Automatic Kafka

by Joe Casey

LA OBRA MÁS EXPERIMENTAL Y DIVERTIDA DE JOE CASEY
Automatic Kafka es un androide. Al principio fue un superhéroe, pero los tiempos cambian y decidió dedicarse a otras cosas, como el porno, las drogas o lo que sea que se les ocurra a los chalados de Joe y Ash. Aquí está la obra más extraña pero a la vez divertida que jamás ha publicado (y posiblemente publicará) WildStorm. Una locura salida de la retorcida mente de Joe Casey (Wildcats 3.0) y de las creativas manos de Ashley Wood (Popbot).

Genres: Comics, Comics Manga

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian note: there is more than one author with this name

Joe Casey is an American comic book writer. He has worked on titles such as Wildcats 3.0, Uncanny X-Men, The Intimates, Adventures of Superman, and G.I. Joe: America's Elite among others. As part of the comics creator group Man of Action Studios, Casey is one of the creators of the animated series Ben 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Casey

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️ DNF at 80% — honestly kind of impressive because I’ve never DNF’d a comic before. Recommended only if you’ve previously read & loved it or if you’re writing some sort of paper on contemporary reinterpretations of Kafka. Although I’ve heard Upgrade Soul approaches similar themes in a more sophisticated way. I’m super curious about how it compares thematically that I’m adding it to my TBR!

But back to Automatic Kafka… I can see why this generated hype 20 years ago. It strains to be transgressive and edgy by taking its parody to the absolute extreme. Who knows maybe 20 years ago I’d have loved this but today I found it boring and exhausting to force myself through.

I’ve seen some reviewers criticize the book as offensive. I found using babies as bombs & a female superhero whose power is sex a bit tasteless. I wasn’t offended though because it all read as a reflection of superhero comics attitudes about women & violence rather than the author own opinions. Still, your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance.

I did find the artwork far more interesting than the story itself. Visually it conveys energy & chaos extremely effectively. The disorienting nature of the illustration kept things interesting where the plot failed. I think at this point we’ve all been exposed to plenty of stories about deadly reality tv shows and hyper patriotic over sexualized desensitized soldiers trying to reintegrate to civilian life. The elements of the plot feel rooted in shock value instead of connection to developing the story or characters. Since these plot points aren’t shocking anymore the whole foundation of the story dissipates.

Other positives, the story successfully reflects Kafka’s themes and philosophy. The alienation, loss of identity, absurdity and exploitation by bureaucracy all come through clearly, even if the ending is way too on the nose. The author doesn’t trust us to understand what they’re doing without literally spelling it out. The name of our MC is already enough of a giant clue.

I HATE DNFing something I’m supposed to review. By the time I hit 80% I finally asked why I was forcing myself through something I kept falling asleep to? The relief I felt at not having to continue felt like total validation so I skipped ahead & skimmed the ending.

Trigger warnings for sex, nudity & violence.

[Sarah E B ʚ♡ɞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 /5 stars
This has a very unique style to it, and I honestly haven't read anything quite like it before. The story itself is okay because there were a few parts where I got confused and wasn't always sure what was happening, so I had to reread some sections. Even with that, it feels like something from 20 years ago, ot does stick out because it. Which gives it a stand out. It isn't a story that will work for everyone, but if you're looking for something original and don't mind a little confusion along the way, it's definitely worth checking out.

[Robbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't read the Spanish-language collection of Automatic Kafka: I stumbled over a collection of the original 9 issues in English. I liked the name and it looked interesting. Normally I'd not bother reviewing something like this, but it made an impression that I want to remember so I'm adding a review on this edition.

