![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Mega-Robo-Bros-v8-Final-Form.jpg\")
\nBy Neill Cameron<\/b> & various <\/b>(David Fickling Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-78845-337-0 (Digest TPB)<\/p>\n
\nBy Neill Cameron<\/b> & various <\/b>(David Fickling Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-78845-337-0 (Digest TPB)<\/p>\n
Mightily momentous in metal and powerfully potent in plastic, here\u2019s the ultimate upgrade of this solid gold all-ages sci fi saga from Neill Cameron (Tamsin of the Deep<\/b>, Pirates of Pangea<\/b>, How to Make Awesome Comics<\/b>, Freddy<\/b>) as originally published in UK weekly comic The<\/b> Phoenix<\/b>. Purpose-built paladins, the mecha-miraculous Mega Robo Bros<\/b> have previously learned that even they can\u2019t punch out intolerance or growing pains in electronic exploits balancing frantic fun with portents of darker, violent days to come\u2026
\nOne last time then… It\u2019s still The Future!… but maybe not for much longer\u2026<\/p>\n
In a London far cooler but just as embattled as ours, Alex<\/i> and his younger brother Freddy Sharma<\/i> are still fooling themselves that they are typical kids: boisterous, fractious, perpetually argumentative yet devoted to each other. They\u2019re not too bothered that they\u2019re adopted. It\u2019s really no big deal for them that they were meticulously and covertly constructed by mysterious Dr. Roboticus<\/i> before he vanished, and are considered by those \u201cin the know\u201d as the most powerful and only fully SENTIENT robots on Earth. Sadly, recent events have severely challenged those notions\u2026<\/p>\n
Life in the Sharma household aimed to be normal. Dad<\/i> is just your average old guy who makes lunch and does a bit of writing (he\u2019s actually an award-winning journalist), but when not being a housewife, Mum<\/i> is pretty extraordinary herself. Surprisingly famous and renowned robotics boffin Dr. Nita Sharma<\/i> harbours many shocking secrets all her own. Little Freddy was insufferably exuberant and overconfident, and Alex had reached an age where self-doubt and anxiety hit hard and often.
\nThe family\u2019s other robot rescues were also problematic. Programmed to be dog-ish, baby triceratops Trikey <\/i>was ok, but eccentric French-speaking ape Monsieur Gorilla<\/i> could be tres<\/i> confusing, whilst gloomily annoying, existentialist aquatic waterfowl Stupid Philosophy Penguin <\/i>ambushed everyone with quotes from dead philosophers\u2026
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\nCrucially, the boys were part-time super-secret agents, but because they weren\u2019t very good at the clandestine bit, almost the entire world knew of them. Nevertheless, the digital duo\u2019s parents loved them, making life as normal as possible: sending them to human school, encouraging human friends as part of their \u201cMega Robo Routine\u201d, combining dull human activities, actual but rare fun, games-playing, watching TV when not training in the combat caverns under R.A.I.D. HQ. When situations demanded, the lads undertook missions for bossy Baroness Farooq<\/i>: head of British government agency Robotics Analysis Intelligence and Defence<\/i>. The boys were told it\u2019s because they were infinitely smarter and more powerful than the Destroyer Mechs<\/i> and other man-made minions R.A.I.D. utilises. Now though, everything has changed and old lessons are subject to re-examination…<\/p>\n
The saga reopens and concludes with the global heroes\u2019 reputations ruined. After defeating menaces like Robot 23<\/i> and thwarting a rebellion sparked by artificial life activist The Caretaker<\/i>, the Bros repeatedly battled monstrous, deadly damaged droid Wolfram<\/i> and learned he might be their older brother. Eventually, they had to destroy him, leaving Alex traumatised by guilt and wracked by PTSD\u2026<\/p>\n
Over the course of that case they learned that fifteen years previously their brilliant young roboticist Mum worked under incomparable but weird genius Dr. Leon Robertus<\/i>. His astounding discoveries earned him the nickname Dr. Roboticus. Perhaps that\u2019s what initially pushed him away from humanity. Robertus allowed Nita to repurpose individually super-powered prototypes into a rapid-response team for global emergencies. Their Mum had been a superhero, leading manmade The Super Robo Six<\/i>. Whilst saving lives with them, she met crusading journalist Michael Mokeme<\/i>. He proudly took her name when they wed\u2026<\/p>\n
Robertus was utterly devoid of human empathy but – intrigued by the Seven\u2019s acclaim and human acceptance – created a new kind of autonomous robot. More powerful than any previous construct, Wolfram was equipped with foundational directives allowing him to make choices and develop his own systems. He could think, just like Alex and Freddy can. Only, as it transpired, not quite\u2026
\nRobertus demoted Nita and made Wolfram leader of a new Super Robo Seven, resulting in an even more effective unit… until Wolfram\u2019s Three Directives clashed during a time-critical mission and millions of humans paid the price for his confusion and hesitation. In the aftermath, R.A.I.D. was formed and they sought to shut down Robertus and decommission Wolfram. When the superbot rejected their judgement, a brutal battle ensued causing Wolfram\u2019s apparent destruction. Roboticus also disappeared\u2026<\/p>\n
Ultimately Wolfram returned, attacking vast polar restoration project J\u00f6tunn Base. Covering many miles it was carefully rebalancing the world\u2019s climate, when Wolfram took it over: reversing the chilling process to burn Earth and drown humanity. Ordered by Baroness Farooq to stay put, Alex and Freddy rebelled, but by the time the Bros reached J\u00f6tunn, Wolfram had crushed a R.A.I.D. force led by their friend Agent Susie Nichols<\/i>. After also failing to stop the attacker, kind, contemplative Alex found a way to defeat – and perhaps, destroy – his wayward older brother and save humanity\u2026<\/p>\n
