“I still think I should have brought a flashlight.”
Isaac Asimov’s I-Bots Vol. 2 #6
Big Entertainment (November, 1996)
“Crackdown” finale WRITER: Steven Grant ARTIST: Pat Broderick COLORING: Prismacolor LETTERER: Michael A. Palmer EDITOR: James Chambers CONCEPT: Isaac Asimov DEVELOPER: Howard Chaykin
The I-Bots manage to get on the space station and disrupt things. Then the human mutation shows up and takes the meteor, then takes Essen’s genetic code, killing him just as the station starts to fall apart. To destroy the station before it collides with Washington, DC, the I-Bots destroy the space station…and apparently themselves! Robillard decides to go explore cyberspace in the wake of his “children” dying and the UN posthumously gives the I-Bots full rights.
What they got right: The Essen storyline and this arc are both well-done and end well. The I-Bots get to work together one last time (as far as we know but this isn’t the final issue). Everything wraps up. If this had been the last issue it would have been a good one to go on.
What they got wrong: The alien meteor mutation subplot, on the other hand, felt rushed and ultimately wasted because it was a good idea. I don’t know the circumstance of Grant being replaced by the writing team that starts next issue but if he knew beforehand that this was his last arc he shouldn’t have done this subplot, and if he didn’t that was a goof on Big Enertainment’s part. I liked his work throughout this series and it will be sad to see him go.
Recommendation: I still find this to be a great comic series that you folks should pick up.
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