First Law of Mad Science was one of the first titles released on Comixology’s Submit when the floodgates opened to all creators, not just prolific indie creators. The first three issues made their way out and now we’re checking in with the fourth issue as it’s just released on Comixology. I’ll admit that with as much as I’ve read recently I kind of forgot what this series was about, but there is a great recap at the beginning of the issue to remind you about the previous events. There’s also a recommended music listing to check out. The issue kicks off with a Deathlok/RoboCop looking thing being woken by an incoming signal. It’s not clear to us who is sending the signal (at least not at this point), but we learn that her mission is to kill George Baker. After that the book jumps to Antarctica which still felt out-of-place in this comic until this issue. A lot of stuff is clarified and makes the mystery of the series all the more connected. We find Emma dragging a security officer by the ear to the project’s special liaison’s office. She confronts Derrick about the orders to keep her and her team out of the excavation site she discovered. Finally she’s allowed to go in, but only with a full security team and even then something seems fishy.
After that we head back to London and check in with the rest of the family. Hank is currently being worshipped by the Stonehenge cult which has of course gone to his head. He gives his older robotic sister a hard time while their father tries to figure everything out. George receives a call from Hank and discovers that the eye technology wasn’t developed by his company at all, but rather found at the excavation site in… you guessed it, Antarctica.
There’s actually a lot more to this story and there are tons of reveals. If anything I would say that there were too many reveals that we could have done with one in the previous issue. The writing is decent, but there are some definite issues with the pacing. We bounce back and forth from London to Antarctica several times and I really think that there could have been a better balance so that the flow of the story wasn’t changed so much. Also for me several of the phone calls were far too long and even worse the characters made assumptions without details. After George talks to Edward he talks to Emma instantly and should present the information the same, but instead changes the phrasing which in this case changes the facts.
The art is still very good. The color works, but it’s not very dynamic and doesn’t really support the artwork. Overall the art does a fine job of supporting the story and relaying a lot of the characters emotions. You can see how lost and confused this family is by the looks on their faces. If they didn’t have that it would be difficult to care about them because you’d have no emotional tie.
It’s a solid issue, but it’s not without its problems. If you enjoyed the first three issues it’s definitely worth picking up. If you haven’t checked out the series then do not start here. Even with the recap it would be very difficult for you to catch up on the story and figure out all the moving parts of the plot. For an indie book though its very well made and I’m curious to see what happens in the next issue.
Score: 3/5
Writers: Mike Isenberg and Oliver Mertz Artist: Daniel Lapham Publisher: Noreon Labs Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/19/13