Aahna Ashina’s story enters its endgame as Blade Runner 2039 begins…
It’s been quite a tough journey for Blade Runner Aahna “Ash” Ashina. Beginning way back in Blade Runner 2019, Ash ended up helping Cleo Selwin and her clone replicant mother escape from Cleo’s father, Alexander Selwin. Now twenty years later and the adult Cleo is back on Earth on the search for her missing “Mother” whose abduction has been orchestrated by Replicant manufacturer Niander Wallace.
Elsewhere and Wallace has also been involved in creating a more obedient line of Replicant. The greatest achievement of this resurgence in Replicant manufacturing is Luv, Niander Wallace’s personal assistant - and first Replicant to hold the title of ‘Blade Runner’. With Ash spending the past few years living “off the grid”, Cleo not only has to track down the person who saved her life, she also has to avoid Luv who has orders of her own.
Blade Runner 2039: Luv collects issues #1-#4 of the (as of writing) current series. Set 10 years after the previous outing, writers Mike Johnson and Mellow Brown waste no time in reintroducing us to their quite depressing world of 2039. Set ten years before the Blade Runner 2049 film, Johnson and Brown give us an early introduction to some of the movers and shakers that’ll plague K and Rick Deckard across the film. This is mainly seen in the two antagonists; Niander Wallace, and the replicant Luv. While the duo don’t resemble their on screen counterparts in Jared Leto and Sylvia Hoeks, it’s the characterisation here that certainly gives them both that sinister feeling.
A lot of this first volume follows Luv as she deals with prejudice from her fellow Blade Runners who don’t trust her due to being a replicant, and her attempts to thwart Cleo Selwyn. Johnson and Brown give plenty of insight into Luv’s character as we see her attempting to follow her programming in being a Blade Runner, an agent for Wallace, and ultimately a good cop. While this could be seen as a charade to “fit in”, how the previous series’ have gone it could be Luv beginning to find her own consciousness in this murky world.
Moving to Wallace and while he doesn’t feature a massive amount in the series, he’s there in the shadows. Not only is he able to simply remove Luv from her patrols, he also more powerful than the LAPD in that his own directives come above their own. With the shady corporate CEO wanting the secrets held by Cleo Selwyn’s DNA, he tasks Luv to let nothing - and no one - stand in her way of success. This then sends Luv out to the unfamiliar territory of the Santa Monica Archipelago, but also in direct conflict with the replicant underground, and Aahna Ashina.
While the bulk of this volume focuses on introducing us to Luv and the world of 2039, it’s great to see the replicant underground somewhat flourishing within the 10-year time gap. Those who’ve read the previous series will know that it’s a theme that’s been simmering away since BR:2019. With Ash now being a pivotal member of this group it helps to bridge that gap between humanity and replicant which often isn’t that obvious within the Blade Runner world. It also shows just how far her own character has come from her days of being on the over side of the law.
Andreas Guinaldo’s artwork continues to help paint this bleak futuristic vision with plenty of washed out panels, and dark brooding shadows. Whether you’re human or replicant this isn’t a place where you want to be and Guinaldo conveys the very essence that death could literally be just around the corner.
Overall and Luv kicks off Blade Runner 2039 in truly epic fashion. The series has gone from strength to strength over its last few arcs, and 2039 follows suit. World building remains the strongest part of the series, and it’s always great to see the wider world away from those rain soaked streets of Los Angeles. My only really criticism is that we don’t really get anything new. While the comic does a good job in laying the foundations that are felt in Blade Runner 2049, there’s nothing different than what Ridley Scott presented in Blade Runner.
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