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Blade Runner 2019 #10 and #11 hurtle us towards a climactic conclusion that no doubt will tie into the recently announced Blade Runner 2029 comic by the same creative team of Michael Green, Mike Johnson, and Andres Guinaldo. But they by no means are ancillary material as the developments within these issues are vital to Ash’s character development and the subtle world-building being down to bridge the gap between the two films.
Blade Runner 2019 #10
Blade Runner 2019 #10 sees Ash really come face to face with the fact that she is a relic of the past. It is hammered home repeatedly, from the aftermath of her visit to the now crumbled and decaying Tyrell headquarters to her interactions with the LAPD. She came to seek justice for Cleo, but the justice she is seeking is of a bygone era. The world has changed, and Ash must move forward with this knowledge and perhaps change herself if she wants to get justice against Selwyn.
There is an old saying that’s apropos to what is going on: “You can’t go home again.” Ash came back to LA, and while yes, there were familiar sites, streets, shops, and the like, time still has taken its toll. The Blade Runners were basically no more, as discussed in a previous issue with Hythe, Tyrell was gone, Replicants are a rare breed. This prevailing feeling over the reader that Ash is a lost soul caught up in a situation that has ceased to have much meaning to anyone but a handful of people.
Which makes her rescue at the hands of a team of rebel Replicants that more substantial. Much like her, they have become obsolete, a rare commodity, and have lost their way. Maybe together they can find a way to navigate this new world that has moved beyond them and find Selwyn that way.
Blade Runner 2019 #11
Blade Runner 2019 #11 sees Ash bonding with her new Replicant saviors and finding out some unsettling news. There has been a ban on Replicant production and forced labor after the Blackout, and all surviving Replicants have gone into hiding. They now live among humans, fulfilling needs of theirs by working thankless jobs but as a result, they go unnoticed. However much like any prohibition on something manufactured in the real world, the law can only apply so far. And this technicality is being used to further the goals of many with the privilege to take advantage.
Bootlegging of Replicant production off-world has increased, and Selwyn in particular is racking in the cash from this endeavor. Worse still is that the Nexus 8 models, the ones with the open-ended lifespan, have been altered in some form to be completely obedient to their creators. Not lifeless entirely, as we see with Hythe, but devoid of free will in a way. In effect, Selwyn has perverted Tyrell’s attempt to create a new life by making them no more than cheap and expendable slaves. Not that the Replicants weren’t more than that, to begin with, but Selwyn lacks the God complex Tyrell had and is only interested in the money.
With this knowledge and the first-hand experience that life for Replicants off-world has not changed as much as it has one Earth, Ash is now partnered with the rebel Replicants to kill two birds with one stone. The Replicants want Selwyn to stop manufacturing his altered version of their kind and Ash wants Selwyn to stay the hell away from Cleo. The question is ultimately can these rebels be trusted? Ash has been used repeatedly throughout this entire series by multiple sides to further their own goal. She is seen as a blunt instrument, a nail to be hammered down. But now that she is on a very personal mission, can she break from this cycle?
Blade Runner 2019 #10 And #11 Set Ash Up For A Major Confrontation
Blade Runner 2019 #10 and #11 are pretty strong entries to this fantastic series. They didn’t reach the emotional and thematic heights of previous issues, but the questions they raise, and the subtle world-building matched with character work make up for this. I can’t wait to see how Ash and Selwyn’s encounter goes next issue as we have quite literally gone back to where this all began back in #1.
