The artwork is top-notch, as it always is with Joe Benitez works and Lady Mechanika. Sadly the story was a bit short in excitement. Maybe because it was a shorter series (3 comics versus 5 or 6)? Maybe because it was too obvious who the killer was? Or maybe it was just too much of an arc to bring us into the next series?
Either way I love the artwork and all the covers; as always, but am a bit disappointed in the overall story and lack of further development for our core characters.
Hopefully the next series that builds on the story brings it back up to five stars.

'Lady Mechanika, Vol. 4: Clockwork Assassin' by Joe Benitez and M.M. Chen continues the graphic novel adventures of the clockwork wonder known as Lady Mechanika.

This time around, a series of gruesome murders is taking place and all the evidence points to Lady Mechanika. She convinces Detective Inspector Singh of her innocence and pitches in to help. The investigation leads to an accident from the past and someone who may be out for revenge.

This is a fun series, not so much for the stories, but the Steampunk world and the main character are compelling. We don't get a lot more on Lady Mechanika's mysterious background this time around, but it was still worth reading.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Benitez Productions, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I ordered this book not knowing it was a sequel, so ... Shame on me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

ARC from Netgalley.
While the title of this is still Lady Mechanika, and she does have a significant part to play, the more major character here is Mr. Lewis. The catalyst for the story is that there is a series of murders going on and it appears as if Lady Mechanika herself is doing them. The victims are all part of a group that worked on projects with Mr. Lewis years before. It was actually a faulty part that he made that caused an accident that killed several members of the team, which also caused his unemployment and drinking problem.
It turns out that the killer is an automaton who was created by the spouse of one of the original accident's victims as a helper for her children. The daughter had added the lethality to get revenge on the survivors of the original accident for them being left alive and her not being able to deal with the pain of having to lose her father and use of her legs. (Quite a clever turn around to the story!)
As always, Lady Mechanika is amazing in art style and story. This comic should be better known. I'm doing all I can to promote it among my friends and as "reader's advisory" at work.
High recommend.

I'm just going to admit that I really didn't "get it". Maybe because this is Vol. 4 and I never read the first three, maybe it's a simple case of the reader and the material not being a good fit for each other.

Whatever the reason this wasn't the book for me. I found it confusing, and hard to follow. Great art work!

I really enjoyed the first one, and have since been trying to read all of this series. I enjoyed this one, and with each new volume this story seems to find its voice.

We have, today, the fourth installment in the world of Lady Mechanika. You can catch up with Vols. 1-3 here, here and here.

Our steampunk mystery for today revolves around Mr. Lewis's past colliding with his present. There is a dark secret behind the work of Blackpool engineers, and Lady Mechanika is the leading suspect for their crimes (insert dramatic mystery music).

The first volume suitably pulled me in with its steampunk Holmesian heroine, Lady Mechanika, and her endearing drunk engineer, Mr. Lewis. The original duo are back in action, and we get to figure out why Mr. Lewis is always drunk.

I must admit, I almost lost my way with the truncated Volume 3 and non-arc short La Dama de la Muerte. But I persisted. The short wasn't related to the main story and was kind of like those holiday specials of your favorite show--you watch them but wouldn't mind if they didn't find their way to the DVD release. I wasn't going to be deterred from returning for Volume 4.

The true pull to this series is the why of Lady Mechanika, not her individual escapades. I'm glad my curiosity prevailed because Volume 4 brought back the action and intrigue of the first volume. Sure, I knew who-dun-it before the big reveal, but there were enough little twists and turns in the story to make it worth the investment. Plus the gizmos and gadgets and artwork certainly more than made up for the plot simplicity.

For the numbering confusion of readers out there, this is Volume 4 of Lady Mechanika's story to find her creator. Purchasing websites list it as Volume 5 because they consider the non-related short La Dama de la Muerte to be Volume 4.

Anyone who has read this far into the series is probably enjoying it and I'm glad to say that volume four delivers more of the same. This time around, there is someone out killing inventors and all signs point to Lady Mechanika as the killer.

