The recent release of the third volume of the Flight anthology by a publisher other than Image Comics (Ballantine Books) leads me to a suspicion that this NYC Mech-inspired anthology by a variety of indy-leaning comics creators is meant to serve as a replacement of sorts for the critically acclaimed predecessor. 24Seven is certainly diverting, with many solidly entertaining sequences, but it suffers from the same syndrome that many anthologies do: inconsistency. The theme is applied unevenly, and the strength of the writing and artwork varies a great deal. The greatest strength of the book is that it offers the reader a look at a number of lesser known talents in the industry and even some new names, and one gets to see better-known, well-established creators flexing different creative muscles. Mind you, the reader has to shell out many a pretty penny in order to do so.
In a different kind of world, there's a different kind of New York City. It looks and sounds very much like the one we know, but if you look closely, you can see the differences, and those differences lie with the people who populate the city. Some appear to be cyborgs, other appear to be all machine. Mech is the mode in Manhattan, it would seem, and it makes for some unusual culture and some surprisingly familiar behavior as well.
I like a lot of the art in this book, and there are a number of efforts that didn't appeal to me quite so much. It's an anthology, featuring the creative efforts of 55 writers and artists. Of course it's going to be uneven. I think the visual value of the book isn't in the strengths and weaknesses of each individual segment, but in the exposure of such a wide variety of artists. There are names that are more familiar, artists who have worked for the two largest publishers in the industry. But there are lesser known names and even new ones.
One of my favorite stories in the book is Fabio Moon's "The Firemen." One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was that it embraces a role-reversal philosophy when it comes to creating robot versions of human jobs and circumstances. Moon uses the familiar to set the audience up for a twist, but he doesn't hammer away at the point either. It's a short sketch, really, and the quick hit is all that's needed. The story and art both boast a deliciously noir tone -- as do many of the stories in the book -- but there's also a playfulness to it.
Where this book perplexes me is with those stories in which the robot or cyborg characters behave like regular people. Aside from the visual cues of their mechanical nature, the characters are regular people. One such story is Jonathan L. Davis's "Fear and Self-Loathing in NYC." The robots have to breathe. They live and die as any human would, so I'm left wondering... what's the point of portraying them as robots at all? The story is a strong one, but my confusion over the useless robotic nature of the characters interferes with my appreciate of the story and characterization. This feeling is one that arises time and time again as one makes one's way through the volume. It appears as though the creators have tweaked the look of the characters ever so slightly simply to qualify for inclusion in this mech-themed anthology. 5/10
