Review: Alex + Ada #5

Ahh, finally. It's been a bit of a hectic month for me and this has meant a lot less visits to the local comic shop than I would like, but this week was a bonus as, while the regualr comic pick up was still a no-no, it meant the release of my digital books, consisting of Dead Body Road #4, Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #3 and then, what always make comic reading worth doing, Alex + Ada #5



Alex + Ada #5

Picking up right where issue 4 left off, Ada's artifical intelligence blocks have been removed and she (she right?) now has the ability to feel and express. However, after making a large amount of noise, this seems to have been too much as she ends up shutting herself away within her mind. Now it's up to Alex and Franklin (the little android who helped them) to try and help Ada recover, while not being caught by anyone for doing what they've done.

Now, all of that makes this issue sound rather action packed, although don't let appearances deceive you. However, the lack of action does not make this book any less enjoyable, in fact it probably makes it more so. Since the beginning, Alex + Ada has, essentially, stripped any other aspect you would find within a sci-fi comic (and it could be loosely categorised as that), focusing solely on the interactions between and emotions of characters. No more on show is that focus than in this issue, as Alex and Ada bare their souls out to each other in order to come to terms with what is happening.



A great final panel, but the
story isn't over yet!

This is, essentially, Ada's birth as, despite coming across very well in previous issues, her character really begins her growth and the writing does well to reflects that. The art, however, is what makes this issue truly great. I'd previously said that panels appear to have been reused with slight differences and inferred it was an problem. However, I gotta go one-eighty on this as those slight differences between panels really gives the story a very moment by moment feel. I really felt like I was watching every single second of this heart to heart which just tugged at my heart strings all the more.

This issue is very much the end of a first act as Ada's journey from appliance to individual is resolved so touchingly while leaving options open to continue the tale. However, even without further entries, this issue would have capped off the tale so well that further installments would have been demanded anyway (certainly by me). If there is one book on my pull list that could have picked up this week, I'm always so glad it's Alex + Ada, everything else is just paling by comparison.