CARL Review

Rating: 5/5  

Synopsis: CARL primarily centers around the titular robot psychiatrist as he attempts to gain trust and acceptance in society as an equal after his creator/father, Alda, installs a software causing CARL to become sentient.

My Thoughts: CARL has come to become my second favorite webcomic on the website Webtoon (after Dr. Frost) and for a bloody right reason. For me, reading through it was similar to embarking on a perilous journey up a tall, steep mountain. From a distance, it seems like a goofy absurdist comic about the title character's droll day-to-day encounters with his oddball patients due to the somewhat misleading 'comedy' label and simplistic art style. Granted, there're chapters which do focus on the more light-hearted and humorous side of CARL's profession. However, it's merely a small portion of the entire picture which a complex story which challenges our deeply ingrained preconceived notions of what it means to be 'human' as we witness our protagonist overcome prejudice and enmity towards him and moments of anxiety, bliss, frustration, and tragedy in his endeavors to be seen as an equal. Throughout the tale, we also see the disturbing influence mass media can have on people's views and how it can be used to spread propaganda engendering fear and paranoia among the general populace as it did here where the news outlet CARL goes on an interview in one chapter tries to cash in and exploit people's intimidation of artificial intelligence by deliberately twisting CARL's words. Returning back to my mountain analogy, during the course of climbing through the archives of this comic, we, the readers, start putting ourselves in the main characters' shoes and begin feeling the same joy and melancholy they feel to the point of wanting to give up expedition because of how heavy-handed it is. However, with mettle, we manage to continue ascending until we reach the summit where we give a breath of relief and satisfaction for making it to the end.

Final Thoughts: CARL is a stellar webcomic worth the read for anyone for something with challenging themes and an engaging plot.

Note: While the URL above in the blurb contains season 1 and 2, season 3 is currently being released on the Canvas (previous known as Discover) part of webtoons which can be accessed using the link below:

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge...