Automatic Kafka
Encyclopedia
Automatic Kafka is a nine-issue comic book
limited series
written by Joe Casey
with art by Ashley Wood
. It was published in 2002
by DC Comics
' Wildstorm
imprint.
The series followed the life of Automatic Kafka, an android who had been a member of a mass-marketed superhero group called the $tranger$ during the 1980s. After the team breaks up, Kafka is lost, looking for a new direction in life. The comic follows Kafka as he tries different ways of becoming human: drugs, sex and fame among them. The series also visits Kafka's former teammates who each have adapted to their life post-$tranger$ in their own way.
After an issue focusing on a side character, the series moves to The Constitution of the United States, who leads a group of mercenaries in an attack on a jungle camp. As he finishes, a mysterious flight of military planes bombs the camp with exploding babies. He then returns to the United States, where he embarks on a career as a porn star.
Meanwhile, Kafka and Helen of Troy are enjoying a tryst when The Warning summons them to a social call with an old arch-enemy, Galaxia. Helen and Kafka both balk at the reunion, but eventually warm to the experience. Shortly thereafter, The Warning tricks Galaxia and kills him to power a machine that manufactures the mysterious exploding babies.
As Kafka wrestles with the suicide note left by his drug-dealer/assistant, a phantom butterfly arrives to "rescue" him "from the possible tedium of another so-called 'story arc'." The butterfly takes him to a comic shop, where he meets Joe Casey and Ashley Wood. The authors explain to Kafka that "You've been operating under different rules than most superheroes. You're part of an ongoing marketing experiment. Kids aren't flocking to superheroes like the used to, so now we've got superheroes for adults." Because they do not want to share their creation with other writers and artists, Casey and Wood erase Kafka as the last issue ends.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
written by Joe Casey
Joe Casey
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.-Biography:...
with art by Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator who is well known for his cover art, concept design and his work as an art director....
. It was published in 2002
2002 in comics
-March:* Adventures of Superman #600: super-sized anniversary issue by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo, and Jose Marzan, Jr. -April:* Batman #600: "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," part one, 64-page giant, written by Ed Brubaker.-January:...
by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Wildstorm
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
imprint.
The series followed the life of Automatic Kafka, an android who had been a member of a mass-marketed superhero group called the $tranger$ during the 1980s. After the team breaks up, Kafka is lost, looking for a new direction in life. The comic follows Kafka as he tries different ways of becoming human: drugs, sex and fame among them. The series also visits Kafka's former teammates who each have adapted to their life post-$tranger$ in their own way.
Plot
The series begins with Automatic Kafka's first nanotecheroin trip. As Kafka ponders where his life has gone since the $tranger$ disbanded, The Warning is approached by the National Park Service who want to use Automatic Kafka for clandestine missions. Kafka avoids being trapped into service with the NPS by doing celebrity product endorsements and later hosting a lethal gameshow called The Million Dollar Detail.After an issue focusing on a side character, the series moves to The Constitution of the United States, who leads a group of mercenaries in an attack on a jungle camp. As he finishes, a mysterious flight of military planes bombs the camp with exploding babies. He then returns to the United States, where he embarks on a career as a porn star.
Meanwhile, Kafka and Helen of Troy are enjoying a tryst when The Warning summons them to a social call with an old arch-enemy, Galaxia. Helen and Kafka both balk at the reunion, but eventually warm to the experience. Shortly thereafter, The Warning tricks Galaxia and kills him to power a machine that manufactures the mysterious exploding babies.
As Kafka wrestles with the suicide note left by his drug-dealer/assistant, a phantom butterfly arrives to "rescue" him "from the possible tedium of another so-called 'story arc'." The butterfly takes him to a comic shop, where he meets Joe Casey and Ashley Wood. The authors explain to Kafka that "You've been operating under different rules than most superheroes. You're part of an ongoing marketing experiment. Kids aren't flocking to superheroes like the used to, so now we've got superheroes for adults." Because they do not want to share their creation with other writers and artists, Casey and Wood erase Kafka as the last issue ends.
Characters
- Automatic Kafka: "Morphing Mecha-Soldier", a nanotecheroin-addicted android capable of morphing his body into nearly any shape, usually guns. Formerly a member of the $tranger$, AK becomes a public celebrity to avoid, in part, having to work for the clandestine arm of the National Park Service.
- The Warning: A wealthy government contractor who founded the $tranger$. He has nefarious connections to the National Park Service and is working on a secret project involving exploding babies (the baby plot was not resolved before the comic ended).
- The Constitution of the United States: "Patriotic Combat Legend," an ultra-violent, hyper-sexual patriotic warrior with red, white, and blue tattoos and a gas mask. The Constitution appears to work for a covert branch of the U.S. military.
- Helen of Troy: "Feminine Powers of Mystery", an extremely sexualized woman whose erotic charms are her superpower. Casey and Wood imply, in issue 9, that her powers are magical.
- Saint Nick: "Brooding Anti-Hero." The one member of the $tranger$ who was not featured in any issues of the comic. Mentioned briefly only in issues 2 and 9.
Allusions and references
Automatic Kafka makes numerous references to other comics, often invoking tropes of the genre or referring to specific characters.- Issue 4 focuses on a minor character named Charles BrownCharlie BrownCharles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
and his interactions with adult versions of the PeanutsPeanutsPeanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
gang. The cover depicts Automatic Kafka standing atop a dog houseSnoopySnoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
.
- In Issue 6, Automatic Kafka uses the phrase "Chaykinesque salaciousness," referring to prominent writer Howard ChaykinHoward ChaykinHoward Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...
's penchant for using overt sexual situations in his comics.
External links
- Bags and Boards interview with Joe Casey part 1 and part 2, VarietyVariety (magazine)Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, 5-6 May 2004.