NOiSE

From Tsutomu Nihei, the creator of Knights of Sidonia, APOSIMZ and Biomega. NOiSE is the prequel to the hit series BLAME!

What starts as a routine investigation into a series of child kidnappings turns personal when detective Musubi Susono’s partner is viciously murdered by a fanatical cult. Stymied by her superiors and armed only with a mysterious sword, Susono must descend into the depths of her decaying city in search of answers—and what she finds will remake the world as she knows it.

Set 3,000 years before the events of BLAME!, this dark, action-packed prequel from sci-fi visionary Tsutomu Nihei (Knights of Sidonia, Aposimz) provides a glimpse into the origins of the Safeguards and the NetSphere, while standing alone as a gritty masterpiece of cyberpunk noir. Finally back in print, NOiSE also includes Nihei’s prize-winning debut story, an early version of BLAME!Tsutomu Nihei is an internationally known Japanese comic artist and draftsman. Born in 1971, Nihei made his debut in the comics world as the winner of the 1995 Afternoon Magazine Four Seasons Award for short stories. He then briefly worked as an assistant to veteran comicker Tsutomu Takahashi before making his break-through hit BLAME! (published by Tokyopop).

The BLAME! franchise was so well received worldwide, that it inspired an animated mini-series and eventually drew the attention of Marvel Comics in the US. Nihei would later go on to draw Wolverine (X-Men) and HALO comics for Marvel to great fanfare. An architectural student, Nihei's early work were mainly wordless, relying on visuals and backgrounds to tell their stories. Now, his works are deeply rooted in hard science-fiction, as was seen in the multiple NY Times Bestselling books HALO: The Graphic Novel (published by Marvel Comics) and BIOmega (published by Viz Media).