Blade Runner 2029 #5

Blade Runner 2029

Titan Comics 2021

Written by Mike Johnson

Illustrated by Andres Guinaldo

Coloured by Marco Lesko

Lettered by Jim Campbell

A fanatical army of super-human Replicants have laid siege to L.A. Now it is up to Detective Ash to retire cult leader Yotun before he destroys both her and the city she loves…

I am a fan of this series. That we are seeing Detective Ash with her back being held up by technology, otherwise she’s be confined to a wheelchair unless I miss my guess, going after Replicants and having been attacked in return is something I was expecting but not to the extent we are seeing in this issue. While I have been a staunch supporter of the Origins series I haven’t been as vocal about this one and that’s simply an oversight on my part because this is just as good as that one is. I do like that we see this group of Replicants having come back in secrecy to enact a full on attack while remaining anonymous while doing so, it’s a gutsy and ballsy move that shows great patience and planning and proving that Replicants can be and are every bit as cunning and ruthless as human beings are and this dichotomy isn’t lost on me either.

I am loving every single moment of this and the way it is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is being presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction and the way that they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter is done phenomenally well. The pacing we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story and how this draws the reader further and further in is absolutely stunning.

I am enjoying seeing the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. The layers contain some amazing characterisation and new plot points that open up with the avenues that are explored adding this extra depth and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceedingly well.

I am in love with the interiors here. The linework is exquisitely laid down and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail work is truly astonishing to see. That we see backgrounds being utilised so prevalently makes me such a happy camper and then to see how they are incorporated into the composition within the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is dynamic and exciting. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work so a brilliant eye for how colour can, should and does work for the maximum affect.

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I’ve had to pretend that I have never seen the films because that way I am enjoying this way more than I would otherwise. I wasn’t that big of a fan the first time it was released and now i’m even less of one so that I get to see this and really get to see how much time and care goes into exploring this world impresses the heck out of me. This book remains one of the more interesting, complex and sheer joy to read books that I’ve been reading. With some stellar writing and dynamic characterisation wrapped up in these utterly brilliant interiors this is the kind of science fiction story this was always meant to be.