Cyberpunk 2077: Kickdown

Cyberpunk 2077 #LS6

by Tomasz Marchewka, Jake Elphick (illustrator), Tommaso Bennato (illustrator)

Fire up the engines, it’s a street takeover! With her foot on the pedal of the hottest ride in Night City, the daughter of a famed carjacker is out to set her record straight.

Mint is the sole survivor of her former crew. Buzz on the street is she sold them out to the NCPD to save herself. Now, badges are after her father’s old crewmate, tech genius who goes by the name Kickdown. To clear her name, she’ll have to toe the line between gangs and the NCPD. And there’s one place where the gangs of Night City gather—where speed settles the score. In a crowd of Animals, Maelstrom, and Tyger Claws gangsters, word travels fast—and that’s all according to plan.   

Created in close collaboration with CD Projekt Red, the principal writer behind Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Tomasz Marchewka and artist Jake Elphick (Twisted Dark, Backtrack) take to the streets of Night City for a ride full of twists, turns, and crashes!

Collects Cyberpunk 2077: Kickdown #1–#4.

Genres: Cyberpunk, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Action, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Paperback

Published March 25, 2025

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't initially convinced by the plot, but it grew on me. I'm glad it ended in a way that matches the themes of the wider series but still feels fresh and unexpected.

[Nel · Rating 3 out of 5]

welp, guess im gonna redownload the game and start another playthrough.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic plot that's easy to guess, but with a good healthy dose of noir in the street racing milieu. It's as dark as it needs to be, with a gratuitous twist at the end that drives home the point about the bad mean vibes generated by the protagonist. That would be my main criticism: she's neither sympathetic nor fascinating. Just a ball of spite with a plan, which has its limits.

Good drawing and storytelling and good colour atmosphere, even if I note that the last issue is very sloppy and the fight scenes are rather weak.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Said I'm nothin' like 'im, every last one.
Damn straight."

[Anibal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collecting all four issues of this arc, Kickdown throws us right into the purest essence of Cyberpunk: illegal street racing, gang wars, accusations of betrayal, and a police force that behaves like just another gang in Night City’s chaotic sprawl. The violence is raw, the neural chips are loaded with impossible tech, and a visionary engineer becomes the target everyone’s after. At the center of it all stands a moody, uncharismatic protagonist who somehow fits perfectly in this world of broken dreams and flashing neon.

The street slang — full of “chums” and hard edges — might sound forced at first, but it’s part of the charm that makes the Cyberpunk universe so immersive. The artwork is slick and atmospheric, perfectly capturing the heat and grime of Night City’s underbelly. And the finale? Brutal, cinematic, and very much in line with the Cyberpunk ethos — no guaranteed happy endings here.

Essential reading for fans of the universe created by Mike Pondsmith back in 1988, recently reborn in the virtual world with the phenomenal Cyberpunk 2077. It’s fast, ruthless, and absolutely dripping with style — just like a proper ride through the dark heart of Night City.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool little street racing story that gives us some gangs and cars we’re familiar with in the Cyberpunk world. As always, the drawings are graphic yet illustrated beautifully. Story wise, I didn’t really care for Mint but I liked how it played out, showcasing how brutal and selfish you have to be to survive in Night City.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is brutal.

I didn't really connect with the main character, although I did appreciate her representation in LGBTQI+.

It has a suprising ending. I do think it is very cleverly written but the ending just left me completely brutalised, and not in a good way.

I still can't bring myself to dislike it. It's a great addition to the CP2077 world.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

La colección de cómics de Cyberpunk tiene unos cuantos tomos muy buenos, otros no tanto y algunos olvidables. Este es de los buenos. :)

Se mete un poco en el follón del porno de coches de Cyberpunk, las carreras y los líos que pueden derivar de ellos. La historia y los personajes están bien tirados.

[Chris Hepburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's definitely trying to be a noir street race story, rife with unnatural speech bubles, and text. And a lack lustre ending. I would give it 2 stars, but this is nightcity, and everything goes bad.

[Seamus Conneely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bleak as hell, choom. Looks good, not badly written, but you'll end it with a grimace and kind of wishing you hadn't.

[Barni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobrze opowiedziana, choć prosta historia.

[autumnlove · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ryan Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It frustrates me how cool the Cyberpunk world building is yet I've found most of the graphic novels so far to have forgettable characters and stories. The artwork is very nice.

[Iain Hawkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kickdown combines two genres I normally have little interest in - cyberpunk and street racing. Having read the graphic novel in question, I'm afraid it didn't do anything to make me interested in said genres, nor was the graphic novel that good either.

Not that it was bad of course. It's...fine, really, I'm just not the right audience for it.

[Cyberpsychoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to 'You have my word', which makes it a little unoriginal but the twist at the end gives the whole comic its charm.

[Steven De Clerck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great comic book in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. The main car featured in this comic book was integrated into the game with the 2.3 Game Update.