Blade Runner 2019 Vol. 1 Los Angeles (2019) Review

Publisher: Titan Comics
Writers: Michael Green, Mike Johnson
Artist: Andres Guinaldo
Lettering: Jim Campbell

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”

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Background

Early in the 21st century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced robot evolution to the nexus phase – creating artificial beings virtually identical to humans – known as Replicants.

Superior in strength and agility, the Replicants functioned primarily as off-world slave labour or in hazardous, high-collateral combat situations.

After Replicants were declared illegal on Earth, special police operatives – called Blade Runners – had orders to kill or ‘retire’ any trespassers upon detection.

Detective Aahna Ashina of the Los Angeles Police Department was one of the first to qualify for the assignment.

Her colleagues called her Ash.

She was the best of them.

Story

LAPD’s best Blade Runner and detective, Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina, has been assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Isobel and Cleo Selwyn, the wife and daughter of business tycoon, Alexander Selwyn – a close personal friend of Eldon Tyrell.

Ash’s search will take her on a journey deep into the crime-ridden underbelly of Los Angeles – a slowly decaying megacity – as she uncovers a terrible secret and a desperate conspiracy that forces her to confront her own hatred for Replicants – the synthetic humans – that she hunts and kills with such vengeance.

Review

Gritty, violent, and gripping, Blade Runner 2019 Vol. 1 Los Angeles starts with a bang and manages to keep its sense of suspense right till the end.

I really enjoyed the comic’s pacing, the story is always progressing while tying in character development of the main character, Blade Runner Ash. She’s a quick-witted no-nonsense detective that finds herself embroiled in a simple job that gets out of control as more and more secrets are uncovered while following its leads.

The art style here fits nicely into the dystopic tone of the Blade Runner franchise. You’ll see neo cityscapes, hover cars, and even some tropical landscape towards the end. I will say the design for Cleo is a bit weird, either that or she’s just an ugly child.

There aren’t really any interesting characters besides Ash, there were a few side characters that seemed promising such as Isobel, but they are usually short-lived or play too minimal a role to get invested in, in large part due to the fast pacing. I didn’t mind this as much, it is volume one out of three after all so there’s plenty of opportunity for new side characters or development of the current cast.

^{~Giuseppe Gillespie May 2022}