There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and this has been one of them.
Bartosz Sztybor‘s Cyberpunk 2077 comics are decidedly lower-key affairs than their (critically flawed, but at times magnificent) parent game or the terrific, harrowing Studio Trigger anime series Edgerunners (which Sztybor wrote the original story for). Where 2077 and Edgerunners focus on people with the skill, abilities, and allies to take on Night City’s big-name power players, the comics focus on comparatively everyday folks—a braindance technician, for instance, in the quite good Blackout.
You Have My Word, illustrated by Jesús Hérvas, occupies a middle ground between Blackout‘s largely-over-his-head protagonist and the rockstar Edgerunners of 2077 and, well, Edgerunners. Protagonist Teresa was once an unmatched death dealer, respected by her fellow gangsters in the Valentinos and feared by their enemies. That was decades ago, and while Teresa remains lethal, Night City’s only gotten sharper and hungrier since her day. She’s come for answers and vengeance, and she’ll have to bring all her lethality to bear if she’s to get it.
Hérvas draws marvelous, mutable faces. This is especially true for Teresa, who begins the book content with her life and gracefully settled into her old age, though not one to brush off naked cruelty spewed for its own sake.
After Teresa embarks on her quest for revenge, Hérvas introduces (or more accurately re-introduces, given that Teresa’s past self is first seen on a mural before her proper introduction) a sharpness to her features and a precision to her movement that expertly showcases her lethality and comfort with that lethality.
Hérvas’ take on Night City is likewise quite strong. It’s a grimy, desperate place in his pencils (particularly compared to the kinetic bombast of Edgerunners‘ take—still grimy, but also romantic), emphasizing how rare and vital moments of peace and connection are in Mike Pondsmith’s dark future.
While Sztybor’s character work is solid as ever, You Have My Word suffers a bit from a mismatch between its narrative scope and its storytelling style. It’s very much a one-more-Night-City-story tale. That clashes with the impact that Teresa had on Night City in her youth, her still extant ties to the Valentinos—one of the more powerful factions in the setting generally, and one with direct ties to 2077‘s main story—and the comparatively wide scale of the book’s events and players. The climax makes sense on paper, but in practice, its ending reads as abrupt, and a last-minute twist lands awkwardly as it turns on a character who’s important to Teresa but spends a significant hunk of the comic off-page. Compared to Blackout, which featured a similar twist that used the comparatively minor status of one of its players to its advantage, You Have My Word‘s ending is abrupt and a bit hollow.
You Have My Word is solidly scripted overall, and Hérvas’ illustrations are excellent, but for a comic that captures one of the countless battles Night City’s inhabitants wage in the hopes of saving themselves, I’d say Blackout is the better book.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.