Alex Sheikman

Hi!

My name is Alex Sheikman and I am the writer/artist on a series of "Robotika" graphic novels published by Archaia Studios Press. I love telling stories and comics, by combining graphic illustration and narrative, provide a wonderful venue to storytell.

I have always enjoyed drawing and reading, but did not discover comics until later, when a friend of mine brought an old copy of a "Star*Reach" magazine into our class. Once I read the stories by Jim Starlin, Howard Chaykin, and Walter Simonson in that magazine, I knew that I wanted to write and draw comics.

My first step in that direction was getting a job drawing illustrations for White Wolf role playing game manuals. I did that for almost 10 years, learning lots about drawing, understanding how digital technology integrates itself into printing, meeting deadlines, and much more. Finally in 2004 I started developing my "Robotika" concepts and now have two graphic novels published (and working on the next installment).

I call "Robotika" the first ever steampunk sushi samurai western. It is about loyalty, honor and revenge, in a world populated by silent samurai, fast-talking geisha, deadly mecha-betsushikime, digital djihits, morphing butterflies, and corporate corruption. Niko, the main protagonist, is a member of the elite bodyguard corps dedicated to protecting the queen. He is sent on a mission to recover a stolen invention that in the wrong hands could trigger a bloody civil war. Violence and chaos reign everywhere on the fringes of a "civilized" society where few couldn't care less about Niko and his mission...