Enhanced – A cyberpunk graphic novel by Simone Masina

Enhanced is an indie Cyberpunk graphic novel, following on from two previous very successful crowd funding campaigns on Kickstarter they have way surpassed the goal for volume 3.  It’s available in Italian and English in print and digital formats.

See the full Kickstarter here

The Story: Nu-Tokyo, 2050

Replicants, or Reps, coexist within human society, designed to enhance and improve everyday life.
To some, they represent the next step in evolution — an advanced life form.
To others, like the Church of the True Man, they are an abomination.

When special agent Chris Walker is hired by NOVA Corporation to track down three escaped specimens, he immediately knows this won’t be a simple mission.
These aren’t ordinary machines — they’re evolved, upgraded, and dangerously self-aware.

This is one of the freshest takes on the Cyberpunk genre I’ve read. Enhanced pays tribute to so many inspirational stories such as Ghost in the Shell and movies like IRobot but also manages to do it in a very original way with one of the most colourful and beautiful cyberpunk graphic novels I’ve read. It’s not just about a gritty dull looking future, it’s got some really lovable characters and uses them to set itself apart from the traditional dystopian settings we might have been used to in a lot of media.

I’ve read the first two volumes back to back as I couldn’t put them down, the story carries over from one to another and each volume introduces us to new settings and characters who all live in Nu-Tokyo.

One thing I love about this series is how it doesn’t feel like its set 100 years in the future, it’s actually set in 2050 and with the current progresses in AI and robotics it’s all totally believable. Having so many varied characters that come into the story it really paints a picture of the setting and creates an immersive experience when reading it all together.

Simone Masina has done a flawless job of creating the characters, they are all really well written and have a purpose in the overall story telling. Each have their own skills or enhancements which help define their personality. Again it’s not like the typical cyberpunk story where everything is trying to kill something else in a dark alley.

The art direction is from a brilliant artist Stefano Di Pietro, his Instagram account has some of the artwork from the comic at different phases of production which let you see the development from pencils to the final product. I really love everything from the consistency of the artwork to the colouring and flow. Between the story, artwork and even the lettering and panel division it all comes together like one piece of artwork. It’s really fast paced and they use all the tools they can to change the mood of the scene.

The kickstarter for volume 3 has a goal of 2,500 Euro but has made over 100k Euro with days left. It’s obviously got a great fanbase and will go from strength to strength as the series goes.

Every page is packed full of nods to movies and manga series which I’m guessing the team love and wanted to justed to add in for easter eggs. I’m currently on a reread of the first two volumes and keep noticing new ones from Ghost busters, One piece and Dragon ball just to mention a few.

Sometimes I hear people talk about how the comic shops are struggling and more and more close each year which is a sad thought but one thing that really makes me thing comics are actually going from strength to strength are projects like these. Indie comics on Kickstarter that push the boundaries of comic art and creative story telling. Online crowdfunding has given so many artists and writers opportunities they might not have had if we relied on selling comics in physical stores.

Posted by Adi Mursec on November 23, 2025