Comic review: Alex + Ada #11- Golden rule, or base instincts?

Story and script: Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
Illustrations: Jonathan Luna
Publisher: Image comics
Released: 17th December 2014


I’ve already written quite a few words on my blog about the general excellence of this title, and how it’s subtly exploring the nature of human consciousness. The question it’s posing is a vital one, that being- ‘What is it that makes us a human being?’

I say ‘vital’ because we still live in a world largely dominated by order following android humans. Men and women who unquestioningly follow orders rather than basing their actions on universal moral truths, in particular the golden moral rule, well known in the west now thanks to Christianity, that rule being the following:

One should treat others, as one would like others to treat oneself.

Order followers disregard this golden rule. They act like androids, and thus, we have the inevitable consequences that follow when you break that rule. We get the world as it is today. A world ran by states, by control systems, by control freaks, by sociopaths, all held in place by order following humans who consciously ignore the golden rule.

Alex + Ada #11 continues this exploration of human consciousness and moral rights and wrongs by introducing the new idea of an android experiencing dreams. What does it mean? Is Ada developing a human soul? After her recent awakening the android Ada is now capable of basing her actions on morality, so why wouldn’t she have a soul?

A soul is your connection to the universal oneness, a reminder that you are not an individual meat puppet, but a spiritual being experiencing a manifestation of consciousness in a flesh and blood vehicle. As you develop moral culpability the soul that is always hidden within becomes more apparent, and thus in this comic book the soul of the ‘android’ Ada becomes more apparent to her as she continues along her path of awakening.

Apart from this further development of the long running thematic sub-text of the narrative there is a moment of questioning in this book that I felt was much needed. A moment where everything is questioned, the textual assumptions are called out, and the reader is made to think about what s/he is reading here. That moment came when a jealous ex of the Alex character called him out on his developing relationship with the eternally youthful Ada:

‘She could be a model. She’ll always be available for sex. She’ll never gain weight. She’ll still look twenty-four when you’re seventy-seven. Sounds like a great deal to me. Who needs a real woman when you can have every man’s fantasy?’

The text really needed this questioning, as what is being postulated here is largely true. Is Alex a good guy after all, or merely a shallow and selfish bloke who just wants a pretty girlfriend who will never age? That question hadn’t yet been asked, and to see it being asked here was jolting to me as a reader, yet when it happened I just knew that yes, this had to be asked. What motivates the actions of this man? A desire for emancipation and the raising of spiritual consciousness, or merely base, perhaps even subconsciously, hidden desires?

The book closes this month with a new threat to the status quo, and an ominous looking teaser cover for next month. This narrative development keeps the story on a knife edge, making it not only intellectually stimulating, but exciting on a pure narrative, story-telling front as well.

Alex + Ada is a jugganaut of consistency, and this month’s instalment is just as good as it’s predecessors. This book has yet to dip, yet to sag, yet to sink into a comfortable middle ground of routine or predictability. Eleven issues in and it continue to explore new territory, to pose new questions to its readers.  It’s an excellent book, it really is, and long may it continue.

Rating: 9/10


Click link below for a quick explanation of the Golden rule:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule