Biomecha #3.5
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Biomecha #3.5 (c) Laura Watton
Biomecha #3.5 © Laura Watton

Biomecha #3.5:
Laura Watton, Chatri [inks], Larry Bundy Jr [cover colour]

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It says "Party Special" on the cover and it certainly feels as if I have a hangover having read this through again, and still having no idea as to what's just happened!
Okay, officially, Biomecha is about a strapping young sex lad, Toshio, who awakes from unconsciousness to find biomechanical arms on his torso, instead of his real ones. By issue # 3 (where I join these crazy kids) Toshio seems not to mind too much that he has these wacky mechanical limbs. A compensating factor may be that he's enrolled in a Cyber-Technik highschool, full of cheap alcohol and even cheaper dates! And there's Dr Harvey, a bit of an also-ran, character-wise, whose meant to help Toshio come to grips (natch) with his super-limbs.
Okay, so there it is in a nutshell. Coming from the land that gave us Godzilla and Shonen Knife, I wouldn't normally raise an eyebrow quite so high if Biomecha were indeed Japanese. However, as a homegrown slice of manga I'm utterly baffled.
It's not the artwork's fault so much. It's pretty consistently good. Laura Watton has a confident manga style and apart from some occasional clunkiness, it's all very charming and full of promise. However, there's some poor layouts and script planning in evidence.  
And let's face it; it's a pretty terrible script. The writing is some of the most confused, garbled nonsense I've ever read and Laura really needs to make some executive decisions about her story. Like Toshio's arms for instance: they seem completely incidental to this episode. He only gets to flex his fuse-wired biceps towards the end of the story, and even then, it's only to get the beers in!
Instead Watton seems more interested in delivering a slice of Manga 'Hollyoaks' replete with English undergraduate expressions ('Swish or what?' 'Chuggin' it down' 'Mine's a Metz!'). The vernacular being more Townie than Tokyo only adds to a confused package.
Likewise the characters are just too similar. Watton skates over any opportunity to create any interesting exchange between her characters.   Biomecha flicks from scene to scene in an over-excited and gushy fashion.
Well, until Toshio learns to control his cyber-wrists properly (here's a genuine Japanese expression for you, 'Polishing the Mushroom!') I fear there's more of this hyperactive manga to come. Biomecha basically needs some time to develop. Even this most bizarre story can work if the basics of writing, structure and art applied. Watton has bags of the latter, the rest is sadly wanting.
Mardou

Biomecha #3.5:
40 A5 pages, full colour cover.
Price: £1.50 + 50p P+P
Laura Watton, c/o Pink Apple Jam Press, 21 Brookwillow Rd, Halesowen, W.Midlands, B63 1BS .
Buy online from sweatdrop
Received at ZUM! HQ:
02viii03
Review Posted:
09xii03
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