There are comics that are high art and that transcend the crass commercialism of the major comics publishers, but this is not it. What is it? It's shallow misanthropic cynicism masquerading as profundity. It's an exercise in digging through the dirt of nature, narrative, and style and pretending it's the only pure truth. It's whining about the industry on which the artists built their lives because it informed them, quite rightly, that they just aren't very good. It's mediocre at its best and obnoxious for the rest. It's not completely awful and it's obvious that someone at least made some effort creating it, so it gets two starts instead of one: it's readable but why someone would want to is beyond me. I honestly don't know why I bothered to read through all 9 issues and feel kind of ashamed for sticking with it.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Automatic Kafka era parte de un equipo de superheroes ahora desbandado, asi que ahora es un intento de Yonqui que esta aburrido y quiere saber mas de la vida, quiere saber que es estar vivo y vive en una monotonia terrible, al tiempo que el gobierno quiere que trabaje para ellos y recurre a su creador para saber que hacer. Facil, volverse famoso asi que sera modelo , presentador...y todo mientras el mundo quiere cambiar y evolucionar pero al final el comic cambia y se convierte en una critica/defensa del medio, por parte de sus creadores.¿deja cabos sueltos?,muchisimos pero no importa, es un final inteligente y glorioso que recordare. El arte de Ashley Wood es de otro mundo, puede no gustarte en algun momento pero sus portadas son épicas, sus diseños son extraordinarios y te ataca de una manera que se agradece, si, puede que nunca dibuje mensualmente Spiderman pero no lo necesita.

[Crossbreaker96 · Rating 1 out of 5]

No se que mierda acabo de terminar de leer, una pérdida de tiempo completa!
Lo único rescatable sin duda es el arte.

Psdt: No volver a comprar cómics de los que no tienes ni idea de que van.

[hatters !! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Image Comics for the e-arc! All opinions are my own

This comic was a super fun ride! It overall felt like reading a fever dream and I enjoyed how the concepts of fame, patriotism, and sex went hand in hand. It was a trippy read for sure. I'm only giving it 3 stars however as I feel it's best processed over multiple re-reads and in my opinion feels a little "edgy" at some points. Overall, it's clear the creators love superheros and A.K very much and we can feel that love in this work. But execution wise I feel like I need to read this a few times to get a good understanding of what's going on and how the themes come together. Nonetheless, I still had lots of fun with it

[Chad Alan Honestly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting this, I was excited to get this arc. I remember starting this series when it was first published, but I could not remember how it ended. Now I remember why I stopped reading it when this series was first issued as singles. This collected edition of these single issues is nice, so you can sit and read this series together. I have read and enjoyed some other stuff by Joe Casey; this was not my favorite series, however. Somewhere around issue 5 it falls off for me, and I lose interest. I did finish this book, hoping I was wrong and that it would pick back up. Sadly, this robot's journey of trying to become human was just not for me. This series is not a total loss, though. I did enjoy seeing Kafka’s POV of what being human was (he tried several “human” activities), and I do enjoy the artwork of Ash Wood. The artistry is very raw and rough at the edges, which really fits this story well.

[47Time · Rating 1 out of 5]

The artwork is crap and the story is chaotic. Sorry... experimental. Or just plain mental, I guess.

After his superhero group got disbanded, Kafka the android began searching for ways to feel more human. A cyber-drug helps, but can't protect him from his past. He is still desirable because of his abilities. The secret government organization calling itself the National Park Service wants him to work for them. He is advised to hide in plain sight by embracing a life of fame. All the other crap seems completeky unrelated, so let's just move on to some other stories that make sense, shall we?

[Daniel Reyes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me ha parecido un historia demasiado caótica, puedo llegar a entender lo que pretendía el autor pero se me hace difícil creerme las convicciones tanto de los personajes como de lo que plantea la historia.

El dibujo está chulo.

[Nor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shame that the awful writing doesn't match the fantastic artwork.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Image Comics for an advance copy of a reissue of a comic that was ahead of its time, looking at the fate of superheroes in a quickly changing world, where enemies can't be punched into the sun, and just surviving takes more out of a person than the mightiest of celestial threats.

