Synopsis
Long before there was Terminator and Skynet, there was R.U.R., the Czech classic that gave us the word “robot”.
The R.U.R. Factory, far from humanity on its own island, has produced the perfect product: Robots! Devoid of pain, love, and all human emotion, never tiring, never bored, unfazed by death they are the ideal worker for modern-day society!
All of this is about to change, and
only Helena can see it. She is condemned to remain alone in her dread, as all of society embraces the robots and the automatons’ presence increases. However, there has been a glitch in the programming. All of our assumptions may have been wrong. The robots may indeed feel pain. They may harbor passions and hatred, and the Robot Revolution may be near!
As retold and drawn by the young, award-winning Czech graphic novelist, Katerina Cupová, this seminal dystopian work by Karel Čapek (which gave us the word “robot”) makes the reader question the notions of work and progress and humanity itself. Through Cupová’s deft hand, R.U.R. Is a sight to behold.
Review
Reading R.U.R in high school is a moment that stands out in my mind. The classic play by Karel Čapek coined the term “robot” in 1920 and had me still thinking deep thoughts about class, work, and humanity in the early 2000’s. So when I had the opportunity to review a graphic novel adaptation? I jumped at it.
First off, Kateřina Čupová did a stunning job with the visuals for this adaptation. I was intrigued to see how such a famous play would translate to this medium, and I was not disappointed. The colors are beautiful, and there is a storybook quality to the pages that often makes the darkest moments feel more dire and poignant.
This was an undertaking with a clear love of the source material. I can imagine it must be intimidating to adapt such a beloved work, but Čupová made the characters and settings come to life for me. In fact, this is a text I haven’t seen since my teenage years and now 20 years later I’m reminded of why this work had such a profound impact on me. In many ways I’m reminded of questions I often have when reading the very best of sci-fi: who are we? what makes us human? what is the future we deserve?
The only retraction I have is that whether due to the flow of the panels or the translation there were one or two times I had to pause for a moment to assess what was happening. It didn’t detract from the overall experience, but it did break my flow. Still, I greatly enjoyed this work!
I devoured this version of R.U.R. If you are a fan of classic literature and graphic novels, please pick it up. You won’t be disappointed!
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