New Comic: More comics by Rachel Saunders available to read online

Rachel Saunders, the artist who drew First Law, has a new home on the web for her comics at Ciao Gatto, her online portfolio. At the moment there are some intriguing hints as to what she has planned for 2009, but unfortunately very few preview images or links to webcomics.  One comic you can link to from Ciao Gatto though is her 2007-08 Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga entry ‘Parasites’ which got through to the final of the competition that year.

As you can see from this page, the art is top-notch and its well worth checking out if you enjoyed First Law.  Also of note on Ciao Gatto is Rachel’s gallery, where you can see some examples of her standalone work.

One last thing to note: if you are planning on attending the upcoming May MCM London Expo, look out for a new print comic from Rachel called ‘A Night with a Wolf’.

First Law by Rachel Saunders

Remember in my ‘About this Blog’ post I said that sometimes I would cover a comic that was a little harder to find?  Well this is one of those.  If  you’re after a little gem of a comic that can be enjoyed by both manga and western comic aficionados then look no further than ‘First Law’ by Rachel Saunders.

This 12 page one-shot comic is based on a short story by classic sci-fi author Isaac Asimov (he of ‘I Robot’ fame).  Before you get into the nitty gritty of the comic Rachel helpfully introduces the two main characters (Gregory Powell and Michael Donovan), as well as explaining Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.

The story itself looks at what lengths it might take for a robot to disobey one of the Three Laws…but I can’t go into much more detail without spoiling it I’m afraid.

The artwork is confident and has its own style, in which you can see influences ranging from manga such as Ghost in the Shell to Disney animations.  The character designs have a lot of personality, the robots have had thought put into their design (which Rachel mentions in her artists’ blurb at the back), and the bleak environment of the moon on which the story is set comes across well too.

‘First Law’ had a short first print run and was available to buy for £1.50 at the 2008 October London Expo.  That might have been the only chance to get hold of it but as Rachel states in her blog, DogStarComics, it will hopefully be available to buy again at Minamicon 2009. If you do see this one at an event in the future, don’t pass it by!