I have read a lot of comics over the years. I have seen Spider-man on bad tv shows, and major motion pictures. Bright and sunny, and dark and gritty. Longstanding publishers go bankrupt, come back, or lost to legends. Comics sometimes don't last, even classic stories. Something that hits hard say in the eighties might look odd in our times. Some still have the capacity to surprise, still ahead of the curve, even if the curves are a lot more hilly. I have a memory of reading this comic when it first came out, but it has not stayed with me. Reading it this time I am surprised by how much is still relevant, how much has changed, and how much should be changed. Something that is rare even in comics now. Automatic Kafka written by Joe Casey with art by Ashley Wood is a story about the past, of heroes, evil governments, fame, reality, and expectations, a story that looked at the future we find ourselves in, a story that was spot on in many ways, many of them bad.

Automatic Kafka is an android superhero, one of the Stranger$ a super group of superheroes who ruled the 1980's. They fought crime, sometimes each other, but had a purpose and a reason for believing. The band broke up, and suddenly many of these heroes find themselves lost in a world of powers, with nothing to trust in, including themselves. Kafka is asked by a shady government organization, the National Parks Services to enter their clandestine world, and fight the good government fight. Kafka would rather sell out, shilling products, shilling himself, all in an effort to find a reason to go on. Things get darker for Kafka, hosting tv shows, drugs, meaningless liaisons, meetings with superheroes and super villains. Even a little light genocide. Kafka's search takes him all over the world, with answers found, as most good answers are, in a comic book shop.

The book came out twenty years ago and shows, as this was one of the darker times in comics, with bankruptcies, and multicovers for issues sending comics into a bubble that took years to recover from. There is a bit of darkness to the story. The grim and dark of Watchmen and early Image, with a lot of in-jokes and behind the scene humor. The comic is pretty odd in its treatment of women, but again we are talking comics, and especially the early 2000's were not the best. Sadly we seem to have returned to that era, at least a casual look at social media seems to show. The story goes in a lot of places, fame, celebrity, what makes a hero, justice, even creativity. Some of the work is pretty prescient, some just seems awkward. The art though is quite good, and holds up even now. The varied styles go with the metafiction of the writing, and really work well together. Again a rarity in comics even today.

This might be for older issues. Some newer ones might not get the references, Some might find the story familiar, deconstruction of heroes has become almost blasé. However the ideas still hold up, though the content towards women might be problematic.

[Alex Sarll]

Dear gods, the layers of time on this now. Published by WildStorm in 2002, it was an edgy, sassy riff on the Avengers, with Automatic Kafka himself an obvious Vision stand-in, an artificial man who's ended up hooked on nanotecheroin just to feel something, but then, in order to escape being disappeared and turned into a weapon by the US government, has to get, and stay, famous. So he hosts that old mainstay of near-future satire, a killer game show, which admittedly is never something that's quite come to pass, but it's not as if 21st century reality TV hasn't often been much the same thing. Except even in 2002, the intermittently brilliant Joe Casey was sufficiently on the ball to know that foul-mouthed superhero revisionism was getting played out, so he's also taking the piss out of that whole trend, even if it is frequently in a cake-and-eat-it sort of way, so that Automatic Kafka's old teammate Helen of Troy is sex-powered, but when she turns out not to need charging up during one particular flashback, he gets the wry aside "So, no Chaykinesque salaciousness this time around..." And if you're one of the many who now find the version of Captain America in Millar & Hitch's contemporaneous Ultimates a bit much, just wait until you see his equivalent here, the Constitution, who dresses like a gas mask gimp and, flashbacks aside, is first seen bumming his sidekick (who's called the Declaration of Independence, obviously). It's not entirely relentless - touches like the mad scientist who's replaced his head with a miniature spiral galaxy remind one that Casey and Grant Morrison were on a similar wavelength back then. But even an early noughties pastiche of the era's edgelord tendencies can still read pretty edgelord in the primmer 2020s. What makes it work even at its most snickering, though, is the art by Ashley Wood, whose stuff has often left me cold, but here turns Automatic Kafka into the perfect mood piece, coming across like American Flagg! one minute, Dave McKean the next, before swerving into killer kid's crayon drawings. What the hell it reads like to anyone coming in cold, I'm not sure I want to know, but as a historical document for old farts who were there and yet missed it, hurrah for Image getting it back into print.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 🌟
I was not expecting what I read. This is not a comic you pick up without knowing what you are signing up for.

