Petrol Head #1

Major Spoilers

I am intrigued. This book has excellent writing and great art and appeals to my brain as a casual reader, an academic, and a comic book reviewer. I want to know more and hope that future issues can keep up this pace. While there isn’t such a perfect book, this checks off all the boxes of what I want from a story. 5 out of 5 stars for Petrol Head #1.

Graphic Policy

Petrol Head #1 is a hell of a start and one of the better of the year. The story is familiar but the execution of this debut is so good. This is one that stands out this week and has us excited to see what's next.

Monkeys Fighting Robots

Petrol Head #1 is a surprisingly charming and visually stunning debut issue. Rob Williams’s double-size script does stellar work in introducing readers to his gruff but lovable titular protagonist and sets up what is sure to be a surprising and fun story. Pye Parr’s artwork is absolutely phenomenal, with great character animations and detailed panels making for a reading experience that explodes off of the panel.

AIPT

The series you think is about robot racers is a more vivid and thoughtful exploration of our complicated humanity.

Nerd Initiative

What was most impressive were the fight sequences in between, and how Rob Williams was able to execute them in an interesting fashion. At the end of the issue, there was a cliffhanger that had me on the edge. I can’t wait to indulge myself back into the Petrol Head world.

Graphic Policy

Petrol Head is the other new dystopia series that was launched this week, but it’s very different from Zawa. Rob Williams and Pye Parr channel classic 2000 AD comics with a day-glo sheen in this tale of domed cities, retired, gas (Or petrol for the Brits) powered racing robots, and sassy robot birds. I really enjoyed the flashback scene of Petrol Head in his prime, and the excitement of the racing scenes pair nicely with Williams’ satirical script of how the world is basically rigged. Parr’s designs for the different robots have both form and function, and it’s a sheer thrill ride to see Petrol head run over the robot cops from the O-Zone. (Yes, there are lots of great puns in this comic too.) Petrol Head #1 sets the table for this brave new world with action, hijinks, and a pitch black sense of humor instead of gloms of exposition, and I’m interested to see how this rag tag bang takes down the authoritarian corporations that run their world.

ComicBook.com

Petrol Head excellently weaves together a number of sci-fi properties and concepts to craft its own identity. We've got an Earth in desolation, gas-powered robots battling it out in extreme races, corrupt overlords whose sleek aesthetics directly clash with the industrial look of the heroes and humans desperately trying to cure the world inside of massive biodomes. It's Transformers meets Death Race, what's not to love?

Multiversity Comics

A beautiful and highly enjoyable, if somewhat slight, first chapter.

Derby Comics

This was a thrilling amalgamation of so many different types of sci-fi tropes (dystopian society, sentient robotic/AI beings, ecological horror, etc.), yet it’s presented in a unique and refreshing way. We only got what feels like ankle deep in this new world and I hope we get to see even more world-building happen in subsequent issues before we get too far into the action and main plot from Rob Williams. Pye Parr’s artistic wizardry makes this a visually pleasing debut issue. Parr’s art really helps to give the new world definition and context and I can’t wait to see how the rest of this new world comes to life.