Do androids dream of an electric utopia?

ABC Warriors: The Third Element sparks a speculation into many components of human life. Its complexity, be it via illustrations or narration, shows how incomprehensible society has become. The primary areas so covered are international politics in relation to cinema and sociology.

International Politics: Volatile real-life political scenarios play a great role in the storytelling process. World War II coincided with the birth of a new cinematic technique called film noir. The Maltese Falcon (1941) fathered the rise of the cynical hero amidst shady backdrops, obscure supporting characters and a femme fatale, which seemingly represents the rise of the independent woman in America. In The Third Element, Medusa, a mechanical woman, uses feminine ‘charms’ lethal even to the reader’s eye.

Reverting to politics, the Vietnam War and President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal heavily influenced the emergence of a new version called tech noir. Film classicist Ridley Scott used Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver in Alien) and Rick Deckard (portrayed by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner) to learn lessons from their enemies. So ABC is just the next step.

As for the plot, it revolves around the planet Mars overrun by human colonists, earthquakes, storms and diseases. The Nazi-like system of herding off Martian natives to death camps, compounded by anthrax-like bio-terrorist attacks call for the ABC Warriors. They are robots designed to resist Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical (ABC) attacks. Their mission to protect all life requires fighting a planet that wants to die. In conclusion, the result is obvious. No one is obliged to follow the rules.

In The Matrix trilogy, a confused Neo (Keanu Reeves) reconsidered the world that he took for granted, gave up whatever standing he had in that framework and literally flouted the ‘law’ to save humanity. Strangely, it all boils down to one thing. An outcast finally educates the others and gains respect in the bargain.

Written by Pat Mills (Slaine) with art by 2000 AD biggies Henry Flint (Judge Dredd) and Mike McMahon (Slaine), among others, ABC Warriors: The Third Element may not have the eye-candy factor yet almost pretends to be mature.

For a layman to understand ABC Warriors, the only way is to draw a parallel with popular cinema. James Cameron’s Terminator franchise began with the 1984 instalment showing machines as villains. The 1991 version was sort of a treaty between man and machine. By the time it came to McG’s Terminator Salvation (2009), humans were as bad, or good, or maybe as ugly as machines.

Tech noir does not consider politics alone. Even social patterns are included. Though not declared noir films, Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993) and War of the Worlds (2005) highlight the sorrows associated with broken families. Its packaging is done in a symbolic manner. Religion permeates the film industry’s soul too. The Fifth Element (1997) is a perfect case of the conflict between political, religious and social interests in the wake of Doomsday.

As apocalyptic literature is an organ of popular culture, while reading ABC Warriors, one might spot indicators of impending environmental meltdowns closer to home. So there is no one way to simplify the concept other than saying that it is Blade Runner on intravenous steroids and more.

Nithin D Koshy blogs at www.atlasreborn.blogspot.com