BLADE RUNNER: ORIGINS #8 – Review

BLADE RUNNER: ORIGINS #8, available from Titan Comics on November, 17th, 2021, brings Det. Cal Moreaux together with Asa, the malfunctioning killer replicant, and his long-absent sister all at once for a knockdown fight for the ages.

The Details

• Written By: K. Perkins, Mellow Brown
• Art By: Fernando Dagnino
• Colors By: Marco Lesko
• Letters By: Jim Campbell
• Cover Art By: Alan Quah (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: Novembver 17, 2021

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Was It Good?

I enjoyed this issue quite a bit as an action-based set piece. It’s basically one extended fight, serving as a fun change of pace in a heavy detective mystery. If you’re going to take a breather issue in the middle of a run, this is one of the better ways to do it.

The fight, starting off from the cliffhanger of the last issue, gets all the parties together to vent their grudges, and that’s smart. It’s smart because the arguing adds nuggets of detail to what happened and how the respective characters came to be in their current positions. The reader is informed through the action, and that’s what good action in comics is supposed to do.

That said, the central question not answered, the one increasingly becoming a point of frustration, is “why?”. Why would Dr. Kine undertake a project to transfer human consciousness into replicants? Why would she do it to herself? And why would she transfer her own mind while selectively stripping out parts of her memory? If you don’t understand why somebody would do something, it’s very difficult to relate to their dilemma, leading to frustration. The presumption is that the reveal becomes a payoff, but the longer you wait, the greater the expectations about the payoff. Unless the final reveal is something monumental, the creators may be setting themselves and the readers up for a letdown.

Dagnino gets to flex some “action art” muscles in this issue and it’s phenomenal. You can almost feel the weight of every kick and every punch as the issue plays out. That said, you do have to stretch your suspension of disbelief as Det. Moreaux takes more punishment than a human should be able to withstand. He’s hit hard by a super strong replicant multiple times, thrown through walls and tossed dozens of yards more than once. An average human would have most of their bones shattered after that brawl but he only sustains a few bumps and bruises. It’s a bit too much to swallow.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

If you’re interested in how all the combatants eventually run into each other, first read our BLADE RUNNER: ORIGINS #7 review.

And then they fight. Det. Cal Moreaux goes one-on-one with the “freed” replicant who’s stuck in a loop that causes it to kill. Nia faces off against Asa (formerly Dr. Kine) partly in an effort to stop each other from enacting their plans, partly as a grudge match. We found out in the last issue that Nia’s mind was transplanted into a replicant against her will as part of one of Dr. Kine’s early prototype experiments, and now she wants payback. For some reason, Asa/Dr. Kine doesn’t remember Nia because she selectively wiped parts of her memory before transferring herself into the Asa body.

Surprisingly, Cal is holding his own against the malfunctioning replicant, despite getting tossed, kicked, punched, and smashed through the walls of nearby apartments. Nia and Asa argue as they fight. Asa tries to explain its memories of Nia and why Dr. Kine did what she did are gone, and he/she/it is determined to make things right going forward.

We conclude the issue with a final end for one of the fighters, the arrival of a new player, and Dr. Kine’s brother suddenly regretting his recent choices.

Final Thoughts

BLADE RUNNER: ORIGINS #8 is a breather issue that takes full advantage of the break from the main arc to give readers a ton of thrilling action while filling in bits of story through the fight. The art is outstanding, and the writing is well-paced, but the central, nagging plot point that frustratingly remains unanswered is “why would Dr. Kine do what she did?”

Score: 8.5/10

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