Didn’t really want to finish it, and not in the good way. Kovacs is a pale imitation of his persona in Altered Carbon (book 1); art made him randomly sadistic rather than haunted by his past. My entry to this universe was thru Japanese ‘Resleeved’ anime, which was good and much more faithful to TK persona of book 1. I read this while waiting for library copy of book 2.

Would not recommend.

A fun and satisfying Takeshi Kovacs story in comic form. The art and colouring did a good job of conveying the cyberpunk feeling.

Gor. This is no better or worse than any other Takeshi story. Endlessly grim, mercilessly violent, and pessimistic about the entire human race.

This was a nice little Takeshi Kovacs snack while we wait for the next installment of the series (there WILL be a next installment, right Mr. Morgan?). The story was fun, seeing Tak the envoy in action again was fun, the art was fun--it was all fun.

Nothing really popped for me, though. The implications of the technology Morgan imagined that underpin this world are on display, but they don't resonate the same way as they do in his longer novels. This makes sense, of course, but leaves me wanting more.

Maybe it's time for a re-read of the trilogy!

Disappointing. The writing is mediocre and the art is slightly sub par. The story is not very original, but its a serviceable plot and could have been quite good with better structure and dialogue. The whole thing was hurt by rather amateur art that distracted from the story.

I like the Altered Carbon series, but this is a very poor exemplar.

'Altered Carbon: Download Blues' by Richard K. Morgan & Hoskin, Rik with art by Ferran Sellares is a graphic novel set in the world created by Morgan.

Takeshi Kovacs is a violent man, and just the right man in the wrong place. He starts by investigating a ring of sex workers sleeved as celebrities, and then stumbles upon a more sinister conspiracy that leads to him fighting himself at one point.

The story isn't bad and feels like it's set in the right world. The art was kind of poor and angular and I didn't really care for it.

-6 Alright, but the art was inconsistent in some places and the story went on a bit of a tangent. Many plot threads were left open, like the case in the beginning and the security guard. Enjoyed it despite that, and the ending.

[Read and reviewed in 2019]

Very interesting graphical novel set in Takeshi Kovacs' universe.

Story wise this is standard Takeshi :) Put to jail because of disorderly behavior Takeshi gets called to get information from only murder witness (maybe better said only person found in vicinity of murder location).

From here story just explodes. We follow Kovacs getting more and more involved (and finally getting sponsor to execute his private vengeance) in fighting through government/protectorate conspiracy, shadowy special operation teams, genocide aftermath and very advanced AI that just wants Kovacs out of the way.

On the art side it is a little bit mixed case here. Some parts are OK but some parts look like exaggerated putty constructions (you know bulgy cheekbones, head shape weird depending on perspective etc). So anatomy-wise sometimes you will see weird things depending on the perspective and body position. Artist's style might put some people off but I have no problem with it. I think it captures the characters and story itself very fine indeed and those few weird panels did not ruin anything for me.

Recommended to all fans of Takeshi Kovac, cyberpunk, noir and SF in general.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dynamite Entertainment for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

I have been a fan of the Takeshi Kovacs universe since Morgan wrote the original Altered Carbon in 2002. Not only that, I find the "Land Fit For Heroes' world to be some of the best fantasy written in the last twenty years. All that being said, I found this to be a mediocre adaptation of the source material. The fundamental problem is that the artwork did not flow well with the dialog, that in turn led to stunted panels. I don't think this is either Morgan or Hoskin's fault. Hoskin is an excellent artist. Check out his work in The Red Rising adaptation. I thought the art was very well done there. But for some reason, Altered Carbon and his style did not mesh well. Hoskin's artwork is too angular and stocky to fit Kovacs predator personality. it came off as more He-Man then I would have liked. I will continue to read this universe because Morgan's writing is always top-notch. But I won't seek it out like I usually would have.

Edit - I have since been contacted by Ferran Sellares who informed me that Hoskin and Morgan wrote the script while Sellares and Vinicius Andrade are the ones who did the artwork. I apologize I misunderstood. Considering most of my original review is talking about the artwork I am going to rewrite a bit of it here. Basically, Sellares artwork is quite good. I don't think it fits with the writing and Kovacs personality. But, that is really my personal preference and how I view the character.