Down In A Hole

by Mary Safro, Io Black

The year is 1995, and everything's gone wrong - especially for Dan, pissy misanthrope and recovering VR junkie, who's got a vicious worm in his headware and a dead-end delivery job on the wrong side of the old Iron Curtain.

Set in the crushingly bureaucratic and shamelessly dysfunctional Republic of Stradania, Drugs & Wires is one part slice-of-life, one part genre piss-take, several parts '90s nostalgia, and flat-out gratuitous amounts of magenta.

We call it "cyberpunk", but there's no sleek razorgirls or trenchcoat-clad hackermen with kung fu skills here - just one depressed addict and a merry cast of cybergopniks, babushkas, VR scenesters, robodogs, and vulture capitalists, plus one lovably unscrupulous street doc with a medical degree from the University of MS Paint.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Cyberpunk, Science Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Chris Limb · Rating 5 out of 5]

An alternative Eastern European 90s where cyberpunk technology runs on Windows 95 - striking, colourful and engaging artwork combines with a compelling and yet tensely hilarious storyline. Highly recommended.

[⋆☾⋆⁺₊⋆⭒˚｡⋆ Liz ⋆｡°✩ ⋆⁺₊⋆☾⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This graphic novel I actually bought as a gift, which Mary Safro was lovely enough to sign with my partner’s name (I will be forever grateful for this ❤ ). However, after excited recommendation I decided to give it a whirl.

I loved it! I’m definitely going to be continuing on with this web-comic. I adored the dynamic between Dan and Lin, I was engaged throughout the whole time reading and I started to become really wrapped up in this world and in Dan’s life. The artwork in this graphic novel is absolutely stunning, *tip*, if you read this online there are GIFS and animated panels. I have previously read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, but this is my first time dabbling into the cyberpunk genre and I am not disappointed, I found it to be a super interesting and unique read. I can’t recommend this enough.

[Apa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the story originally at https://www.drugsandwires.fail/ and just had to join the Kickstarter to get the first 4 chapters on paper! The story and characters start out a bit weak but develop quickly and grow quite a lot. The same goes for the art, the book really finds its own style after the first chapter. The art is simple and clean but colours are bold and really set the moods for scenes. The "digital" elements are spot on. For someone else this might be just 3 or 4 star book but the dark cyberpunk future of 1995 is really the thing for me.

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got all you want for a Cyberpunk story. Oddball characters, distrust of the corporate world. Drugs, VR and implant mods.
For character base and growth the pace is fine, would get a 5 star if there was a tad more action or something, not sure.

[Geoffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

BORG GO HOME

[kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

melancholic & snarky lowfi cyberpunk that reads a little close to home in 2020. gorgeous images & tight script. i totally used to hang out with dan.