As with all sci-fi, cyberpunk was a reaction to the politics of its era; writers such as William Gibson railing against the increasing power and lack of accountability that corporations seemed to benefit from, the ever encroaching threat of unchecked advances in technology and the desperation of the average person just trying to survive.

Filtered through the lens of 80s politics and ‘greed is good’ corporate bullshit, it’s clear that it was as much punk as it was cyber.

The problem was, many consumers of cyberpunk – whether that be in Gibson’s densely layered slices of prose, movies, anime, tabletop RPGs or video games – quite often the social and political messaging was either undercut, missed entirely or omitted in favour of the surface level, ‘cool’ tech and cyberspace shenanigans.

One of the appeals of cyberpunk was its zeitgeisty style and future goth aesthetics, but it all felt a bit shallow when the substance was lacking.

The genre fell away somewhat – it’s difficult to find enjoyment in fiction about the societal problems brought about by wars, late stage capitalism and the exploitation of the masses by the super rich when that’s exactly the state of the world you’re actually living in – but it’s seen a renaissance in recent years, with writers, artists and film makers who clearly did scratch beneath the surface giving cyberpunk a much needed upgrade.

You can add writer David Wilburn and artist Rafael Romeo Magat to the list of cyberpunk creators who totally get it, with the first issue of The Ghost System being a truly impressive slice of modern cyberpunk.

Set in Manchester in 2045 – the one sticking point for me, perhaps; I am not a fan of specific years being added into near future settings, fearing that it can easily date and age a piece of fiction before you know it – the first issue of The Ghost System introduces us to white hat hacker Soro.

Soro goes through an unbelievably traumatic, tragic experience that trips his hardware and alters his perception of the world around him; the constant waves of invisible technological connections suddenly becoming tangible in his vision.

It allows him to start fighting back, with the safety of anonymity shielding his little acts of violent vengeance. Though he does initially seem like he’s finally being able to stand up for the little guy against a world of bullies and rich people exploiting the underclass – which includes the subservient Fleshmechs, built to serve for whatever needs their owners desires – flashbacks reveal that he’s not exactly clean cut himself.

His escalating acts of revenge take a very sinister turn by the final page of the issue; like all of the best cyberpunk fiction, there are no heroes here. Just shifting shades of grey in a world built to benefit those in power.

It’s all given a great sense of visual style by Magat; Wilburn’s slang-heavy script successfully sells the near-future Manchester setting too, with an impressive volume of visual and verbal information imparted throughout the comic’s pages.

There’s a lot here to unpack and a lot to like; though it’s dark and at times very downbeat in its tone, The Ghost System #1 is never less than compelling and, following the climax, I’m definitely very keen to see how Soro’s story plays out.

A highly recommended read, even if you’ve become jaded about the cyberpunk genre in recent years.

Many thanks to David Wilburn at Broken Face Comics for providing me with a digital copy of The Ghost System #1 for review purposes. You can buy The Ghost System #1 from Global Comix at this link.

You can find Broken Face Comics on Social Media at the following links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brokenfacecomics

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brokenfacecomics.bsky.social

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