Name: Made in Korea
ISBN: 9781534320116

Jeremy Holt

A Korean nine-year-old named Jesse is adopted and sent to live with a lovely couple in America. Equipped with a seemingly encyclopedic brain but socially awkward, the young girl's journey through the complexities of race, gender, and identity hits a fork in the road when she discovers she's not entirely human...yet. Adolescence just got a lot more emotional for the world's first true A.I. system. Collects MADE IN KOREA #1-6

Made in Korea

Frida Kahlo

I received an eARC copy from Image Comics and Diamond Books via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. 

What made that software engineer work round the clock to breathe life into that one proxy? Was it loneliness, long working hours, or simple passion for his work that made him excel in it so much that he created AI life? And finally, can the two worlds, AI living like a human being and gender identity AI developed (or wanted to - transgender?), coexist? I felt like running in circles trying to find some answers but ended up more confused than I was at the start. 

Jesse is absolutely adorable and lovable. I love how they want to fit the world; feel more human, loved, and accepted. These wants are precisely what humans feel when thrown into the unknown. The story should have followed them more (I figured this collection is all about Jesse and the world's acceptance and response to AI or, better say, Jesse's not fitting in due to not being human); instead, we faced episodes such as school shooting that don't feel like a part of the plot but like a major distraction. 

This unique SF mishmash of multiple hot topics would have worked better if not so many of them were put together. I wish it had stayed with the Pinocchio vibe it displayed and developed Jesse more in that direction.