Early in the 21 Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. The early Nexus models were intended to reassure the public – and corporate interests – that Replicants were viable replacements to perform jobs considered too hazardous or mundane for humans. In Los Angeles, a child was diagnosed with a rare spinal affliction. Her mother departed for an Off-World colony, hoping to find employment to support her daughter back home. She was never heard of again. The grown of Off-world colonies fuelled the rapid development and construction of new Nexus models. By the time Nexus 5 Replicants were ready, they were superior in strength and agility, and at least equal in intelligence, to the genetic engineers who created them. The girl was raised by her grandmother. Over time, she learned to survive on the crowded streets of Los Angeles, among those too poor and infirm to leave Earth. After a bloody mutiny by a Nexus 6 combat team in an Off-world colony, Replicants were declared illegal on Earth – under penalty of death. Special police squads – Blade Runner units – had orders to shoot and kill, upon detection, any trespassing Replicant. The girl, now grown, calls herself ASH. She is the most capable Blade Runner in the city.

In Critical Role: Vox Machina, travels far and wide... But which ones are just colorful flights of fancy, and which are actually true? Gather 'round as several of these tall tales are told, each more far-fetched than the last. Writer Jody Houser (Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins II, Stranger Things), artist Hunter Bonyun, and colorist Stephan McGowan bring the Critical Role story to life. Then get an introduction to the world of Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, a new comic series adapted by award-winning comics writer and artist P. Craig Russell (American Gods, Only the End of the World Again) with colors by Lovern Kindzierski (Shame, Necromantic) and letters by Galen Showman (The Graveyard Book, Murder Mysteries).

Following a Replicant mutiny on an Off-world mining colony, Ash and Cleo became separated. Cleo fled with the renegade Replicants, while Ash, believed dead, was taken into custody by Hythe, a corporate Blade Runner, and forcibly recruited to track down her surrogate daughter. Following the renegades’ trail, Hythe and Ash travelled to the way station of Ramanuja where they encountered the Replicant Isobel, whom Ash believed had died back on Earth when she and Cleo first escaped. Together the three women searched for Cleo among the passengers preparing to embark to the Off-world colony of Arcadia. Ash spotted Cleo and her Replicant friend Padric, but before she could act, Hythe double-crossed her, triggering a furious gun battle that left both Padric and Hythe dead. Cleo and Isobel were at long last reunited and set off to Arcadia, while Ash returned back to Earth…

Our story takes place a thousand years after a global cataclysm. Earth has been remade into a lush, thriving ecosystem, but with a new dominant species: the machines. These massive, animal-like robots fill the lands, oceans, and skies, serving as the guardians and enforcers of the revived natural order. New generations of humans formed into pre-industrial tribes, without knowledge of the doomed civilization that preceded them, that of the “Old Ones” – us. Little did they know that threats from the ancient world persisted, the greatest of which was HADES, a mysterious A.I. bent on wiping out all organic life. Bolstered by an army of misguided zealots and corrupted machines, it launched a massive assault on humanity’s largest tribe. After a desperate battle, HADES was defeated by Aloy, the greatest machine hunter of her age, and a coalition of faithful allies at the city of Meridian. Now Talanah, one of Aloy’s closest confidantes and the newly appointed Sunhawk of the Hunters Lodge, seeks a moment of respite after the epic struggle.

Early in the 21st century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-world as slave labor. Those who escaped to Earth were hunted by Blade Runner units, ordered to kill any trespassing Replicant on detection. In 2022, a Replicant attack on the Tyrell Corporation destroyed all records of existing Replicants and forced the company into bankruptcy. The surviving Nexus 8 models disappeared with the help of the Replicant underground. Many Replicants remained in servitude. In 2027, Aahna “Ash” Ashina, a former Blade Runner, rejoins the LAPD to once again hunt down fugitive Replicants. Her superiors are unaware that her loyalties are divided. Her lover, Freysa, is a leader in the Replicant underground. Ash’s activities have brought her to the attention of Yotun, a rogue Nexus 6 that she failed to capture 12 years ago. Somehow this dangerous radical Replicant has lived far past his inception date. Los Angeles, 2029

Early in the 21 Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced Robot evolution to the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. Replicants were used Off-World as slave labor, in the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets. Replicants who escaped and returned to Earth were hunted by special police squads – Blade Runner Units – with orders to kill any trespassing Replicant upon detection. In 2022, radical elements with the Replicant Underground detonate an EMP device over Los Angeles, destroying Tyrell Corporation’s Nexus databases, and making it easier for escaped Replicants to resettle on Earth. Soon, all Replicants are banned and the Tyrell Corporation declares bankruptcy. In 2027, Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina, a former Blade Runner rejoined the department to hunt down fugitive Replicants. Her superiors are unaware that her loyalties are divided.

Blade Runner Aahna ‘Ash’ Ashina of the Los Angeles Police Department has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of Isobel and Cleo Selwyn, the wife and daughter of business tycoon, Alexandra Selwyn. Using data retrieved from Isobel’s abandoned Spinner, Ash followed Isobel’s trail and found herself confronting a replicant who had genetically ‘aged himself up’ as an old man to avoid detection. Ash shot and wounded him after he attacked her, but he was still able to escape, telling Ash, as he fled, to: “Ask Alexander Selwyn why he wants his daughter dead.” Meanwhile, Isobel and Cleo have made contact with an underworld community that lives beneath the streets of Los Angeles and its leader, Malik, who also runs an underground railway that helps Replicants to escape. After Ash reported back to Selwyn on the progress of her investigation, her own Spinner was attacked in mid-air by another craft, which sent her crashing and burning towards the streets of the city below…