Recent Reads: Lady Mechanika Vol 1 by Joe Benitez

Source: From Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Lady Mechanika Volume 1: The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse by Joe Benitez
Series: Lady Mechanika Volume 1
Publisher:  Diamond Book Distributors and Benitez Productions
Publication Date:  December 1, 2015

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

Discover a beautifully illustrated steampunk world of airships, monsters, and one courageous but haunted heroine...

The tabloids dubbed her "Lady Mechanika," the sole survivor of a mad scientist's horrific experiments which left her with mechanical limbs. Having no memory of her captivity or her former life, Lady Mechanika eventually built a new life for herself as an adventurer and private investigator, using her unique abilities to solve cases the proper authorities couldn't or wouldn't handle. But she never stopped searching for the answers to her own past.

Set in a fictionalized steampunk Victorian England, a time when magic and superstition clashed with new scientific discoveries and inventions, Lady Mechanika chronicles a young woman's obsessive search for her identity as she investigates other mysteries involving science and the supernatural.

This volume collects the entire first Lady Mechanika mini-series The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse, including its prequel chapter The Demon of Satan's Alley, plus a complete cover art gallery.

 Review: 

A few years ago I read the comic issues of Lady Mechanika #0 and #1, my husband found them and thought they would be something that I would enjoy. The cover was of a busty steampunk dresses woman, looking pretty badass and so I was excited to read them. I didn’t continue with the series but that was not because I didn’t enjoy it, I actually really did, I just had a lot of other things going on at the time. When I saw Volume 1 available on Netgalley I squeed with joy and grabbed it. Then I saw that Volume 2 was available as well and got even more excited.

Lady Mechanika follows a woman who is part human but mostly machine in a steampunk universe. In the first volume we follow her as she tries to solve the mystery of another mechanical woman who quite literally fell into the city as a way to uncover more about her past. Her hope is that the creator might be one in the same. Lady Mechanika mostly works alone but on occasion has the help of a human inventor named Lewis, he makes all the mechanical gadgets that Mechanika needs for her investigations.

This graphic novel is super detailed in the art. There is so much layering and world building in such a short amount of time. The Steampunk nature combining old Victorian with mechanics is amazingly done. AND THE OUTFITS! Everything the character’s wear is incredibly elaborate and amazing – they don’t look comfortable but they are beautiful!

I could help to love this graphic novel. Mechanika is a very mysterious lead, she is very independent and she seems to be able to accomplish anything she sets her mind to. It is geared toward an older audience featuring violence, cursing, and a lot of ill-fitting tops, but it was very action-packed.