Bloodshot is in the fight of his life as New York City becomes infested with nanite infected citizens. Read on for our spoiler free review of “Bloodshot U.S.A.” #1.
Written by Jeff Lemire
Illustrated Doug Braithwaite and Brian ReberIn Bloodshot we trust!
Project Rising Spirit – America’s greatest exporter of classified weapons technology – has achieved a breakthrough: a contagious, airborne nanite dispersion prototype that can turn the population of any city into an army of indestructible soldiers. A doomsday virus capable of destroying an enemy nation from the inside out. A machine-made pathogen that can completely rewrite human physiology…and hardcode every man, woman, and child with the same cutting-edge technology that created their greatest weapon: Bloodshot.
But now…Project Rising Spirit’s top-secret contagion has been released onto the streets of America’s greatest metropolis: New York City. As mayhem engulfs Manhattan, Bloodshot must lead the most dangerous invasion ever waged on American soil and keep a runaway pandemic from toppling armies and governments…and threatening to destroy humanity itself.
In the tradition of THE VALIANT, the Big Apple turns blood red in pivotal new standalone comics event from New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Extraordinary X-Men) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (ARMOR HUNTERS, Justice)!
Despite just coming out of the big “4001 A.D.” storyline, the Valiant universe shows no signs of taking a breather. This week, the Bloodshot centric miniseries “Bloodshot U.S.A.” launches and it’s just as insane as the pitch.
Over the last year or so, Bloodshot has been through Hell. He lost his girlfriend, lost his powers, fell in love again, got his powers back and has been stuck on an island where he’s been hunted over and over. In “Bloodshot U.S.A.” #1, Project Rising Spirit has gone completely off the deep end even for them. They’ve unleashed nanites into New York City with in order to get the country in a full panic so they can swoop in, undo their damage and become the most trusted part of the military. As New York City devolves into complete chaos, Ninjak goes to retrieve Bloodshot and his new friends the Bloodshot Squad to help save the day.
Jeff Lemire has been writing a very consistently good and very memorable Bloodshot story. He’s put the character through so much but it’s all felt like a natural progression from where “The Valiant” left him. “Bloodshot U.S.A.” is more of this. With this story, Lemire has taken the conflict between Bloodshot and the PRS to another level. This isn’t just something for him to deal with now, it’s something the world has to deal with as innocent people are dragged in. This is really the reason “Bloodshot U.S.A.” feels much more urgent. It’s a chance for Bloodshot to do something truly heroic and it’s the kind of story full of game changing potential for the character going forward.
The thing about Lemire’s writing of Bloodshot is that it isn’t always very serious. In fact, there have been many times where he’s allowed some humor into the story. That’s seen in “Bloodshot U.S.A.” #1 as Ninjak takes a shot at one of Bloodshot’s self pitying ways and it’s a little levity that’s needed in a story like this. This first issue covers all the basics and still manages to move thing along to a very interesting cliffhanger. This is also a really good place to jump into the Bloodshot storyline. It’s crafted not necessarily as a primer for the Valiant universe but it’s definitely got enough background to understand the Bloodshot character. This is something I wish more publishers would do.
Braithwaite’s strength in this issue is in how he brings terror and chaos to the streets of New York City. He’s able to convey true terror through innocent bystander’s reactions and through shots of the city turning into something out of a horror movie. There are some great shots about midway through of Livewire and Gin-gr storming through the city trying to find a way to help and it segues into this almost disaster movie feel as they get completely overwhelmed. Braithwaite’s pencils are clean and consistent and he’s very good at creating big action scenes. The early part of this issue is heavy on exposition and setting things up but when he’s allowed to unleash these heroes and villains, he does it well. Valiant books tend to have a similar style across the board but Braithwaite avoids not being memorable. The characters are stylized and this doesn’t try to be a realistic, grounded superhero title.
Continued belowReber is one of the best colorists that Valiant has and his work is always a welcome addition to any book. In the 90’s, Valiant fell into the grimdark category and Reber does anything but that. There’s almost this softness in his colors without losing the energy this kind of story needs. Reber does some great work with explosions in the background without losing the fine character detailing. Even in the Bloodshot squad, there is some unique character work happening since each of them has a very distinct look associate closely with the time they are from.
“Bloodshot U.S.A.” is off to a really great start and I have a hard time imagining any Bloodshot fan not enjoying this. It even works as a decent entry-point for those curious about the character.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – This is really amping up the crazy violence the Bloodshot books are known for and I’m so here for it.
