The thought of robots may conjure images of memorable characters featured in The Terminator, Star Wars, or even Futurama, but 
Katerina Cupová’s adaptation of Karel Capek’s unappreciated play offers an intriguing view of automatons (and our place among them) from the perspective of an early 20th century Czech playwright.
R.U.R. primarily follows the exploits of Helena Glory, head of the League of Humanity and daughter of a powerful president, who infiltrates the island factory of Rossum’s Universal Robots, where robots are manufactured in order to improve the lives of humans. Helena believes that robots have the same rights as humans and should be liberated from their servitude, a view not shared by the humans running the factory—including Harry Domin, the dismissive and naive general manager of Rossum’s Universal Robots, who reveals that the origins of robot manufacturing are rooted in greed (shocker). Harry eventually forces Helena into marriage, and over the next decade, robots become more pervasive throughout the world. We soon discover (as is common in stories of robot oppression) that they are in fact more human-like than expected. Needless to say, things quickly go south for Helena, Harry, and the other humans of R.U.R., as the robots seek freedom.
Between Cupová’s prescient plot and Cupová’s energetic, playful art, it’s genuinely surprising that the original play was written in 1920. Capek touches on themes that have become so central to science fiction in the century following R.U.R. that they’re practically cliche: the dehumanization of workers due to advances in technology, the freewill of machines, the dangers of playing God, and the steep sacrifices of so-called “progress.” Recent questions surrounding the use of Artificial Intelligence suggest that the ideas addressed by Capek are even more timely today than a century ago.
Flipping to any page of R.U.R. will reveal Cupová’s loose, expressive style that perhaps belies the themes of conformity, automation, and the loss of the human spirit. The artist relies on bold, primary colors, an ink wash/watercolor-like aesthetic, and simplified figures that evoke both newspaper comic strips and picture books. By sticking to a limited palette, Cupová’s is able to draw your eye to important characters, especially during scenes in which bright, yellow-tinged humans are surrounded by a sea of nearly identical blue robots. She seems averse to preciseness (and rulers), making it very clear that a human being produced this comic—an interesting decision that seems very deliberate in light of the story’s concerns about the devaluation of humanity. Indeed, she is noticeably un-robotic and un-clinical. Particularly unusual is Cupová’s use of word balloons, which, in addition to being jagged and seemingly haphazard, tend to snake around the page, stretch across whole panels, and intertwine with each other. Despite pushing 300 pages, R.U.R. moves quickly, relying on only the most necessary of dialogue and letting the beautiful imagery do most of the storytelling.
At times, R.U.R. verges on the melodramatic, as the bleeding heart Helena looks further into the tragic ways profits and productivity are favored over freedom and individuality, but it’s executed so well and so undeniably accurate in its assessment of contemporary capitalist society that it’s easy to forgive. Of course, if any of R.U.R.’s themes seem banal, it’s only because of how overwhelmingly they have invaded so many popular science fiction narratives of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Although R.U.R. deals with some heavy ideas, there’s very little within its pages that would be inappropriate for younger readers. Anyone seeking a robot rebellion that resembles a bloodbath will simply not find it here, as much of the violence is either implied, happens between scenes, or is presented in such a cartoonish way that it feels completely removed from real world suffering. If younger YA readers of sci-fi are looking for something a little more thought-provoking, R.U.R. would certainly be a great entry point, especially if they’ve already been introduced to some of the complicated ethical questions surrounding A.I.
R.U.R. is a highly under-discussed classic of science fiction, so I suspect fans of the genre will enjoy seeing where so many of the tropes and themes of robot fiction originated. Unfortunately, despite R.U.R.’s almost incalculable influence on pop culture, there are so few ways to experience Capek’s play, but Cupová does an excellent presenting the source material in a way that’s surprisingly breezy and accessible without shying away from big, philosophical, and often uncomfortable ideas within the original text. If you’re into Blade Runner, the 2004 Battlestar Galactica reboot, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, or Asimov’s I, Robot then the questions raised by this comic will feel extremely familiar and have you rethinking not only the consequences of unhindered technological advancement, but what it means to be a human being.
R.U.R. Rossum’s Universal Robots
By Katerina Cupova
Art by Kateina Cupová
Rosarium Publishing, 2024
ISBN: 9798986614687
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Creator Representation: Czech,
