The constant evolution of technology has led to advancements in all fields, from medicine to warfare. There is no telling where technology will take us in the near future, or what the repercussions will be.

In Top Cow and Image Comics' upcoming comic book series Aphrodite V, set to debut on July 18, the title character is a self-aware android assassin who turns her back on her masters and decides to chart on her path in Los Angeles of the near future. There, she finds an evil technological force that she takes upon herself to stop.

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Aphrodite V, first announced in 2016, is both a new beginning and a reimagining of Top Cow's Cyber Force and Aphrodite IX series, which originated in the '90s. Building on the concepts that were created then, writer Bryan Hill and artist Jeff Spokes are bringing a new spin on the mythology of the Aphrodite androids. CBR talked with both creators for an in-depth interview on their relaunch of the series, discussing its accessibility, the themes at the heart of the story, the '80s projects that helped inspire the book and what went into the visual designs of this new future.

Aphrodite V #1 cover by Jeff Spokes

CBR: Aphrodite V is a character that has been part of Top Cow's universe for a while now, through Cyber Force and her counterpart Aphrodite IX. Does this new iteration draw a lot from events in these past titles, or is it more of a new direction?

Bryan Hill: When I first came to [Top Cow President and COO] Matt Hawkins with this idea, I told him I wanted to do a miniseries that honored what has come before, but also doesn’t require a reader to be fluent in the world of Cyber Force, or even Top Cow, in general. I wanted the biggest tent possible for the story, a way to let the most readers we could into a great, genre experience.

The concept is simple. We have the fifth Aphrodite, a line of self-aware, android assassins. This version, V, has escaped her masters and she’s landed in Los Angeles, in the near future. She has power and freedom, but she has no purpose. What she finds in Los Angeles is a city in crisis from a villain born from the bleeding edge of Technology. The city has no idea how to respond. She does.

And she responds the best way she knows how, with war.

For this new series, Aphrodite V has a new look. How did you end up with this more modern design for the character?

Hill: That’s the genius of Jeff Spokes. Jeff has such a visceral style, and with someone as talented as he is, you don’t need to influence it. I shared a file of photographs I use as reference when writing (I’m a pretty visual thinker, since I’m also a screenwriter and filmmaker. The images help me craft the narrative) and the design came from him. For my part, I was influenced by everything from Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell films, to the work of filmmakers like Kathryn Bigelow, Michael Mann and James Cameron. Music also helps me frame the feel of characters and stories. Right now, I’m pretty obsessed with a retro-wave group called The Midnight. Their 2017 album Nocturnal is brilliant. It just fills me with those classic, '80s inspired feelings of purpose and heightened drama.

Jeff Spokes: This was definitely one of the highlights of the project for me. To begin with Bryan sent me a ton of images and ideas, ranging from high-end fashion to cybernetics to ballerina movements… a lot of stuff, I printed it out and sat staring and absorbing it all before I began to draw. I started off with small stuff like shoes, gloves, backpacks, trying to figure out what things would look like in this world he was describing. I eventually started applying those elements to full character drawings and we began to figure out what was working and what wasn’t.

For a while we had pretty much scraped everything besides the green hair from her old look, and then the white body suit felt like it was too iconic to drop so that happily came back in to the mix. The first finished, inked, color version I did ended up being a pretty severe departure from the Aphrodite we had known, it was a very William Gibson/cyberpunk inspired version… as much as I liked it I knew it was wrong as soon as I sent it off. Bryan was nice, he was like…. "Yeah, I think we may have to bring it back a bit." I don’t think that one got sent to Matt, it might have raised a red flag or two…

There are many android characters out there, from big screen movies to comics. What separates Aphrodite V from the rest of the pack? What makes her unique?

Hill: Most of the time, android characters are obsessed with the idea of being human or not. Being alive, or not. I feel like so many works have explored that. Westworld explores that every week. Aphrodite knows she’s alive. She knows she has agency. She just has no idea how to make a place for herself in our world. She’s much more akin to someone like John Rambo, in a way. The sense that Rambo was turned into a weapon and the only time he feels at home with the world is during a war. What he is won’t work in a gentle world. So his choices are basically war or self-imposed exile. Aphrodite faces a similar choice, but instead of exile, she’s looking at a future of wandering without ever setting roots in a place.

Her first few moments in our Los Angeles are filled with violence. Most people would flee after that, but she sees a situation she could help. She’s got a war, and with it comes a sense of belonging.

There is something very unique about the fluidity of Aphrodite V's movements in the action scenes. Could you walk us through the process of designing her fighting style?

Hill: Again, that’s all Jeff. I may have mentioned wanting to incorporate some grace in her violence, and that’s the Mamoru Oshii showing up in my imagination. I think the action scenes in Ghost in the Shell are beautiful, sad and full of consequence. You sense that violence is a terrible last resort, and there’s a slightly mournful quality to the sequences in that anime. I have a lot of respect for that, because I’ve been in a few fights and it’s not something to celebrate, even when the violence is justified. I love how Jeff has her flowing, looking light as a feather while she’s creating massive damage around her. The visual juxtaposition is fantastic. More than I could have hoped for.

