Ash hunts down billionaire Selwyn – Blade Runner issue #9

The Blade Runner 2019 comic series has now arrived at its ninth issue. The series that is set between the events of the movie is remarkable in its consistent adherence to established lore. In this issue we see former Blade Runner Aahna Ashina (Ash) return to Earth after a sojourn in the outer colonies. As she wonders the streets of LA in the drizzle you can almost taste the noodles. The story is written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson. The art is by Andres Guinaldo while the cover is by Tommy Lee Edwards. These have been stunning since the series inception last year. Below you can read a brief summary of the events in Blade Runner 2019 issue #9. If you don’t like spoilers – beware.

Recap of Blade Runner issue #9

After nine issues the scope of the Blade Runner 2019 storyline is starting to narrow. Ash is back on Earth and she bent on finding the reclusive billionaire Alexander Selwyn. Selwyn started Ash on her journey to find his wife Isobel and daughter Cleo. But now that Ash knows why they needed to be found she has renounced the commission. Instead, she wants to finish Selwyn. To kill him means she will save herself from his vengeance as well as protect Isobel and Cleo. Yet, much has changed in her absence. The Los Angeles of 2026 is already different from the one she left in 2019. Eldon Tyrell is dead, and so is his company. Replicants are all banned after the revolt of 2022 that destroyed so much technology. Ash knows she is out of her depth and decides to visit an old colleague – her boss Lydia.

With the introduction of Lydia Wojciech the story obtains the necessary impetus that allows Ash to continue her mission of revenge. Lydia reminds Ash there is a bounty on her, but she won’t collect it because she does not believe Ash killed Selwyn’s wife Isobel (which she didn’t). Here we see a possible way for Selwyn to make Ash’s pursuit of him more difficult. By reminding people of Ash’s bounty her life will be endangered by everybody with a gun. However, Lydia won’t help Ash. Instead Ash heads out to the remains of the Tyrell Pyramids. There Ash is attacked by shirtless hoodlums. Without context it is an odd incident. I think the reader is made to believe these are former Tyrell replicants. If so, the questions is. Why nobody has ‘retired’ them? The Tyrell Pyramids make for a fantastic backdrop. You can almost hears Rachel walking in her heels.

Where will the story go from here?

Ash is saved from the murderous mob by a Tyrell employee named Fost. Clearly he has a screw loose. However, Fost may have been a deliberate stay-behind engineer. Ash pretends to work for Tyrell and the Isobel project. Using his computer access they search up everything known about the mysterious project Tyrell and Selwyn were working on. In an unknown place we see Selwyn lament the return of Ash. He knows she is after him and instructs the person whom he is talking to not to fail again. As the viewpoint switches we see Hythe. And so against the post-blackout moratorium replicants are still manufactured. However, Hythe would offer Selwyn no guarantee of success. Now that Ash is figuring out what the Isobel project precisely is beyond the suspicion of lengthening human life the odds are starting to become even. That said, Cleo still has a role to play.

And so we have come to the end of my recap of Blade Runner 2019 issue #9. Now that Ash had returned to Los Angeles it feels as though the series is back on track. Not that I disliked the sojourn amongst the outer colonies. Yet, it was not enlightening towards the mystery of the replicants. What was Eldon Tyrell up with the Nexus series culminating with Deckard? We may not get an answer to that, just watch Blade Runner 2049 but me get to understand other mysteries. I for one am excited to learn them. And so issue #9 gets my clear thumbs up. Issue #10 from Titan Comics will be along on September 23rd. I hope you enjoyed reading my review. If so, don’t forget to fill out the subscribe widget on the right.