Review by Ian Keogh

D4VE fixed the world by seeing an off an alien invasion, so life is good. You can read all about it in D4VE. No longer the nuisance no-one wanted to listen to, he’s now the subject of a statue the height of a tower block and he’s back in the military. His fellow robots have even fixed up the city nicely, and there’s a date on the horizon. His teenage son might behave a little better, but otherwise life is preeettty cool.

Ryan Ferrier and Valentin Ramon figured they’d told a complete story with the first volume, and as the primary joke was a society of robots whose programming ensured they mimicked human society D4VE might have run its course. That’s emphatically not the case. Despite the lack of immediate danger, this is a sequel that’s even better than the original, which was pretty good. Think American Pie 2, which is the level much of the humour is pitched at. So the jokes improve and Ferrier has given more thought to the general level of satire, frequently supplying some killer one line responses to events. The characters are also more developed, meaning son 5COTTY has progressed from the enthusiastic wise-ass into someone with complex emotions, and newer supporting characters aren’t just there for comedy relief (although some are such as the sweary robot dog).

Likewise Ramon has sharpened his art to transmit the visual jokes more effectively. His design for D4VE’s ridiculous new face is seen on the sample art, and it’s just one among many eye-catching robot designs. 5COTTY’s mate wears 3-D glasses, there’s a caricatured female army officer with missile launchers for breasts and even single panel throwaways like the newsreader with multiple hands show creative thought.

Ferrier has enough to keep us entertained with D4VE’s life over the first half, whereafter the plot kicks in. You may remember that the robots wiped out all human life, but now two women have emerged from a strange capsule. Unfortunately, they remember the day the robots turned and are extremely hostile about the matter. Ferrier gives Audra and Gale sharp sarcastic dialogue, and manages to induce pathos despite the continually ridiculous situations. By the end D4VE has an existential decision to make, and what he does will determine whether or not D4VEocracy follows.