This book strongly follows up on the previous volumes. While Lady Mechanika's past still remains a bit of a mystery, this book plunges into the past of one of her associates. This helps round out the setting a bit and fills in some gaps of how certain characters and organizations are connected.

Someone reading this book as the first in the series really shouldn't be lost. There are a few references to events of the past few books, but nothing that should leave a reader out in the cold. The art is still good. I've had some issues with the way that Lady Mechanika and some of the other women have been drawn, but this volume seems to be moving away from a lot of those elements. The steampunk Victorian age setting is fun and the art goes a long way to bringing the books to life.

Just like the other Lady Mechanika graphic novels, Volume 4 sets up a great mystery filled with beautifully drawn characters. I highly recommend these books to anyone who likes steampunk, gorgeous artwork, and quick mysteries.

Clockwork Assassin is fourth in the Lady Mechanika series. When scientists begin turning up murdered in a most horrible fashion, Lady Mechanika becomes the number one suspect. She's the only one strong enough, and uniquely equipped to have commited the crimes. To clear her name, Mechanika must find the true assailant, hopefully before he strikes again. The only clue is that the murdered men all once worked together on Project Sparta. This is the first of this series that I've read, and I'm eager to get ahold of the previous books! I loved the gorgeous, full-colour artwork. I'm a big steampunk and clockwork fan, and love mysteries, so this was a perfect fit for me. The story flowed well, and though this is the fourth book in, it felt whole and complete in itself.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Diamond Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When a number of Mr. Lewis' former colleagues start turning up dead - sliced open by inhuman force, Lady Mechanika gets involved. Especially since she is accused of being the mechanical assassin by Inspector Singh. But when the assassin strikes in front of them and escapes, they have to dig up the suspects before more deaths occur. A nicely done short murder mystery very smartly illustrated!

The storyline has plenty of action, suspense and a nice twist at the end. The character designs and world building are fantastic, LOVE THEM. This Steampunk themed graphic novel is part mystery part thriller but all in all very exciting. The characters were intriguing and the plot had twists. It really grabbed me

Another visually stunning installment of Lady Mechanika! The images in this book are breathtaking. What's even better is story matches the beautiful artwork. And yes, this level of talent is art, there's nothing childish or mass produced about the Lady Mechanika series.

If you're familiar with the Lady Mechanika series, you already know that Mr. Lewis is a fixture on Lady Mechanika's parlor sofa. We know he's hiding from his past at the bottom of a bottle, but we've never really gotten the story on why. We learn more about Mr. Lewis and what shaped in Clockwork Assassin.

No worries if you're new to the world of Lady Mechanika. The story is so well written, you can jump in without knowing any of the characters or reading any of the other storylines. That's the sign if a tight plot and a well-written book. If you're familiar with the characters, the story is enhanced, but you could start here and work your way back, and trust me, you'll want to once you've started any of the Lady Mechanika stories.

Will Lady Mechanika solve the mystery? Or will both her and Mr. Lewis hang for something they didn't do? You're going to have read the Clockwork Assassin to find out.

Excellent story and amazing art! Victorian clockwork assassin on the loose. Is it our Lady or has something new been invented? And how are the victims chosen?

There remain fragments of evidence to why I disliked the first LM book so much – the excessive word count at times, some of the artistic angles and poses – but much more that was to my taste than ever was initially. People who worked on some hush-hush war project once upon a time are getting killed off, even at the funeral of their colleagues, and the Lady is of course a suspect. It's just too obvious who is behind it all, but on the whole it wasn't a complete failure. If you like the sexiness-with-added-bloodshot-eyes of our Edwina Scissorhands then you'll have bought this at first mention, without my words having any influence. I can't say the others should rush to get it, but these books, now that they've found their metier and smoothed over the cracks, are worth a browse.

Lady Mechanika, Volume 4: Clockwork Killer gives us a chilling mystery set in the dark streets of London. Famous engineers are dying left and right at the hand of a mysterious killer bearing a striking resemblance to Lady Mechanica. Who is trying to frame her? Lady Mechanika is in a race against time to stop the killer and at the same time trying to clear her name.

Joe Benítez supplies us with oodles of gorgeously detailed art. The storyline has plenty of action, suspence and a nice twist at the end. I’m a fan!

