Blade Runner 2029 #8

Blade Runner 2029 #8

Titan Comics 2021

Written by Mike Johnson

Illustrated by Andres Guinaldo

Coloured by Marco Lesko

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Ash is on the run again as replicant cult leader Yotun orders his army of fanatical superhuman followers to kill her. Will she be able to protect the ones she loves?

Learning of her investigation, Yotun had Ash abducted before launching an all-out terrorist attack upon Los Angeles. His Replicant army destroyed the newly constructed seawall, killing the political and corporate elite of the city who had gathered to witness the opening ceremony. Rescued from Yotun’s clutches by members of Freysa’s Underground, Ash awakens from her time in his rejuvenation tanks seemingly reborn, her back free of its cybernetic brace and her vision restored too. Learning that her lover is Yotun’s prisoner, Ash races to save her.Meanwhile, Yotun’s army have taken control of the LAPD building..

This really just keeps building and building like a massive crescendo and I’m just waiting for it to hit its peak. Mind you I am in no hurry for that peak because what we see has been an amazing run thus far and a year long story that feels as much like a comic book as it does a nighttime soap opera that you just don’t want to see end, just keep growing and evolving.

I am absolutely thrilled b y the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter and this fleshes the personalities out extremely well. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more the story we’re left feeling anxious and filled with tension.

I think the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificently rendered. These layers open up some wonderful avenues to be explored and whether they are, will be or won’t be explored they all add this great depth, dimension 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 immaculately achieved.

The interiors here are utterly bloody phenomenal. The linework we see is clean, crisp and strong and how it works with the varying weights and techniques to create this level & quality of detail within the work really makes such a huge impact on the reader. How we see backgrounds being utilised enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a gifted eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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This is the kind of book that sets the stage for a franchise. It is what you read first so that everything else that you read makes things much more interesting and understandable. The dynamic that we see between the characters is utterly sensational and this affects how we see the story moving forward. I also think this is incredibly engaging as i see what Yotun is doing and it makes him no better than the supposed oppressors that he claims to be fighting and this makes me think that it isn’t about being a human or replicant but about sentience itself, those that are aware cannot help but to behave a certain way and it’s destructive and selfish, hence the ability to go off page and see and think what it is you see=engaging. This is marvellously written with strong, intense characterisation and some bloody marvellous interiors that keep readers’ on the edge of their seats.