Anyone who follows Penny Arcade understands that their comic is split between a full time writer and artist, and that occasionally they break from humor to explore more dramatic content. In 2009 they made a one shot called Automata, then after a small kickstarter (because the process of making money on a webcomic is inscrutable even to the most successful) they expanded another 5 comics. Here is the first one With the second one you can hit the next comic button to read more. It's beautiful Now compare it to the trailer for JJ Abrams latest assault on science fiction, Almost Human The difference is night and day and reflect the terrible culture that sci-fi has become. Gone is the Asmovian exploration into what it means to be a robot. Forgotten are the days of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner. And don't think no one noticed that DRN is trying as hard as he possibly can to emulate Brent Spiner as Data the android. Almost human gives us a "defective" robot whose apparent humanity shuts down any dialogue about the role of machines in our lives and the division between ourselves and reality. Instead we see a quirky cop drama that happens to be set in the future where we can all laugh at the silly robot. I'm willing to give Almost Human a chance, but I'll always remember how great it could have been.
