In White House Robot Romance #1, we’re introduced to a White House in a bit of chaos as tensions with Canada are starting to reach a tipping point. While it’s unclear exactly what has prompted the situation between the typically friendly neighbors, things are now at the brink of all-out war and it’s a situation where the United States certainly doesn’t seem like the good guys. Enter Service-1, a Secret Service robot assigned to the president and back in his service after having taken a bullet for the leader. Among Service-1’s tasks — and seemingly his primary task — is to taste the president’s food to make sure it’s safe and not poisoned. The food is prepared by Chef-9, who is a chef robot as the name would imply and it’s pretty quickly made clear that the two robots share a special bond.
Meanwhile, among the human players in this story we’re introduced to IT specialist Mr. Dean. who is in a relationship with a Canadian national and thus has some secrets of his own and Sara, an artist who is finding herself dealing with the infiltration of robots in her own field. Both Mr. Dean and Sara both end up having shocking intersections with both Service-1 and Chef-9 as the issue progresses because, well, what’s a robot romance without intrigue, mystery, and something going just a little awry?
There’s not much else I can say about the actual story of White House Robot Romance; it would give too much away and it’s truly a story that needs to unfold on the page for the reader because it is beautifully paced and very well structured. However, what I can say is that while the premise — seemingly sentient robots subverting their programming to go rogue by falling in love — seems wacky in the best possible way, Zdarsky is actually using the novel premise to really touch on some important issues. And it goes beyond the international crisis brewing between America and Canada. The issue also takes on a bit of commentary about the use of A.I. and what place it has — or does not have — in creative arts. There’s also the questions of sentience and free will and what it actually means to have feelings and be, well, human. At one point in the issue, Service-1 and Chef-9 have a conversation about their programming and they question if their programming is really any different than how children are influenced and set upon their paths as they develop into adults. It asks the question are people really all that different than machines and it’s a question that lingers with readers well after the issue ends, even with the twists and surprises still in store.
Ultimately, while the premise is zany and the timing eerie (though, fun fact, Zdarsky actually wrote the story months before tensions between the U.S. and Canada made headlines,) White House Robot Romance is a deeply thoughtful book that just so happens to be wrapped in international intrigue and, well, robots. It’s a book you definitely do not want to miss and one that will have you rooting for a robot romance, too.
