Alex + Ada #9

 
Writer: Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
Artists: Jonathan Luna
Cover: Jonathan Luna
Publisher: Image  
 It’s so to get caught up in the world that Alex + Ada live in. It is so much like ours with more technological advances, but what stays the same are the people, the human emotion. Even for Ada who is an android now sentient, her feelings are apparent, real, and she’s become a character that many can relate to. Alex has just rejected her advances and she’s come to the conclusion that the next course of action is for them to take the appropriate space away from each other, and the truly reflect on what they want from their lives.
 
Ada has an entire world to discover in front of her, and Alex just turned away from the one being that lent themselves to being able open up the world around him, and yet what we see in this issue is that they’re both pretty miserable with the circumstance at hand. Their complicated relationship continues to propel the plot a little further—readers will want a certain conclusion for these two I’m sure (I know I do), but it’s the journey to get them there is fascinating. Alex is clearly struggling with memories of Ada and the loss of her presence, while Ada is struggling to survive on her own without depending on Alex. The layers of their relationship continue to build in complexity as the series progresses, and this is the first issue in which we see both trying to exist apart—we’ve seen Alex before his time with Ada, but Alex is different since Ada, so he’s going on his life a little differently.
 
While it remains that Alex + Ada at it’s very core is about the relationship between these two, there’s still the major factors of the social commentary on the future technology and what place androids have in their society. Ada does get herself into a tussle with some FBI agents, so for those who find the pacing a little slower so far (which I think is half of its charm), its kicked up a notch this issue with minor tussling and a chase scene and things don’t really look too great for Ada which is her greatest suspense in this issue.
 
Alex on the other hand, while so busy thinking about Ada, he’s neglected to think about certain other people (which was certainly the point of having Ada in the first place) that his unexpected visitor is much more unexpected than anticipated. Previously the issues would leave a single element of suspense that involved both Alex and Ada, but this one, with their separate journey, find themselves both in a moment of suspense until the next issue.
 
Like always though, Luna’s art is simple, yet responsive. Both Alex and Ada find themselves at the end of the issue stumbling across people they perhaps didn’t think they’d come across by choice, and while they are the main storytellers, so much is telling from the other characters as well, that this entire world that’s been created still remains so charming, that readers can’t help but need to know what happens next.