Blade Runner Origins #1

Blade Runner Origins #1

Titan Comics 2021

Written by K. Perkins, Mellow Brown & Mike Johnson

Illustrated by Fernando Dagnino

Coloured by Marco Lesko

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Los Angeles: 2009

Uncover the story behind the first Blade Runners!

A Tyrell Corporation scientist is dead – the victim of an apparent suicide.

But when LAPD Detective Cal Moreau is called to investigate, he uncovers secret documents revealing a new kind of Replicant and a conspiracy that could change the world.

I have said this in the past but I really barely remember the first film and I never saw the second one so I am what you would call a casual fan of the franchise. That is until I started reading the comics from Titan. If I had read these before I had known they were films I would probably have loved watching them more. This book is why I love comics and the power of the storytelling they are capable of having. The level of storytelling here and how in depth these folks manage to get and the atmosphere they create is as tense and overwhelming in how the drama comes to life. I’ve never been as drawn into a book that feels as if it were in such a dark and nearly vile place. The future isn’t pretty, it is dark, gritty and dangerous and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

I like 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 way that we are introduced to the characters and the story at hand is so well conceived and executed. The character development here is amazing in just how well we get to see these folks and very nearly instantly understand exactly who they are. I mean let’s face it Ilora Stahl mmhmm oh yeah. The pacing is perfectly done and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the characters and what we need to get underway is mind blowing.

The way that this is structured and how the layers within the story emerge and weave through the main part is really rather impressive. I also really like seeing how everything is working together to create the story’s ebb & flow.

I am wholeheartedly a fan of Fernando’s work since the first moment I saw it and to see this here i’m in this sense of shock and awe. The linework is mindbogglingly brilliant and exquisite and how the varying weights and techniques we see being utilised to create this level and quality of detail is a drop the mic moment for sure. Sweet hot buttered Challah the way we see the faces, facial expressions and how backgrounds are utilised within the composition of the panels really expand the moments, the characterisation while providing us with depth perception, a sense of scale and that 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 this utterly amazing and masterful eye for storytelling. Marco is one of the most amazing colourists working today. The way that we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is incredibly gorgeous! How all this works together gives off this somewhere between photograph and digital artwork that is beyond impressive.

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Titan Comics has some truly gifted and amazing storytellers and they seem to be among the few who know which ones are going to set the roof on fire. I love that they can take a film franchise (okay only 2 films) and turn into something so much interesting and engaging for the reader.