We take a look at this week’s cyberpunk and dystopian comic releases. Don’t read it too fast, though…

REBELLION

2000 AD #2504

From the publisher –

 I am The Mighty Tharg, all-powerful alien editor of this brain-frazzling sci-fi extravaganza!

Time once again, Terrans, to roll up your sleeves, gird your Thrill-receptors, and prepare to immerse yourselves in another thirty-two pages of pure cosmic excitement, courtesy of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.

The scrotnig lineup that blasted into this reality in Prog 2500 — Judge Dredd, Azimuth, Herne & Shuck, Durham Red and Ghosted — continues apace, brimming as ever with high-octane action, adventure and intrigue!

Eagle-eyed Earthlets that you are, I’m sure you didn’t miss the teaser advert in Prog 2502 for a collaboration between my emerald empire and Palace Skateboards, but in case it’s dropped out of the old cranial circuits, consider this a pointer towards palaceskateboards.com, where you can pick up exclusive 2000 AD-branded skate wear.

Equally, if you’re on Instagram and follow 2000 AD, you’ll find an all-new elevenpage Dredd story, scripted by Liam Johnson and drawn by Jake Lynch, specially commissioned by Palace. Make sure you check ‘em out, humes, and look out for more collabs incoming!

2000 AD is a British science fiction comic book, which has been publishing for nearly 50 years 1977, famed for its dark British humour, and satirical and subversive stories. The jewel in the crown is Judge Dredd, a dystopian cyberpunk icon, whilst The Fall of Deadworld is a kind of an alternative history prequel series about Judge Dredd enemy Judge Death. Meanwhile Mega-City 2099 stories serve as a more traditional prequel.

MAD CAVE STUDIOS

Blüdwire #4

From the publisher –

Ace and Zora face a gentler type of violence, when Dr. Mandrake presents a new chance at freedom and safety. And all it will cost is the unthinkable. In a laboratory filled with body parts and brutal lies, Ace and Zora must decide what their future is worth.

The story follows Ace and Zora, two sentient sex-bots, Ace and Zora, who go rogue, planning to run away together. Ace is forced to attempt a high-stakes rescue mission to get Zora, and they become the targets of a ruthless corporate kill squad. Blüdwire is a mix of romance with cyberpunk action thriller.

REKCAH COMICS

THE FUTURE IS ****** #18

From the publisher –

DOOM PATROL’S JAMES HARVEY COMES TO THE FUTURE IS ******! That’s right! The artist behind one of DC’s hit series not only draws this issue, he colors AND letters for a special done-in-one issue setting the stage for the future of everyone’s favorite dog character, Arf! Also, learn to be a hacker with Capture the Flag challenges in each and every issue! 

The Future is… comic series attempts to tell stories in a plausible future, extrapolated from where we currently sit. It follows Black Mountain, a white hat team of hackers, as they struggle to prevail against the ruling powers, in a comic created by real cybersecurity experts. As a bonus, each issue will contain a clue that can be used to decrypt the ****** of the title.

INDEPENDENT

THE PATROLMAN BOOK ONE

From the publisher – 

In a London fallen to gang control, sealed off from the rest of the world, retired super criminal Theo Deviant is bored.

Corrupt corporations run the city, trading with the rest of the world, offending his anarchist instincts.

Theo realises the only person able to restore London and bring down the Lord Mayor, the enigmatic figure controlling the gangs, is the Patrolman.

But the vigilante nemesis is dead, killed by Theo’s own hand.

So it’s now up to him to train a new Patrolman and take the city back…

Having reached its Kickstarter goal, but with plenty of time left to get on board, The Patrolman has been created as part of the 20^th anniversary celebrations of Time Bomb Comics. The story is set in an alternate London ruled by a corrupt Lord Mayor, and the corporations under his influence. After his greatest nemesis, The Patrolman, is killed, a replacement is handpicked to be trained, in order to carry on the ongoing fight. The issue will contain 52 full colour pages, and you can see the available reward tiers on the Kickstarter page – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timebomb/the-patrolman-book-one 

BREEZE #2

From the publisher – 

Welcome to Babylon, where megacorporations own your soul and tyrannical super-soldiers keep you in line. Fortunately, firepower is affordable.

In Breeze Issue #2, hacker Galli and cybernetic gunslinger Synth are on the run after pulling off the score of a lifetime. Unfortunately, escaping with their lives proves considerably harder than stealing whatever it was they stole.