Automatic Kafka is a surrealist, post-modern, meta-textual superhero comic. It is about being lonely, existentially adrift, confused, and using desire to find humanity. The author is sardonically critiquing celebrity culture, consumerism, corporate sexualisation, and — interestingly enough — the act of making a comic book itself. These characters are superheroes deconstructing themselves as heroes — and are aware of the act — if that makes sense. Very meta. (Or at least this is what I have interpreted the graphic novel to be).

Illustrations
The art style is chaotic, abstract at times, painterly, and intentionally difficult to read. You will be staring at the pages until you are wholly unfamiliar with them. It is discursive, but provocative and a visceral experience. Often you may not know what is happening — the visual disorientation mirrors Kafka's own fragmented sense of self and feeling of being "othered". It is provocative in the way that surrealist art is.

If you like dark humour, you will like this book. There is explicit content in this book. If that is not for you, then this book is simply not for you. You need to read this as a satirical commentary on corporate exploitation and fame, so you have to welcome the confusion.

Recommendation:
If you want a comic that is intentionally strange, provocative, and deliberately uncomfortable — one that challenges you — this is worth experiencing in your lifetime. But please do not rate a book poorly without reading the content warnings.

Thank you Net Galley, Image Comics, and Joe Casey for the ARC.

[Book Club of One · Rating 2 out of 5]

What if Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's The Watchmen was less focused on the washed-up team of heroes and instead just embraced a 90s art style and extreme sex and violence? Well, you'd have something like Joe Casey and Ashley Wood's Automatic Kafka First published by DC's Wildstorm imprint in 2002, Image Comics is releasing the complete story arc in a single trade paperback.

Automatic Kafka, is an android superhero, formerly a member of the team The $tranger$, but since the team broke up, Kafka has been desperately searching for meaning in his life. Throughout the novel we see him try drugs, fame, sex or government conspiracy; with varying levels of success. Other former $tranger$ pop in an out. One is a female master illusionist. Another is an inverse Captain America with the power to have any woman want to have sex with him, within minutes. This terrible subplot is explored to the point where he works with a porn company to try and set a record.

The genius of the team has become a very successful business man who the National Park's Service is trying to capture so he can stop.... exploiting a park? It's not very clear. And there are exploding babies used as weapons of mass destruction.

At least the art is interesting? Lots of experimentation with panel arrangement and at times feels somewhat reminiscent of Dave McKean's mixed media style.

But, the plot is mostly a mess. Automatic Kafka is billed as a cult classic or a post modern take down, but it was best left forgotten.

Not recommended unless you like your superheros with a big dose of sexism and incoherent plots that are concluded with meta commentary endings to dig the creators out of their self created hole.

I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.

[꧁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out this review of Automatic Kafka: un cómic de superhéroes on Fable. https://fable.co/review/e3d45e10-9551...

3.75✨

🤖 ✍️

TW: explicit sexual content s. Violence.

Thanks to Netgalley and Image Comics for this ARC.
I love the illustrations and it would've been better for me if I have read Franz Kafka's writings. I have some ideas but i have not completely read anything from him at all. The title of this comic got me curious how it will be related to some of his books.

Before completing this, I finished some manga and it disoriented me on how I read the comic but that's okay, just around a few pages when I realized i was reading it wrong.
With my kid playing beside me while I read, I have to turn away my screen in order not to show inappropriate illustrations/words.

I think it got better around 75% into and then the remaining pages are just unexpected.
I wonder if they turn this into a Black Mirror episode or Love, Death, and Robots (since he is one)

Overall good read and loved the references.
_____
The million dollar detail

He's living in his own little world right now.

