Meet Lady Mechanika

You'd be hard pressed to say that Aspen Comics has a shortage of powerful, female characters. Executive Iris, and the publisher's namesake itself in Aspen Matthews are all relatively well-known female characters that have great stories. Joe Benitez is about to add to that stable with a creation of his own in Lady Mechanika. The character represents Benitez's first attempt as a writer and she is the sole survivor of a serial killer's rampage through London. She was found amidst corpses and body parts with mechanical components replacing her own limbs. As one would expect from a situation such as this, she had no memory of her former life but was able to start a new career as a private detective.

Coming up with a new character isn't necessarily new for Benitez, as he co-created Magdalena and Weapon Zero for Top Cow. Lady Mechanika has clear steampunk influences, and in an interview with Comic Vine Benitez even goes so far to say as much.

"The Steampunk genre intrigued me for sometime now. Going to cons and watching all these very cool cosplayers decked out in costumes of their own making was fascinating. The more I delved into the culture and did research the more into it I got. Being an artist and creator there is an ocean of possibilities you can do with it. The more I thought about it the more stories would formulate in my head. All I needed was a strong character to be the focal point in my stories in came Lady M. I always had a female in mind as the main protagonist."

The six issue miniseries is set to debut this September, so you'll be able to get your latest turn of the century England fix then. Check out some pencils after the jump.