There are some who tell me A&A is too slow. I wish I knew how to convey to them how important it is that A&A “goes slow,” how well-paced A&A really is. I really like how the smallest things are made important through Ada’s perspective. Hey, I delight in her delight in them. She has so much to enjoy: not merely ‘boiling water’ but also that “it happened exactly like it was supposed to.” And even more, she enjoyed watching the water boil on a molecular level--!

The smallest things are vital to Ada: now she’s met her first ‘other than Alex’ human, Jody. And Ada, who’s spent a full day awake and sentient to the point of choosing to go against Alex’s explicit advice to stay inside, now has to remember how to act like the robot she’s supposed to be. And the smallest thing could give her away…

A&A is well-paced as well in that there is so much just set in the background, it’s good to be able to take it all in slowly, and realize how fully thought-out the world of Alex and Ada is. Communication implants, servo-bots: fairly common for the common-man, like Alex. Humans rioting and tearing apart sentient robots, and an ‘underground network’ turning robots sentient, both part of the social fabric.

And too, the pace allows us to appreciate how very aware Alex is: he’s been pretty much on top of the situation ever since he decided to keep Ada. He’s moved against society in bringing Ada to consciousness, and done so knowing the consequences but believing in righteous action. He’s a quiet kind of hero.

I haven’t even yet mentioned how clean, smooth and perfectly suited the artwork is. It’s a future that looks like a future one can believe existing.

A&A, even after only a half-dozen issues, has moved into my favorite current comics list. If the quality thus far continues, it’s probably going to be listed with my favorites of all time--!