Their exploit made the Bros global superstars. Freddy revelled in the attention but Alex could not adjust to the acclaim and horrifying new power levels he attained to succeed… and also the apparent onset of robot puberty. As anti-robot hysteria and skilfully orchestrated human intolerance brought violent incidents everywhere, friction between Alex and Freddy grew: petty spats driving a wedge between them. With hate group \u201cHumanity First\u201d agitating to destroy all robots, their spokesman named the Bros a threat to mankind. The Baroness – in a bid to promote inclusivity – ordered the Bros to appear on TV show Mega Robo Warriors -but it was another trap. As Freddy delightedly trashed an army of warbots, his self-control slipped and Alex realised his sibling\u2019s hostile attitudes and violent overreactions had been building for some time\u2026<\/p>\n
When a Humanity First protest at Tilbury Port became a full-on meat vs metal riot, Freddy lost control, attacking humans trashing helpless droids. What might have happened next was thankfully forestalled when all the robots – even R.A.I.D.\u2019s police drones – were corrupted by the pernicious \u201cRevolution 23\u201d virus, and Wolfram appeared, offering oppressed machines sanctuary in Steelhaven: a utopia of liberated mechanoids claiming independence from humanity.\u2026<\/p>\n
When Alex dodged his troubles for a day to go out with human friends Taia<\/i> and Mira <\/i>and – under duress – Freddy, their trip to Camden Lock was spiced up by holographically incommunicado Crown Prince Eustace<\/i> (Alex\u2019s best pal and next king of Britain). The trip also provided a huge prize when Mira found a junked bot and worked out the secret of Revolution 23 Malware. More importantly, common people began to turn against Humanity First\u2019s fanatics\u2026<\/p>\n
Thanks to Mira\u2019s discovery, the battling Bros had a lead on the mastermind behind all their current woes, but Freddy\u2019s emotional problems reached a point where he couldn\u2019t be talked down. Fired by uncontrollable fury, the younger bot hot-headedly streaked into a trap designed by their most cunning and patient foe. Seized by rage and madness, Freddy began razing London, and Alex was forced to stop him\u2026<\/p>\n
Now the final chapter opens in The Global Robotics Court, Alexandria, Egypt, where Mum shares her records of rearing the robot babies she adopted after Roboticus first dropped from sight, making an impassioned plea to save her boys from being destroyed. Against all odds she triumphs, but the boys don\u2019t appreciate it. To keep them alive, Nita Sharma is forced to neuter their powers, reducing them to the same physical and intellectual levels as humans of their equivalent ages. Alex is almost relieved, despite an instant increase in bullying from former school classmates, but Freddy is inconsolable and furious. To compound the agony, his mechanical menagerie – even Stupid Philosophy Penguin – are confiscated by R.A.I.D.<\/p>\n
Trapped and impotent as Wolfram\u2019s robot refugees square up for war with humanity, the Sharmas retrench and try to make a new life for themselves. It\u2019s helped slightly by Freddy\u2019s new kitten (a real, organic one) and news that Mum is making a human sibling for the Bros, but the loss of powers, pals like Prince Eustace (commanded to stay away from the controversial robot people) and the ability to help anyone in trouble weighs heavily on Alex and increasingly drives Freddy to more violent acts.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Mega-Robo-Bros-v8-Final-Form-illo-2.jpg\")
\nAs they are at their lowest ebb, the sadistic arch-nemesis who has secretly manipulated them and orchestrated all the Bros\u2019 woes strikes. Capturing the boys, he reveals their true origins and seeking to complete his grand experiment, tortures Alex with words, moral challenges and the death of his parents… and all of London! The fiend has, however, utterly underestimated his victims, and not counted on the fact that his sentient toys have made many true friends in their short lives: beings willing to risk their own organic and\/or mechanoid lives for Alex and Freddy…<\/p>\n
In the end it\u2019s a battle of wills and ideologies with Alex and Freddy overcoming their origins and programming to defeat true evil and build a better world for everyone and everything to live together in…<\/p>\n
Interweaving real world concerns, addressing issues of gender and identity with great subtlety and in a way kids can readily grasp, this epic yarn has always blended fantasy, action and humour with superb effect. Excitement and tension greatly outweigh hilarity here however, with poignant moments of insecurity and introspection resulting in life-altering thrills, chills, and spectacular action scenes. Alex and Freddy are utterly authentic kids, irrespective of their origins, and their antics and anxieties strike exactly the right balance of future shock, family fun and superhero action to capture readers\u2019 hearts and minds. What movies these tales would make – and now the saga is done let\u2019s hope that jump comes soon!
\nText and illustrations \u00a9 Neill Cameron 2024. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
Mega Robo Bros Final Form<\/strong> will be released on February 13th<\/sup> 2025 and is available for pre-order now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Neill Cameron & various (David Fickling Books) ISBN: 978-1-78845-337-0 (Digest TPB) Mightily momentous in metal and powerfully potent in plastic, here\u2019s the ultimate upgrade of this solid gold all-ages sci fi saga from Neill Cameron (Tamsin of the Deep, Pirates of Pangea, How to Make Awesome Comics, Freddy) as originally published in UK weekly … <\/p>\n