Blade Runner Origins #03

Blade Runner Origins #03

Titan Comics 2021

Written by K. Perkins & Mellow Brown

Illustrated by Fernando Dagnino

Coloured by Marco Lesko

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Los Angeles: 2029 – a Tyrell Corporation scientist is dead – an apparent suicide. When detective Cal Moreaux is called in to investigate he uncovers secrets about the company’s Replicant research program that redefine what it means to be human.

So here we are at the beginnings of the replicant program where a different definition of what a replicant is hasn’t evolved into what we know as of yet. Ms. Stahl for example is what happens when a woman who has power but who also wants more and is willing to do whatever it takes to obtain it. One of the things about this that I love is that we see these “skinjobs” as our cop calls em is that nothing and no one is as it seems and at this stage they really are more of an unknown quantity depending on who they are. What’s even more complex is the fact that the people people surely aren’t any better in their behaviour and/or motivations as the replicants are so it’s just a dynamic that is utterly fascinating.

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 extremely well. From the idea that Lydia committed suicide and then to see her in a new body based on the one she had in life we open up a new set of issues such as are the replicant bodies now property of the individual or the company? If the latter than what kind of corporate espionage is now capable of being played out? The character development we see is fantastic and as the dialogue alongside the way they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter really helps to flesh them out as people. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way continues to draw you in further and further into the book.

I really like how this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, strengthen and evolve is stupendous. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is spectacular.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly brilliant to behold. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised create this level and quality in the details we see is astounding work. How we see backgrounds being utilised as they work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope tot he story is phenomenal. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely beautiful. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a truly talented eye for how colour should, can and does work.

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I love this series, it not only has this whole nothing to live up to kind of feel but it sets the tone, mood and feel to the franchise in ways that excite the reader. It is engaging, entertainment and so intelligently written that as it continues to draw you deeper into the story the pull is stronger than that of a black hole, meaning there is no escape. This is the way storytelling ought to be and that it is as stand alone as it is as well as creates the desire for the rest of the franchise is just icing on the proverbial cake.