Titan Comics and Alcon Publishing announce that female Blade Runner known as Aahna “Ash” Ashina will be returning in Blade Runner 2039. The 12-issue series will be the final chapter in the decades-spanning saga of this fan favorite, which began in 2019 with Blade Runner 2019 and continued in Blade Runner 2029. Coming to comic shops in December 2022, the award-winning title’s concluding third year will see Ash clashing with Luv―Niander Wallace’s deadly “First Angel,” first seen in the landmark film, Blade Runner 2049. Also returning is the core creative team of writer Mike Johnson (Supergirl, Star Trek), artist Andres Guinaldo (Justice League Dark), and colorist Marco Lesko, who continue their inspired and well-lauded work bringing the Blade Runner universe to graphic story literature.
Los Angeles 2039. It has been three years since Niander Wallace introduced his brand of ‘perfectly obedient’ Replicants, and the ban on synthetic humans has been lifted, at least for the new Wallace models―the older Tyrell Corp’s Nexus 8 units are still hunted by Blade Runners. Cleo Selwyn, first seen as a small child in BR2019, Issue #1, has returned to L.A. some twenty years later, searching for Isobel, a Replicant copy of her real mother who died when she was three. Cleo believes that Niander Wallace is holding Isobel captive, and the only person she can call on for help is the one who saved her so many years ago: Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina, now an aging and disgraced ex-Blade Runner.
“This new series marks both the continuation as well as the conclusion of Ash’s story, which started in Blade Runner 2019. It’s going to be the most dramatic of the series, and that’s saying a lot after what went down in Blade Runner 2029!” said Titan Comics Senior Creative Editor, David Leach. “It’s great to be working with Johnson, Guinaldo and Lesko again, these guys are what makes it scream Blade Runner!”
“It’s refreshing to have a comic character to grow and evolve the way Ash has,” noted Alcon’s director of publishing, Jeff Conner. “Mike and Andres are really doing something special. Fans of the series should be very pleased.”
The first issue of Blade Runner 2039 comes with four stunning variant covers to collect: three art covers by artists Junggeun Yoon, Veronica Fish, and Butch Guice, respectively, as well as a concept art cover by Syd Mead, the renowned “futurist” designer responsible visualizing much of the Blade Runner world. Here’s a look at the cover artwork:
Blade Runner 2039 expands Titan Comics’ hugely popular and critically acclaimed Blade Runner comics titles, which include Blade Runner 2019, Blade Runner 2029, Blade Runner: Origins, and its newest entry Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an extension of the award-nominated anime TV series.
Blade Runner 2039 #1 hits comic shops and digital devices in December 2022. Pre-order from your local comic shop and Forbidden Planet (UK/Europe).
