This series has been a great addition to my pull list, and this week’s issue is no exception! Written by Mike Johnson (Star Trek, Earth 2: World’s End), drawn by Andres Guinaldo (Gotham City Sirens, The Hypernaturals) and colored by Marco Lesko (Robotech, Assassin’s Creed: Uprising), this series has been an incredible addition to the Blade Runner universe! Read on to see why you should add this to your pull list today!

Ford Not Dick

If you’re familiar with Replicants and Blade Runners from the Philip K. Dick novel, this is a far cry from that. No Penfield Mood Organs to be found in this series, as it stems from the Ridley Scott movie adaptation, starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and a young Edward James Olmos. This storyline has been evolved from the movie to the comics in Blade Runner 2019, and now Blade Runner 2029. A lot has happened in this universe, including the dissolution of the Tyrell Corporation, and the release by a different company of the Nexus 8 series of Replicants. I recommend reading Blade Runner 2019 if you’re interested in any of that, it’s a fun series!

Our current protagonist Ash, has just had her spine healed by the very Replicant she’s been chasing. I won’t go into too many details in case you need to catch up, but the Replicants have been stirring up trouble in Los Angeles, led by a Nexus 6 named Yotun. Things have gone a little pear-shaped for Ash and her partner Freysa, but I’ll leave it up to you to read what happens next!

I’ve been really happy with Johnson’s work with these characters, and in this world. It’s not easy to write a story in an existing universe like this, and he pulls it off with style and professionalism. I’ve read some of his Star Trek work, which I really liked. The important through-line that ties this IP together over its various iterations is the inner life of both the protagonists and the antagonists. This framework allows creators to explore some really cool concepts like identity, and what exactly the nature of consciousness is. Combine those with the social commentary that Johnson brings to the table in this series, and you will get me coming back for more every time!

Guinaldo and Lesko make a fantastic artistic collaboration as well. You may be familiar with Guinaldo from the old Gotham City Sirens from 2009, and I think he’s evolved his style in a cool direction since then. One of the really cool things about the Ridley Scott film is all the attention to detail in the backgrounds, and this team keeps that feeling going, as well as making all sorts of callbacks to the architecture and color palette of the movie.

Make sure to add this to your pull list if you’re a fan of the Blade Runner IP in general, or if you just love cool dystopian cyberpunky goodness.

You can find this series on Comixology here.