GVN Talking Comics Review: Mad Cave Studios ‘Love Me: A Romance Story’ Issue#1 By Francesca Perillo And Stefano Cardoselli

“If you were to insist I was a robot, you might not consider me capable of love in some mystic human sense.” ~ Issac Asimov: ‘The Foundation Series’

‘Love Me: A Romance Story’

In Francesca Perillo and Stefano Cardoselli’s new Mad Cave series, Love Me: A Romance Story, it is a world that writers like Asimov predicted. Where robots and humans cohabitate. For the most part, robots aren’t popular, which is sometimes puzzling considering they are doing most of the tasks that humans feel they are above doing. With the wind blowing in that direction, you might think that robots would feel “some kind of way” about that consensus. If you were among those who believed the robots had feelings.

Jojo and Frida

Jojo would fit into that category. Jojo, known by his taxi designation as No. 31, is a bipedal robot living with his cat Frida. He has a naturally optimistic personality, which contrasts with Frida’s feline pessimism. In the three years they have lived together, Frida is often puzzled by Jojo’s incessant glass-half-full view of life. As far as his feline companion is concerned, their city is an overcrowded cesspool. But you wouldn’t tell it by Jojo.

Love at First Sight

Every day he drives his taxi, and despite the often-rude clientele he serves, he maintains his good humor. But as good as Jojo sees his life, something is missing: someone to share that life with. However, on his first pick-up for the day, it seemed like the robot gods were listening. His human fare Gilda had a beautiful smile and shared his taste in music and movies. It was too good to be true. In addition, she talked to him like he was just another person and not a machine. Jojo was so excited, he had to exercise control not to babble and embarrass himself. He must have done alright because she agreed to meet at the cinema house that night to see a movie.

As he returned home to prepare for his “date,” he couldn’t believe his good fortune. It was love at first sight. While Frida didn’t understand his babbling at all, Jojo made sure he was on time for Gilda. Which is more than could be said for her. He waited and waited. But even after 4 and a half hours, she never showed. That kind of disappointment makes it hard to take, even for a glass-half-full guy.

Thoughts

From the very beginning, Love Me: A Romance Story stands out by using an unconventional narrator. It’s not often that a cat serves as the voice of reason in a story, but Frida’s monologue sets the stage by presenting a contrasting viewpoint on Jojo and her lives. Jojo believes that life is good as long as he has good music, plenty of coffee, and dead plants to water. On the other hand, Frida assesses their situation with a critical eye: “Oh my god! This city stinks worse than my shit! So much noise and chaos that I can’t even take a nap in peace!”
This chaos makes Jojo’s good humor seem even more out of place, at least from Frida’s perspective.

It also serves to make Jojo open to looking for romance where he can find it. Willing to take the chance for disappointment to find a companion to share his love of music, film and coffee. All the while, fighting self-doubt from rearing its ugly head. These feelings are totally relatable in spite of their unusual setting. Writer Francesca Perillo does a great job of setting up the narrative and leaving the reader wondering what will transpire between Jojo and Gilda. It’s like Issac Asimov meets Nora Ephron. At least in this opening. I can hang with that.

Artwork

When your setting is a gritty, crowded cityscape in the future, no one is as adept at presenting that environment as well as Stefano Cardoselli. One need only look at his previous series for Mad Cave Don’t Spit in the Wind, to appreciate his skill at depicting such environments and the people who inhabit them. Combined with the colors of Lorenzo Scaramella and letters by Buddy Beaudoin, Love Me: A Romance Story issue #1 sets up as an enjoyable, fresh look at love, Robot-Style.