The march of 4001 A.D. continues with another tie-in. This time, instead of looking at the history of New Japan itself, we look at the history of the new Bloodshot that exists in this time and where its journey goes during the Fall of the nation. Check out our spoiler-free review below.
Written by Jeff Lemire
Illustrated by Doug BraithwaiteOnce upon a time…in the year 4001 A.D…
Centuries ago, Bloodshot was the man called Ray Garrison. Now, in the year 4001 A.D., Ray Garrison is no more…but the nanites that once thrived inside him endure still. With their master long since gone, the microscopic machines that once drove Bloodshot through every firefight, healed every wound, and calculated every outcome have one final directive left to execute…but what could it possibly be? And how will the forces of the future react when the infamous man-turned-machine called Bloodshot returns to fight another day?
The future starts now as New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (ARMOR HUNTERS) bring Bloodshot barreling into the 41st century of the Valiant Universe with an all-new, standalone tale at the epicenter of 4001 A.D.!
This is the second of the one-shot tie-ins dealing with a Valiant concept 4001-ized. And I will say, after being a bit dissapointed at just how very mediocre “4001 A.D.: X-O Manowar #1” ended up being, I can safely say that “4001 A.D.: Bloodshot #1” is better. How much better, though? Well, that’s the question we are going to answer by the end of this review.
To start off with, let’s get this out of the way: This is only technically a one-shot. It has enough story beats within to be included in the “4001 A.D.” storyline going on right now, but this is actually a sequel to another comic. That comic is the last time Bloodshot had an event tie-in, “Book of Death: The Fall of Bloodshot #1” from last year. Now, I reviewed that, thought it was pretty good, not as good as the “Harbinger” one but what was last year (don’t respond to that. You’re wrong)? I have to let you know about all of this because, to be frank, Lemire does his best to try and provide necessary context, but you are probably not going to get the full emotional impact without reading it.
So, this story begins with the 4001 Bloodshot awakening in a New Japan museum. This scene actually reminded me of the opening of DC’s “Legion of Three-Worlds”. Now on one hand, it’s a great scene, the whole idea of the past literally coming back to life and all that is a nice setup since this deals a great deal with the previous Bloodshot, Ray Garrison. On the other hand, you reminded me to the Legion of Super-Heroes and -with the exception of like five characters- the Legion is not that great.. How very much dare?
Now, I’m not going to spoil what exactly this new Bloodshot is. I will however say that Lemire chose to spin an idea that is simultaneously a continuation of the Bloodshot character we have followed around in present days while also being a continuation. It also serves as an interesting counter-point to Father, the A.I. controller of New Japan and the event’s Big Bad. We see this character come to awareness after being dormant and being very methodical like Father. That said, we see this character examining humanity and not being disgusted or incapable of understanding it, but instead finds conflict and questions.
Braithwaite and colorist Brian Reber rejoin Lemire and continue to show such a keen eye. As we watch Bloodshot awaken, we are first witness to it on the cellular level, and the panels begin to fragment and reconfigure as Bloodshot sorts its memories. But it’s not just the internal, the art team is able to convey some pretty harrowing depictions of violence and debris as New Japan falls apart and we see some bad people try and take advantage of that. The design work is pretty good as well, from Braithwaite conveying the Raddies first seen in Rai while making them his own, to designing some cool looking spider-squid mechs (it’s the future. Deal with it) but he’s able to go very poignant with the depictions of the all-at-once desolate and tranquil frozen tundra.
Continued belowBrian Reber stood out a great deal, especially with the new Bloodshot considering how it’s simultaneously like Ray Garrison and yet completely different. It’s an amalgamation of reds, oranges and whites that are fitting, considering what Bloodshot is. Outside of that, Reber’s color set a somber tone, with all the memories of Ray’s incredibly awful and long life, to the destruction raining down upon Earth thanks to New Japan. That being said, he knows when to convey potential hope, the last pages as Bloodshot completes its mission with the rising sun in all its yellows, oranges, purples and blues showing so many possibilities.
“4001 A.D.: Bloodshot #1” is the tie-in least connected to the events going on in the main book. Instead, it uses the event as a framework to tell its own story. As I said above, his one-shot isn’t as “one-shot”-ey as it hopes to be. If you can find “Book of Death: Fall of Bloodshot”, read it before this to get a more emotionally satisfying story. With all of that, Lemire, Braithwaite and Reber have shown a great knack in collaboration and it makes me more excited for the “Bloodshot U.S.A.” mini-series they have coming up in Autumn.
Final Verdict: 7.0- Perhaps the coda that “Fall of Bloodshot” needed, shows some interesting potential for the future.
