Fans of Detroit: Become Human and Blade Runner will feel right at home with the graphic novel Five Model Murder from Silver Sprocket Press. Set on the Tansang Loop space station, an android named Io comes into contact with a corpse and a murder mystery. In the Tansang Loop there are two million people, but if you factor in the cyborgs and androids (spoiler, most people don’t) it is so many more. Io is had a biomechanical brain, synthetic muscle, and human tenacity. The corpse he stumbles upon is not only a detective, but the same model as themself. In attempting to solve the detective’s last case, Io learns how much more they are connected.
Writer and artist Tan Juan Gee creates a fascinating story that feels both familiar and just different enough to capture the reader’s full attention. The debate over who gets to be considered as a person is nothing new as a debate, but even more important now. Five Model Murder has both elements of Sci-Fi and Noir, giving readers a detective story with a setting that forces us to think about technological advancements, capitalism, and how those who control the purse strings control the flow of information. At 64-pages, this graphic novel is a quick read, but one that will stick with you.
Five Model Murder comes to stores June 25, 2025.
