The BrainDance is a blessing and a curse. This electronic dream machine, plugged into the internet of the future is a blessed relief for those who want to escape. To dream, perchance to dream joyful thoughts. And joy indeed, Cyberpunk 2077 Blackout #1 is the first issue of a limited run from Dark Horse Comics.
The story, art, and circumstances combine powerfully in this first issue to show us the future world, where people are miserable. They get through their days and nights by plugging their heads into BrainDance. That is unless there is a power blackout, and everything is gone. Then the opium dream melts, the tasty ice cream melts, the happiness turns into puddles of perplexed rage.
Enter the technician who fixes the broken BrainDance boxes. He’s deeply in debt, perpetually pestered by his boss, but has big ‘real life’ dreams and ambitions. Can he keep his big mouth shut long enough to get to where the ‘good things’ happen, or will he torpedo himself into tormented trauma?
Writer Bartosz Sztybor builds the world for us, its flaws, its scratches and dings. The elevator bells that ring a ding ding in your head, the incessantly littered landscape of the ruined city, the downtrodden plebes and peasants. It ain’t pleasant, but Sztybor makes us feel for Arturo, the repairman. There are twists, turns, surprises, and rhythms to the pacing, making us slow down and smell the chaos.
Artist Roberto Ricci fits a lot into a panel; but all the details are there for the story. Background info, glimpses behind and around the characters while they gesture; figures that breakthrough panel borders and make their own way; the viewpoint keeps shifting and gyrating, ever restless, filled with expressions and action.
Colourist Fabiana Mascolo pulls off the impressive, making every panel individually interesting. Sometimes rendering realistic skin tones and backgrounds, but frequently introducing emotionally charged colour choices: plum, cherry, eggplant and flat greys. Strong, stylishly imaginative letters by Frank Cvetkovic.
I really liked this book. It kept me interested, invested in the characters, mystified, and entertained from one end of the tale to the other. You can bet that I want to follow Cyberpunk 2077 Blackout through its four-issue run!
Dark Horse Comics, Cyberpunk 2077 Blackout #1, $3.99 for 26 pages of content
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