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After a few delays, Blade Runner 2039 #5 is finally here. Strangely it is written only by Mike Johnson this time without the co-writer Mellow Brown. But it still picks right back up where the previous issue left off; was it worth the wait?
Blade Runner 2039 #5: Niander Wallace
Blade Runner 2039 #5 opens with a flashback of Niander Wallace introducing his new Replicant Luv and loaning her own to the police. We have seen how she dealt with being a part of that in the previous issues and in the film, Blade Runner 2049, we see Luv as Wallace’s right-hand woman. This short flashback provides some context for all of that as well as the changing status quo. But the most exciting part of it is how Niander Wallace is presented.
Andres Guinaldo envelops Wallace in shadow at all times. Only parts of him are visible at a given time, even his clothes are obscured, only becoming visible in a few panels. The most common parts of Wallace that can be seen outside of his outline are his cybernetic eyes glowing through the shadow, his chin, mouth, and parts of his goatee. But the only times these parts become visible on the page is when Wallace wields his power like a cudgel.
Niander Wallace isn’t the creator of the Replicants, he’s not even the one that discovered the ability for them to procreate. He lives in the shadows of greater men, just as deplorable as him. But he wants to be more, the way he speaks seeing himself as a god, and Luv as his angel. What I think Andres Guinaldo is doing is trying to visually show this contradiction in Wallace’s character as well as his malice. The only time he can step out of the shadows is when he acts like a tyrant, he’s no one but he wants to be.
The Morality Of Reproduction In Blade Runner 2039 #5
The other part of Blade Runner 2039 #5 focuses on Ash, Cleo, and Freysa meeting up with the Replicant Underground and discussing Selwyn’s research. In that discussion, Ash and Freysa get into a heated debate that brings up an interesting concept in terms of morality when it comes to the Replicants and their ability to reproduce.
Ash reasons that this is the thing the Replicants need to continue their kind, to become a true population. But Freysa takes the stance that it is an obscene action that would doom future Replicants to a life of misery. In her eyes, Replicants shouldn’t have been created in the first place as their existence is one of servitude from birth till death. That’s no life at all.
Ash reasonably points out that the work of the Replicant Underground could change all of that. But then Freysa brings in the real kicker, Ash isn’t a Replicant so is looking at it from a strictly human view of life. Replicant Reproduction would mean that the slaves of the humans would have no end and very little cost. Their numbers would increase exponentially and not a single one would know life outside of slavery.
Humans understandably believe reproduction is essential, and that is how we are biologically wired. It is our legacy, the only way to show that we existed in some cases. Replicants do not have that luxury, they are made for one purpose only. So, is it moral to gift the Replicants with the ability to reproduce if it would only be used to further the misery of their kind?
Blade Runner 2039 #5 (2023) Took A Long While To Ask An Fascinating Discussion
Blade Runner 2039 #5 provides some interesting details and brings up a very interesting question. However, due to its delays, the weight of these is slightly lessened. It certainly didn’t help the pacing.
We shall see how that pans out in time.