Spokes: In that initial batch of images and ideas Bryan had outlined her fighting style like the movements of a ballerina and that really clicked with me… she’s so well trained/programmed, so used to fighting that unless it’s a worthy adversary, it’s really her just going through simple motions… graceful and easy. There’s a panel in the first issue where she’s taking on three police officers where I really got to try and illustrate this. I mapped out the fight sequence in a series of small sketches, figuring out how theses officers were attacking her and how she was effortlessly moving through and dispatching them. Great fun.

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The first issue of the series is quite progressive in its views on technology, and on how it could change the world. It brings forth some interesting social questions, like such things as the privatization of police forces. How much are your own views on the possible futures the real world is heading towards influencing this story?

Hill: Well, the '80s are back aren’t they? We have a president that’s, quite literally, a relic of the 1980s. The economy is showing signs of strength, but there’s a fragility underneath that. Sort of the same feeling I remember as a child during the yuppie boom of the '80s. Back then, in futurist fiction like Robocop, the idea of mass privatization of civil services was a theme. Now you still hear the ideas of handing over education to the free market, social services. This idea that profit incentives would force evolution and efficiency.

Listen to Elon Musk. Privatization is a deep part of his philosophy. He’s sort of as close to Tony Stark as we have. I’m a fairly liberal guy, but I’m not an ideologue. I’m willing to consider the idea of privatization, but like a lot of things, human nature might complicate the execution of what could make sense on paper.

If you do put civil services, essential services in the private sector, who are you going to trust with that power? Who would you trust to be the corporate president of the police force? How could you ensure that wouldn’t be polluted by greed the way businesses often are? We’re coming close to a time where these ideas will have to be tabled and considered in a serious way.

The future of Aphrodite V is possible, in some ways, perhaps even likely. I’m not certain that’s a good thing.

Given how things unfold in the first issue of the series, it looks like the comic, with its two leads, will be a story about what it means to be human, to one's self as well as to others. How much will that be a theme running through the book and shaping the story to come?

Hill: To me, the only aspect of humanity that interests me is how humane we are to each other. Sometimes it takes something inhuman to teach us how to be human. Expect that to get engagement in the narrative.

Considering that this series takes place in Los Angeles and deals with androids, there is almost a Blade Runner: 2049 quality to the book, especially in the visual design, and the color palette used. Was that a deliberate choice?

Hill: I would say, between the Blade Runner films, it’s the first film, the 1980 that influenced me more, especially in the mood and feel of the book. I’m not certain how Jeff corrals his influences, but when I was writing the script I was thinking a lot about Ridley and Tony Scott, in particular Blade Runner, Black Rain and Domino.

Spokes: Honestly I hadn’t seen Blade Runner 2049 until after finishing work the series, so if anything the first Blade Runner probably had more of an impact as I’m a huge Ridley Scott fan. My coloring style is quite basic, I think just years of watching movies and the amount of color filter lenses that are used has ingrained that approach on me. There is a turquoise-y green that is prevalent throughout the series and that was a fairly conscious choice, given it’s an iconic element of the character. Other than that Patricia Mulvihill’s work on Azzerello and Risso’s Spaceman and Brother Lono, as well as Tomer Hanuka’s The Divine, were both heavy sources of inspiration for coloring the series.

Ultimately, what do you hope readers get out of this new book?

Hill: All of my pretentious ramblings aside, I just want them to get a high-octane, science-fiction/action experience that gives them the same feeling I got when I watched things like The Terminator for the first time, that feeling that you’re entering this world that is our world, but just more intense, a little mythical and you’re traveling through it with characters worth learning and knowing.

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Bryan, it's been announced that you will also be writing Marvel's Miles Morales in Spider-Man Annual #1, plus Batman in DC's Detective Comics. How has your work on Aphrodite V influenced your superhero work, and vice versa?

Hill: Hmmm. I’m honestly not sure. Everything is sort of its own beast. My Batman work is very close to my heart, because I’m such a huge Batman fan. That’s in my blood and for that one I’m just bleeding it out. [Laughs] Miles Morales is fun and lets me play in that space I lived in when I was reading Todd McFarlane’s work for the first time.

I could provide a better answer to that question when I get some distance from it all and I can look in hindsight and see what affected what. I’m just grateful to have all these opportunities to tell stories. For a kid that grew up in Saint Louis, Missouri, buying comics with quarters, I’m always floored by how life turned out.

Aphrodite V #1 is scheduled for release on July 18 from Top Cow. Keep reading for an exclusive preview of the issue!

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Aphrodite V #1 preview::

In the near future, Los Angeles is a city on the brink of evolution, struggling with a new wave of terror fueled by black-market technology. Enter Aphrodite V: a fugitive from her masters, seeking individuality and purpose. She is the bleeding edge of biomechanics, and L.A.'s best hope against a new enemy-one that seeks to become a god among machines.

One machine wants to destroy the city. Another has come to save it. Only one will survive.

Aphrodite V #1 cover by Jeff Spokes