This graphic novel is really well done, but I was a little bit disappointed in the plot and the dialogues. This doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to read the second installment in this series as I have a big love for steampunk whatever the form it takes.

Questa graphic novel é disegnata benissimo, anche se i dialoghi e la trama in generale non sono proprio il massimo. Questo non significa che io non leggeró il secondo volume, anzi, considerato il mio amore per tutto ció che é steampunk.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

YES!!! I am in L.O.V.E with this series. There is no way around it, I will have to read more!

Criticism first just to get it out of the way. Sometimes clothing would be torn in one frame then not in the next. Literally only noticed because adobe digital editions is so so so soso slow. I really have to stop requesting books that only do it in this format, but I don't know how to tell beforehand.... I digress. I also thought it could get a little wordy and the text was small -- again this might have only been an issue because I was reading on my laptop.

Okay, good stuff. I absolutely LOVE~ steampunk and this comic does it so well. The illustrations are beautiful and I literally wish I could own all of Lady Mechanika's outfits. All of them. I feel like the plot is moving along at a good pace and even with this current arc being over, there are still many more mysteries to be solved. This is a comic so beautiful I really wish I could hold it in my hands and just stare at the drawings...

Do I recommend this? HECK YES! If you like steampunk, you HAVE to give this a try. If you like sci-fi and/or comics I think this might be worth checking out. So far, I think this might be okay for young adults and up.

'Lady Mechanika Volume 1: Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse' by Joe Benitez is the type of rip-roaring adventure I like. I'm not much of a fan of the good girl type art, but I can set that aside and recommend this for fans of steampunk.

Lady Mechanika is a sort of construct. You can tell when she takes her goggles off and you see her red glowing eyes. She is fairly smart and an adventurer in this version of a steampunk London in the age of Victoria.

When a similar mechanical lady is found dead, it sets Lady Mechanika in motion. Perhaps if she learns about this young lady, it will lead her to the person who made her. Where it does lead her is to a gypsy circus with some odd characters and to a fancy party aboard an airship.

There are lots of pin up style shots of Lady Mechanika, and she seems to be a bit underdressed for the Victorian era, but maybe not for this alternate machine type one. Regardless of this, the art is quite good in this series, and the story kept me turning pages. I've got volume 2 up to read soon.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Benitez Productions, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Steampunk, people with mechanical parts, airships... Set in the British Empire, presumably in the Victorian Era.

Plot:

I found the plot pretty confusing at first. Also it felt as if I was missing part of the story from an epilogue or previous volume. I did not find the dialogues interesting and lost interest in the story fairly quickly. But that's on me, it wasn't really my thing.

Nice little cliffhanger at the end.

Artwork:

Nice page-sized panels at the beginning of every chapter. The colour scheme is pretty dark, to the point that I sometimes could not make out enough details for my liking. But generally nice.

The larger tableaus were a little fuzzy.

I liked the costumes of the female characters. Proportions / anatomy was well done, despite some oversized boobs. Especially the cover art reminded me of pinups.

Bottomline, it was ok, but did not grab me. Nice artwork. 3 mechanized stars.

I received this free e-copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

I enjoyed the art and story a lot. The pages felt a bit cluttered at points, it's a wordy comic and the steampunk setting and costumes, although beautiful and detailed, are a bit too much in certain scenes. I loved seeing the machinery and weapons as well, and the mood and settings were amazing. The plot is mysterious and full of action; the fight scenes were my favorite, but the suspense is what kept me reading.

I loved Mechanika's character since issue #0, in which we see both her badassery hunting monsters and her soft side taking care of them when she realizes it's an intelligente being. What I didn't love so much is her design. So, okay, although I might like boobs as much as any straight dude I'm obviously not the target audience for this. But seriously, her boobs-waist-hips ratio is just ridiculous. And it's not just her, is any young female character. So I was more than a little uncomfortable with some of the scenes and impossible postures. (Also, no one wears low waisted pants anymore. They are tacky. Please find another way for your characters to show some skin, because hipbones have been a no-no since 2001. And I don't care this is a steampunk story. Still tacky.)

In general it was enjoyable, but not the kind of series I usually get into.

this is a wonderfully written steampunk storyline, teamed with beautiful artwork! If you're a fan of steampunk, this is for you!

Absolutely freaking fantastic! Amazing artwork, characters, and story. Lady Mechanika is a badass and one of my new favorite heroines!

In the first pages we learn of lady Mechanika, a half human half mechanical woman who remembers nothing of how she came to be this amalgamation of human and machine. She is unique on the world, but soon "replicas" begin to appear, but they don't seem to last very long. She begans to follow their trail, but it runs cold as the last girl appears to be dead from gunshots injuries, and recovering her body only leads to encounters with people from Mechanika's past.

Her travels following more information on the mechanical girl puts her on contact with the Circus Romani, made up of a bunch of people who are distrusted because they are different (but who share the same distrust towards others), but who are gonna end to be crucial in helping her in her forthcoming adventures, as she ends up striking some kind of friendship with Sr. Gitano, who turns out to be the father of the deceased mechanical girl, called Seraphina.

I love the steampunk flare of this graphic novel, the little girl who wears pants and openly defies Lady Mechanika thinking she is an "imposter", the consistency of all the characters, how bad the bad characters are (even if some of them are come forward quite as "nazies"), and I think overall this is a very entertaining lecture.

With its gorgeous and sultry illustrations and its hip steampunk storyline, Lady Mechanika is a graphic novel that makes for an excellent read.  Part woman, part machine, the beautiful Lady Mechanika knows nothing of what came before her awakening.  Who she is and where she comes from are questions that lie behind her every act.  Her exploits are legendary, but is she the person she is believed to be?  The inventor Lewis provides her with the technology that aids her in her cases and provides valuable backup.  

Lady Mechanika is a fun, action packed adventure with monstrous technology and vivid illustrations.  Often over the top, the first volume of this steampunk series is easily enjoyed by teens and adults.

4/5

I received a copy of Lady Mechanika V. 1 from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

—Crittermom