Themes: Victorian Steampunk on steroids, awesome artwork, we get to know more of Mr. Lewis’ tragic past, Lady Gwendolyn Cain and her cadre of veiled handmaidens was a delightful addition, lady Mechanika’s origins still remain a mystery.

4 stars

I've become such a big of Lady Mechankia from reading the comics on Netgalley. I even got to meet Joe Benitez last year at NYCC and got a comic and poster of Lady Mechankia signed by him. So the moment I saw there was a new one available to read right away I jumped at the opportunity.

I ended up really enjoying this one a lot. It's a murder mystery. These men that ended up working together a while back are found dead. Lady Mechankia is the main suspect. So she's ready to figure out who is behind these attacks to clear her name.

This comic is very short. The story is very action packed that it ends up going by so quickly. I am a huge fan of mysteries so I enjoy that this story was trying to figure out who the killer is. I have to say there are a couple of new characters you meet and I had some guesses but I was wrong. I liked that I ended up not being able to figure out who it was. Plus I have to say the ending had me very excited for the next installment. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next. It leaves you asking a bunch of questions.

Another thing that is so amazing about these comics is the artwork. I really can't get enough of them. So much time and detail are put into it and it really shows. It is a very detailed comic and I really appreciate all the little details that go into it. It really does look amazing. That's why I had to buy a poster at comic con. I would love to hang that in my room. Lady Mechankia always looks amazing. The style is steampunk and I love how it looks. I always look forward to seeing the new artwork.

Overall this was a great comic. The story was very interesting and really left me wanting more. It was a very quick read. You can end up reading this in less than an hour. The story sucks you in and just ends up flying by. Plus after that ending, I am really looking forward to the next one.

Fabulous art work and great plot. Felt a little on the short side, but over all an enjoyable read. I will look out for more in the series.

One graphic novel I have heard a bit about would be Lady Mechanika. While searching through what kind of comics and graphic novels I could read through the library I found a few volumes of this graphic novel. Shortly after that I found this volume on Netgalley and decided to give it a try.

When I first looked into Lady Mechanika I had to really search what was what. Most of these big volumes are first published in six different issues. Adding on to that confusion is that this volume is marked as 4 on the cover and the inside page, but the file is called volume 5. I do think that you can easily settle into this without having read any of the previous installments.

The art is great. Very consistent. The whole tone of the colors fit very well with the steampunk elements and Lady Mechanika’s personality. The full spread bust and pictures of Lady Mechanika in the back are also gorgeous. However the adult females, lady mechanika included, are all drawn the same. Fanservice for males. Skimpy clothes. Very busty, very thin waist. I mean, I’ve seen skimpier clothes but even so…be aware of that when you go into these.

Lady Mechanika is a very tough lady but it is also clear to see that she has her attachments to people. Like Lewis. I wish there had been more of an emphasis on their relationship. This is not a very long volume and could have easily been lengthened with a few pages.

As for the main mystery, I thought it was a bit boring. It was quite honestly a rather standard murder mystery. The twist at the end was easy to guess. Again, I feel like this whole volume could have used a few extra pages to deepen things out here and there. The question proposed in the synopsis about Lady Mechanika was to my eyes not touched upon at all.

As it stands now, this is a very standard volume. Nothing special. Nothing that seems to hint towards a bigger story line. Just a simple murder mystery. A nice in between read, but that is all it is.

A series of brutal murders seems to link back to Mr. Lewis, as the victims are former coworkers. Detective Inspector Singh has to evaluate if Lady Mechanika is a hero or a cold-blooded killer, as she seems to be one of the few people physically capable of slicing people in half.

The art is just as good as prior volumes, and this is a very tightly wound story that doesn't rely overly much on knowing a lot about prior events. There is one asterisk on one panel which refers back to a prior volume, but it doesn't slow down the reading or enjoyment of the story in the slightest.

This volume is more of a straightforward murder mystery, with only the barest of hints of an overarching conspiracy. That makes it a very quick read so that you can take your time and enjoy the steampunk art and the additional cover designs that are included in the back of the book.