With corporate troopers closing in and a particularly persistent bounty hunter on their trail, Galli and Synth have to figure out what they actually stole; and why everyone suddenly wants them dead.

Oh, and somewhere along the way, there’s a cybernetic cat.

With a week left of its Kickstarter campaign, Breeze #2 is a full colour, 35 page comic set in Babylon, a sprawling corporate megacity in the Dawnward Universe, amid a neon-drenched future dominated by megacorporations. In issue #1, hacker Galli joined up with a group of freelancers, who then embarked on the heist of a lifetime—robbing a megacorp. But when you rip off a corporation who have their own squad of super soldiers, getting away with it is not going to be easy. Especially when you also have a bounty hunter on your tails. Breeze is currently funding on Kickstarter, and you can check out all the details, and pledge to the campaign, on the Kickstarter page here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breezecomic/breeze-a-cyberpunk-inspired-comic-issue-2

CRITICAL OPS TASK FORCE #1

From the publisher –

 War has evolved. 

In a brutal near-future, elite mercenaries take on impossible missions for the highest bidder, where survival is never guaranteed and the truth is always buried.

This 130-page, full-color graphic novel delivers three explosive stories set in a violent, high-tech world where power always comes at a cost. 

In a fractured future, the Critical Ops Task Force is deployed into conflicts no one else can survive. They are the solution to impossible problems. But every mission leaves scars. As the line between right and wrong disappears, the team begins to question everything, their orders, their purpose, and the system they serve.
Are they saving the world… or helping destroy it?

Fully funded, and with only a couple of days left, writer Nigel Lynch’s Critical Ops Task Force: Volume 1 offers three stories, including The Prodigal Son, about a daring rescue mission, Stolen Salvation, about a rogue scientist, and Ruby Pixel: Ctrl Alt Delete, a cyberpunk thriller about fractured identity and digital ghosts. Critical Ops Task Force is currently funding on Kickstarter, and can check out the Kickstarter page for full details of the tiers available, and to pledge to the campaign – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akoma/critical-ops-task-force-volume-1?ref=discovery&term=bcr&total_hits=319&category_id=250 

SCUM #1

From the publisher –

The Spire is a city of rigid ranks and locked doors, and Sam has managed to slip right through its cracks. The entire city is controlled by an AI god, Panopticia. She and her various underlying programs control every aspect of citizens’ day-to-day life.

Sam is unregistered, which means she can’t interact with any of those systems. On the one hand, that makes life pretty hard. Can’t open a door. Can’t buy a sandwich. Can’t get a job. On the other hand, she can steal anything she wants and the security systems won’t even know she was there. For the AI systems of The Spire, she does not exist.

And so, Sam and her unregistered friends exist on the edges of society, invisible to the eyes of God and just about everything else in The Spire, surviving the only way they can. 

After a heist goes wrong, Sam is rescued by Augustus, a mysterious benefactor that needs her help. Unregistered, Sam can move through The Spire undetected. On her own, she has only used this for petty crime. Augustus has a bigger plan and a much more ambitious goal. With Sam’s help, Augustus will kill The Spire’s AI god.

Entering the final few days of the campaign, this 48-page cyberpunk comic by Reed Hinckley-Barnes, Halil Mete, and Maja Opacic is still funding on Kickstarter. You can see the reward tiers on the Kickstarter page, and pledge to the new campaign, here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reedhb/scum-a-cyberpunk-thriller?ref=profile_created&category_id=250 

AVALON #1

From the publisher –

Set in the year 3164, AVALON takes place in a megacity-state built from what was once the United States and all of Europe, a vertical sprawl of neon, rain, and body modification. Humanity has entered a transhumanist age run by consumerism, and the key to immortality lies in cloning Consciousness.

Nico is a Runner, a mercenary who moves small, precious cargo through Avalon’s underworld without asking questions. Her partner Epsy, a brilliant hacker, guides her through the city’s alleys and bridges from the chair. When a routine run descends into chaos, the pair uncover secrets that could change the trajectory of humanity and put them in the sights of Hale Atlan, the CEO of the centuries-old Atlan Industries and a woman who will stop at nothing for immortality.

Already fully funded on Kickstarter, Avalon is a vast, vertical megacity-state, and is a combination of the former United States and Europe. POV character Epsy, a pragmatic altruist, is a hacker, and is effectively the support agent for her girlfriend, loudmouth Nico. Nico is a runner, specialising in transporting illicit packages through the vast megacity, whilst avoiding the attention of the large corporations that rule Avalon.