Cyberpunk 2077: XOXO #1 Review
Cyberpunk 2077: XOXO #1 review
Story: Bartosz Sztybor
Art & Color: Jakub Rebelka
Letters: Frank Cvetkovic
CD Projekt Red Editorial: Bartosz Sztybor
CD Projekt Red English Adaptation: Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz
Editor: Judy Khuu
Associate Editor: Rose Weitz
Designer: Lin Huangj
Digital Art Technician: Tyler Li
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
It’s a funny thing to see such a high-concept science fiction reduced to the style of a simple abstract painting, yet the story is so impactful, if not more meaningful. I believe that is Sztybor’s point. No matter the quality of the art, the story can still be just as important. You don’t have to have played the video game to understand why someone would go through the process of enhancing themselves under the ripper’s knife, but if you had the option, would you?
There is an important question in Cyberpunk 2077: XOXO that’s being asked, which, I think, some readers might miss when they grab a copy of issue one, the first of four. To feel or not to feel, that is the question.
Ah, love! It is such a wonderful thing to feel any time of the year. A feeling so strong that time itself could pause in perfect stillness. Cyberpunk 2077: XOXO #1 follows the story of a regular person in Night City who becomes smitten with a girl. Sztybor takes you on a riveting, heart-throbbing, and sensational journey into a relationship intertwined with a gang’s plot to rob another rival. Foreshadowing wastes no bits in this love story gone wrong, playing into the thematically harsh and engrossing overtones that Night City reflects while artistically questioning the human condition.
In essence, Cyberpunk 2077 is a compilation of all our worst fears and greatest struggles. I love the recreation of the nightclub scene from the movie The Mask, starring Jim Carey. If you never got to experience that movie, then you might not see the parallels without someone as old as me pointing it out.
I love the direction this story is taking and the style in which it’s been captured. Like an homage to so many writing techniques and artistic meanings, it’s a love letter to something. Exactly what that is, I’m not sure, but it’s certainly one of the most impactful things you’ll read this year. It’s got love, action, and great storytelling.
What more could you ask for in a comic? If you’d like to read more Cyberpunk stories from Bartosz Sztybor, head over here. Don’t forget to support your local comic store or visit your favorite artists and creators at cons. As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts.
Michael J. Florio
Michael is a versatile creative professional, excelling as a comic writer, editor, and screenwriter. He holds notable credits at Advent Comics, Grok Comics, Champion Comics, Alter Ego Arts, and Super Serious Comics, Mazzi Productions not including his own projects like Wild Oni and Iron Jaguar. Aside from being an internationally published editor, Michael has been the editor-in-chief at Inked Studios, where he’s assisted on over 40 crowdfunding campaigns, contributing to projects like Exiled (Wesley Snipes), Redempt1on (Austin St. John), and Bleeding Pulp (Justin Gray). Holding degrees from the University of Full Sail, Michael resides in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he hosts the Comics’N’Poptarts podcast and actively engages with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Writers Guild Chapter, sharing comic expertise. Beyond his creative pursuits, he enjoys family time, storytelling, film analysis, comic reading, and honing voice acting for future prospects.
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