A very human looking android is designed with his specifications in mind, his perfect woman. Although the relationship begins in happiness it does not last. The Lifemate never grows, never makes mistakes, never learns and is always perfect. Andy soon becomes dissatisfied with this. And then…the woman from work reenters the picture and they begin seeing each other. The Lifemate, devoted to Andy, gets pushed slowly out of the picture. But what happens when the two women in Andy’s life meet alone? The ending is a surprise twist that I won’t reveal here.
The writing in this issue is fantastic. It is a nice page turner with a great surprise ending that I didn’t see coming and it has a real Twilight Zone vibe to it. The characters have a real sense of humanity to them that can often be difficult to get across in such a short amount of time, but Joe does a great job at it. For example, the main character is one that people can relate to. He isn’t really a bad guy, he just doesn’t really understand how to interact with people and takes the easy way out. But he seems to grow as the story goes along, especially when he realizes that perfect doesn’t always equal happiness. It’s easy to follow the story and I really like that this is a one off issue so that you don’t have to keep up with multiple characters and plotlines.
Overall the art style is decent enough and really does work well with the story line. Claudio does an excellent job of capturing the feeling of humanity and at times you get a real sense of the characters just with the images. For example, one of my favorite scenes is after Andy has gone out on a date with the women from work and the Lifemate is left sitting at home waiting. Even though we know she’s an android we can’t help but feel sorry for her and feel her sadness. All she was created to do was to serve her master’s wishes. However, there are times that the style seems to change and wander within the issue and it’s a bit distracting. We go from fairly realistic characters to over exaggerated expressions and features of humanity. For example, when Andy is eating lunch outside and talking to the young lady, there are some heavy handed lines that make the characters look more like rejects from a Joker storyline than actual human beings.
Overall this is a well-done issue. It reminds me a lot of some of the classic episodes of the Twilight Zone with well formed characters, the unexpected ending, and the lesson that we get out of it. Even though I enjoyed it this would not be something that I give to everyone, but would give to people that like the Twilight Zone/X-Files type genre.
