Blade Runner 2039 #10: Well, I certainly didn't see that coming!
After establishing Rash as the Blade Runner that Luv failed to be, Johnson does a 180 here as Rash kills Luv to prove to Freysa and company that she really wants to join the Resistance. Meanwhile, something clearly happened between Ash and Cal in "Blade Runner Origins," as Ash is openly hostile to Cal.
(I wonder what caused the beef. Ash notes she didn't leave Blade Running due to her conscience, like he did, and he replies that she left for love. It confuses me, since the most obvious reason Ash wouldn't like a (former) Blade Runner is because they "retired" Replicants. But they both concluded that Replicants were people - though they took different paths to get there - so it can't be that. That said, I'm not going to go read "Blade Runner Origins" #5-#12 to find out what happened.)
When Ash tells Cal that she wants access to Niander Wallace, Jr., Cal warns her that she's playing a dangerous game but agrees to help her because he owes her a favor. Cal appears to run a criminal empire to fund his work helping people, prompting Ash to ask what his real profession is: "Businessman? Social worker? Or just plan gangster?" These blurred lines are actually why she approached him, , since she knows he has dealings with Wallace, Jr. and can open the door for her.
Given we know that Wallace, Jr. survives his eventual encounter with Ash, it's starting to feel like Ash is going to die and Rash is going to take her place in the Underground. But Johnson has led us down false paths before, which is part of the reason these series are so gripping. Only two issues left!
The Hunger and the Dusk #6: Willow ends Book I by bringing us through Tara's childhood, as she progresses from a rambunctious child to a young woman who gets her heart broken twice - first by her parents' death and then by Troth - in a short period of time. As compelling as the script is, Wildgoose and Msassyk really sell the emotions behind the story, infusing Tara's memories with beautiful structures and dreamy colors.
A particularly moving sequence is when a young Tara meeting a young Faran for the first time. After Tara awkwardly gets in trouble for asking why Faran's hair is such a light color, Tara invites Faran to come see the dormitories with her. When she tells Faran that "real elves" built the Silent Shore thousands of years ago, you believe it, given Wildgoose's fanciful details. Resting on the road north, present-day Tara watches this memory - of scampering up the staircase to the dormitories with Faran - as it plays (in her mind) across the ruins of a staircase near where she's camping. It underscores Tara's isolation, showing us that she remembers what it was like to belong.
Underscoring that point, her memories continue, and we watch Troth break off their engagement hours after her parents' death, due to the shame of her mother's failure to anticipate the Vangols' arrival. Wildgoose and Msassyk are again excellent here, as Tara looks so dejected and depressed as this brutal memory fades to her cold reality. In addition to this past heartbreak, I can't help but think that Tara is thinking of Cal when she tells her steed that she's been a fool. The issue ends with Tara shaken from her memories when she accidentally stumbles upon the hidden entrance to the dwarven tidal fort that the Vangols have been using.
Before I go, I'll mention that the last page is a preview for Book II, with Wildgoose giving us a fetching and pondering Cal. I want to mention that not everyone is so handsome. Wildgoose shows he doesn't just draw everyone as dreamy, as Tara's two would-be assailants in this issue are certainly not as attractive as Cal or Troth. Wildgoose saves the looks for our heroes, as it should be.
If You Find This, I'm Already Dead #1: With a title like that, Kindt set a high bar for himself, but, man, does he clear it here.
Five years ago, the U.S. military discovered a gate to another reality and has been regularly sending teams to a planet they called Terminus ever since. They've invited (decided to allow?) New York Times reporter Robin Reed to become the first civilian to visit Terminus, and we meet her and the unit accompanying her as they approach the Green Zone.
The unit's leader, Gil, informs them that a lot of soldiers died to establish the Green Zone, which is two square miles. (I'd mention the crew, but they all die pretty quickly after Gil's speech.) He ribs Robin about crapping her pants in fear, though, as they're preparing to land, confesses that he's just hazing her and is fond of her work. As this conversation happens, we see a missile approaching the ship through its window.
In the next scene, we witness the aftermath of the missile strike and obvious subsequent attack: the unit's demolitions expert is holding his viscera, another unit member is on fire, and the unit's "cold-blooded killer" is missing half his face. It's a dramatic shift in tone that McDaid and Crabtree execute perfectly, which was necessary to underscore the "Fuck, we're stranded," vibe that really sells you on the story.
Robin realizes the hostiles - humanoid figures with, for lack of a better description, two tuning forks for heads - invaded the Green Zone by tunneling underneath its walls, and Gil leads her into the tunnels since the Tuning Forks have the Green Zone's walls covered. They make their way deeper into a subterranean world full of civilization(s), including direct cultural references that run the gamut from Castle Greyskull to Roman piazzas.
As they make their way through squares, Robin observes the Forks are the masters and a Skrull-like race with yellow-ochre skin are the slaves. The Forks discover Gil and Robin, and some Skrulls show them an escape route through a covered basement door. (For helping Gil and Robin, one of the Forks executes one of the Skrulls with the business end of a lightsabers, another cultural reference).
Gil flirts with Robin as they make their way through the sewers and learn more about each other. Robin tells Gil that she became a reporter to educate people, because war exists due to fear and ignorance. Gil informs her that he's the solider with the most tours in Terminus because he always dreamed of going to space but washed out of the Air Force. He calls bullshit on her "fear and ignorance" hypothesis, saying war happens because of "green and envy." (Team Gil.) He doesn't say much else, because a Fork cuts open his skull with his lightsaber. (Again, McDaid and Crabtree depict jump-scare beautifully.)
Kindt now has Robin speak directly to the reader, noting her diary, which forms the basis of the issue's narration, is her attempt to capture all these events, even though she's likely dead if we're reading it.
All in all, it's a great first issue. Kindt and the art team work really well together in keeping you on your toes, creating the type of story where even main characters can, and do, die. As I mentioned, they seem to hint that we're in a reality where Earth's intellectual property comes to life. Maybe? I guess we'll see.
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