‘Blade Runner 2029 #12’ Review (Titan Comics)
Written by Mike Johnson | Art by Andres Guinaldo | Published by Titan Comics
Up to now the stakes have been pretty high, Yotun having instigated a major Replicant rebellion and burnt half of Los Angeles down after all, but last issue saw that level of mayhem and raised it even higher. Yotun now has, with the recovery of Tyrell’s diary, the ability to create new Replicants. Stronger, smart Replicants. So, Ash is needed more than ever….just at the moment she’s taken off the board. She’s been unmasked as a double agent, playing both dedicated LAPD Blade Runner and secret helper to the Replicant underground. Just to add a cherry on top of all this bad news, Ash’s back is starting to cause her pain, perhaps Yotun’s miracle cure wasn’t quite the miracle he said it was. Not like Yotun to over-promise. Oh, wait…
Humiliation or hubris, whatever your views on Ash we open with her being escorted by two cops, suffering the abuse you would expect. She’s obviously a traitor to her fellow officers in their eyes. Although these opening pages are nicely written and dialogued, it’s the superb layouts and art by Guinaldo that sells this scene, along with the lovely muted colours by Marco Lesko. Beautiful stuff. Hold up though, who’s this? It’s her old boss and mentor, Wojciech, whose come to pile on more abuse it seems. Or maybe not. Within seconds, the two cops are on the floor and Freysa has appeared, fresh from her run-in with Marlowe. It seems Wojciech called her, after Ash had called Wojciech. Clever thinking ladies. Time to put this freedom to good use, and track down Yotun quickly, especially as Ash’s back is deteriorating at a worrying rate.
Time for the detective to step up. Ash and Freysa find Yotun’s old base deserted, with just a lone Replicant left. Sick and dying, after being drained by Yotun, the Replicant cryptically tells them Yotun IS Tyrell, and that he’s gone home. Ash works on a strong hunch, one that will take them far out of the city. One hovercar ride later, they are in the rural Edens area, enjoying the scenery until they are dropped out of the sky by an energy pulse. Yep, Yotun’s definitely here. Freysa survives, albeit knocked unconscious, and Ash is dragged out by Yotun. We then have a caricature of the comic book standard, the punch up between the antagonist and protagonist, as crippled Ash fights rapidly ageing and weakening Yotun. It’s like two OAP’s fighting.
We also get the obligatory villain exposition scene, although to be fair Johnson established that Yotun likes the sound of his own voice from his first appearance. Yotun explains that he has been implanted with some of Eldon Tyrell’s memories, and they have told him something important is buried in these woods, just not what exactly. Hope it’s not just lego. Actually, Lego would have been better than what Yotun does find. Not so much what was in the box, or what wasn’t, but the dawning realisation that all of this has been for nothing. Well, not exactly nothing, Yotun’s lit the touch paper now and it will continue to smoulder, if not burn, for those that come after him. For Yotun, though, the game is over. Freysa makes sure of that.
That, it seems, is that. The final blurb rather teasingly tells us that the story will conclude in Blade Runner 2039. We have been jumping in decades, of course, and that would take us up to a decade before the film Blade Runner 2049. Enjoy these books while you can, as it seems the finish line is closer than we would like. This was a rather sombre, low key end to this particular arc, and one that leaves more questions than answers. What will happen to Yotun’s followers? To Ash’s back? To Ash’s career? To Replicants in general. That’s good storytelling though, when you finish the story and have to think over the consequences to follow. Top-notch work by both Johnson and Guinaldo, who clearly have Blade Runner running through their veins.
The theme of Blade Runner for me has always been not so much winning, but not losing. It’s a dark, dystopian world out there, and survival is the aim. Anything more is the cherry on top. Let’s let Freysa and Ash enjoy that cherry for now, as I suspect Johnson and Guinaldo will be throwing a whole load of stuff at them next time round.
They’ll see things we wouldn’t believe.