Without our memories, what else is there?

We're real people, you know. At least, we think we are.

Hmm.. interesting reading.

[Peregine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is written in exchange for a ARC from Netgalley.

The title suggested that it was going to be weird, but I wasn't expecting this. Most of it is confusing. The story starts in media res and jumps around without a clear indication of what is a flashback, what is a scene change and what is hallucination, and it is very nonlinear. It is very referential and possibly meant to be satirical. The protagonist is an android junkie who for some reason is retired. The government tries to recruit him again, so he becomes a celebrity to avoid that. Despite being described as a hero, he rather acts like a villain as do the members of his former team. In fact in many way it seems like a satire of The Watchmen. There are a lot of references and things that may or may not mean anything. There are some things which might be shocking, but the whole thing seems shallow edgy and hollow commentary. The ending is especially very meta and not really worth the set up. The artwork, is intentionally weird and sometimes low quality, and is the best part. I found the cover misleading as to the style.

[Dwarven Hydra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Automatic Kafka was very interesting. I don’t think I would say I liked it, but it was hard to put down.
It has the same general vibes as Watchmen, except the focus was more on exploring a very grimdark world and generally reprehensible characters than on any particular theme. The last chapter provides a lot of insight into what exactly they were doing with the comic.
The art was cool, very sketchy, striking colour choices, it complemented the vibe of the world and story really well.
It’s not exactly my cup of tea. In particular, it went a bit too far with the sex stuff for my tastes considering how little purpose there was with it, and I’m not generally a fan of stories where everyone just kind of sucks. I don’t regret reading it, but I probably won’t read it again.

[Stephen Reyes-Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe someone gave this 2 stars because it has nudity haha. That's so wild. I'm giving it 4 stars to balance that out, honestly. I did like it, but I feel like it might have been closer to 3 for me under different circumstances. It's definitely a product of its time. It reads a lot like Vertigo stuff from the 90s. Especially like Transmetropolitan and Doom Patrol. There's even a big meta thing in there with the creators. Same as those books, it's really good, but also really hard to follow. I did have to look the synopsis up on Wikipedia to help me get the plot. A part of the reason is that even though the art is really cool looking, it's very chaotic and hard to tell what's going on sometimes. Overall though, I did enjoy it quite a bit and I'm really glad it's getting rereleased. I had never heard of it and probably wouldn't have thought to look it up if I hadn't seen the ARC available. I think it. It being finished is supposed to be a plot point or something, but I would actually like to see it get a proper ending. There was an interesting cliffhanger that I'd like to see resolved, but maybe that's just me. Definitely worth a read either way.

[Sammi Mancil · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Automatic Kafka is a fast paced thrill-ride, I felt like it could have been presented better. Overall the story was original and kept you entertained. I give it three stars because image comics managed to confuse me and throw a lot of imagery at me. The main focus was a lot of “shock value”.

I felt the overall quality of the story was lacking in context. I asked myself if I’ve missed something. The world building was fun but confusing.
Casey’s work is very niche and can be considered eccentric. While this wasn’t my favorite, it is an eccentric look at morphing the body and humanizing robotic elements.

[Mayra Alejandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

- How many stars do I give this book? 1 ⭐ out of 5.

- I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

- Thanks NetGalley and Image Comics for the opportunity to read this ARC.

**NOW ONTO THE REVIEW: The beginning of the comic was okayish, the artwork really pops up.

However the narrative was inconsistent and confusing. It felt like reading a bunch of incoherent bits of stories.

AND also, the portraying of women in the plot was just degrading.
I cannot praise any form of literature or in this case a comic that shows women as a walking/ horny hole awaiting for a penis.

#NetGalley #AutomaticKafka

[LucianTaylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno de los mejores comics que he leido hasta ahora. Es una muy bien diseñada sátira a la industria y el consumismo masivo de Superheroes. En adición a la peculiar trama y su espléndido final mordaz, el arte y el diseño surrealista y caótico de cada página la convierten en un deleite visual a la altura de "Freaks of the Heartland".

