Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams is a graphic novel written by Bartosz Sztybor and illustrated by Filipe Andrade , Alessio Fioriniello , Roman Titov, and, Krzysztof Ostrowski. It takes place in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, where Tasha and Mirek are a pair of wannabe Edgerunners that are just a pair of hoodlums.
Tasha fires her gun randomly at whoever catches her fancy and Mirek supports her despite the fact, well, he's not psychotically violent. All this changes when Mirek finds himself trying out a braindance and experiences the life of a loving father as well as husband on a farm outside of Night City.
Mirek is profoundly affected by the experience and realizes he doesn't want anything to do with the life of violence for the sake of violence that is the only way you become a legend in Night City. Tasha is offended by her partner's sudden change of plans and insists that they carry out a hit for a gang in order to make a name for themselves.
Meanwhile, we get cutaways to realizing the idyllic life that Mirek wants may not be so idyllic after all.
This comic book provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: The farmer is reduced to this after his daughter and wife abandon him for Night City.
- Ambition Is Evil: Tasha wants to be a Night City Legend and believes the best way to do that is to kill as many people as possible.
- Central Theme: The main game's "quiet life versus blaze of glory" is deconstructed here as it's shown that neither is available to the vast majority of Night City residents so it's just a false dichotomy to begin with.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Tasha and Mirek are both wannabe Edgerunners who have a desire to either become famous or live out their days in peace. Neither of them have the skills or potential of V to achieve their dreams, so they end up failing in their quest to get them.
- The City vs. the Country: Mirek despises life in Night City and longs for a simpler life like he sees with the Farmer. The Farmer's family, though, longs for the excitement of Night City.
- Disproportionate Retribution: A Valentino has sex with an Animals' member but Tasha mishears it, so she kills the Valentino in hopes of impressing the Animals. This almost starts a war and gets Tasha executed. Mirek is implied to die as well.
- Downer Ending: Tasha is gunned down for her murder of a Valentino member. Mirek manages to get to the farm of his braindance dreams and finds the farmer is now The Alcoholic and the farm run down. He seems to have a sense of peace, though, as he dies of his wounds.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Inverted. Ironically, experiencing a life other than violence via a braindance results in Mirek wanting to change his life.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Mirek and Tasha could not be more opposed in terms of personality. Mirek is quiet, shy, and retiring while Tasha is an aggressive danger junkie. Generally, Tasha's aggressive personality carries the day.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Tasha believes herself to be an up and coming mercenary in Night City but is treated as a nobody and nuisance by all the professional criminals she meets.
- Villain Protagonist: Tasha is a murderous psychopath with no redeeming qualities whatsoever save, maybe, that she cares for Mirek.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: V and other professional Edgerunners could have told Tasha that being a cool professional is how you get ahead in Night City versus random violence.