[Curious Madra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Call me old fashioned but wtf is with naked women and men all around with masturbation involved in nearly all friggin chapters. This is definitely why you shouldn’t go in blind because honestly wtf was the point?!🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Got this via netgalley and publisher…

[Jacob Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to thank NetGalley for an ARC.

I didn't read the Spanish-language collection of Automatic Kafka. I love experimental work. If that's in the writing or in the artwork. Maybe the writing is better in the original. But the art work didn't work for me. I feel like it probably only works for a small group of people. Just wasn't for me.

[Audet Maxime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely one of the more abstract and confusing comics I have read in a while. I had an ok time with it, but the art was very messy and chaotic, which felt like a deliberate choice that I can understand, but still made the whole thing hard to swallow. I would also advise everyone to check the warning tags before picking it up, as it deals with pretty adult topics.

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The art work is the only thing I enjoyed about this. The writing was not great and it was hard to follow, feels like it’s trying to be more profound than it actually is? Disappointed.

[✨ gabi ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, the story was quite not for me and I did not managed to go past the 35% mark. I thought I was going to be different from everyone else that was saying that this might have hit 20 years ago, but it didn't make sense now, but, in reality, they're right. DNF.

[Jaime Andrés Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otra vuelta de tuerca a los cómics de superhéroes. Si bien la narración es algo caótica, logra captar la atención en muchos pasajes. Y las ilustraciones de Ashley Wood son de lujo.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

What says, “Merry Christmas!” more than a graphic novel filled with female nudity and near pornographic images of sex between women and a robot and a masturbation scene? Happy Holidays, everyone!!

You may be asking yourself, “Self, does the gratuitous scenes serve a purpose?” Not really. Joe Case, who I have immensely enjoyed the work of his that I have read in the past, is preaching against celebrity culture. Can that fit into that argument? Yeah, but was it needed? Nope.

And there in lies the problem. The points made and the story are good. Really good in some spots. So, really, it boils down to the audience reading this. This is not for underage readers. This is not for people that do not wish to see such images.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Marie Sinadjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from NetGalley

I'm definitely not the target demographic for this, but it was a good look at what comics were like (and how horribly they treated women) decades ago. It was also hard to read in the sense that I had to keep zooming in on the text, whereas I didn't have that issue with the other graphic novels on the NetGalley Reader. I did like the chaotic energy of the art and how it was achieved! It fit that mess of a story, lol.

The meta ending was fun, but it seemed to come out of the left field as a convenient ending and was just a bit too on the nose. Cool premise though!

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

E quem é o Kafka Automático? Um andróide ex-super-herói viciado em drogas nanotecnológicas que se vê obrigado a ser uma figura pública popular para fugir a agências secretas que o querem colocar a seu serviço. Esta premissa curiosa é uma boa desculpa para um comic meta-crítico, que se desenrola como uma reflexão alucinada sobre o género com requintes pós-modernistas. O argumentista Joe Casey mergulha-nos numa caricatura exagerada das temáticas que caracterizam os comics e a cultura popular. Teorias da conspiração, agências ultra-secretas, operações militares de limpeza no terceiro mundo, reality shows homicidas, heroínas hiper-sexualizadas, argutos bonecreiros exímios em fazer girar o mundo através das suas manipulações e ícones ultra-violentos. Para terminar, ainda nos dão uma reflexão baudrillardiana sobre simulacros e simulações onde o herói da BD dialoga sobre a sua existência com os seus autores.

Firmemente inserido no estilo de comics que se assume como reflexão crítica sobre o género através de boas e alucinantes narrativas, Automatic Kafka ainda beneficia de uma ilustração brilhante. O trabalho do desenhador Ashley Wood oscila entre um expressionismo abstracto e um estilismo muito devedor a Dave McKean. Esta é uma boa surpresa para os olhos e para os neurónios.