Last week saw the premiere of the third Valiant relaunch with Bloodshot #1, and that, of course, means David Harper and Chad Bowers are back with a brand new installment of Valiant (Re)visions. This all-new take on Bloodshot features a story by crime-novelist and former Birds of Prey writer Duane Sweirczynski with art by Manuel Garcia and Arturo Lozzi.
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Manuel Garcia & Arturo LozziThe Summer of Valiant continues!
It’s the start of a new mission for one of comics’ all-time best-selling superheroes in Bloodshot #1 – the first issue of a new ongoing series from acclaimed writer Duane Swierczynski (Immortal Iron Fist, Birds of Prey) and the lethal artistic tag team of Manuel Garcia (Checkmate) and Arturo Lozzi (Immortal Weapons)!
Your name is Angelo Mortalli. Your brother is trapped behind enemy lines and on the verge of – no. That’s not right. Your name is Raymond Garrison. You’ve retired from the dangers of the field, but a desperate plea from your oldest friend plunges you into a vicious firefight that – no. That’s not right, either. You are Bloodshot. You are the shade of gray that freedom requires. The perfect confluence of military necessity and cutting-edge technology. A walking WikiLeaks that is a reservoir of dirty secrets that could set the world on fire. And you’ve just been captured.
Chad: Now, I’m 33 now (old man, I know), so I was 13 and working part-time at a boom era comic shop when Bloodshot debuted in 1992. Needless to say, I read the hell out of it, and am pretty familiar with the original characters backstory and concept, which I’m sure we’ll get into later… it’s hard not to want to compare and contrast these new books, afterall. But what about you? Was this your first exposure to Bloodshot?
David: Honestly? Besides some old Wizard spreads and a lot of hype, Bloodshot was something I completely missed the mark on. This was actually my first exposure, and I have to say, I dug the hell out of it. I quite often like Swierczynski’s work, and this issue was no exception. The misdirection surprised me, the storytelling killed, and the art was strong. I dug it. Now I’m curious – for you as a fan of this title from yesteryear, did it still work for you?
Chad: Oh yeah, it worked great. I’m totally hooked.
But real quick you mentioned liking Swierczynski, and I’m ashamed to admit I just started reading his stuff. I was totally one of those people who jumped off Iron Fist when Fraction and Ed Brubaker left, so I didn’t read his run. And I didn’t read Birds of Prey, or anything else he was attached to, unfortunately. I mean, I wasn’t avoiding him either, but his books and my tastes just never seemed to sync up, I guess? It wasn’t until the recent Godzilla relaunch that I took notice, and boy — I know this isn’t an IDW review — if you’re not reading Swierczynski’s Godzilla with Simon Gane, you really should be. In fact, I read Godzilla #2 and Bloodshot #1 back to back, and they were probably the best comics I’ve read this week. But back to Bloodshot…
Yeah, I remember the original series being hyped like crazy, and ads just being all over the place. When it finally came out, I was pretty shocked by that first issue’s double page splash by Don Perlin where Bloodshot’s just wrecking some dude’s head… like, literally, pages 2 and 3, Bloodshot drops out of nowhere and lands a headshot on some guy in an airport. Crazy stuff, but completely rad for 13 year old Chad. It was uber violent and gritty, and made no secret about owing a lot to the the Punisher. But because Valiant wasn’t Marvel, he could do stuff the Punisher couldn’t. That freedom led to him becoming something kind of different, and despite the blood nanitees, bleached skin and lightening bolt haircut, a little more realistic than other anti-heroes of the day. Ha! He’s the original Frankencastle!
What I like about this new take, though, is that he seems more heroic right from the start. We don’t get to see anything of Bloodshot’s origin in this issue, but I got the distinct impression that, unlike the classic Bloodshot, who was a mobster/killer, this new guy’s a real American hero. And, David, you know how I like real American heroes. But what’s your take on the character? As a first timer, what do you think of this new Bloodshot?
Continued belowDavid: I agree with you. From what I remember of the original, he was more of an anti-hero. This guy though is basically a blank slate for the government to use on Black Ops missions under the guise of “you’re doing it to protect your family!” And so he does – he wants to do the right thing, he wants to protect his family, etc. etc. Then, when he gets a little taste of truth – BAM! – the guy gets iced, or as much as a guy with nanites for blood can get iced.
I don’t think he’s going to end up as a mobster/killer, but his days as a nanite filled G.I. Joe are probably done as well.
I love characters that have distorted pasts that affect them at every turn – hello, Wolverine! – and Sweirczynski is a good guy to take lead on this. I’ve really liked everything I’ve read of his stuff (besides some major parts of his Cable run), and he fits a story like this very well. I don’t know about you, but I’m actually really excited to see where this book goes from here. What started as kind of a vanilla, All-American Hero story ended up taking quite a turn by the end. Where do you think we go from here, and in particular, where does the character go?
Chad: Where’s he go? I feel like Bloodshot’s going find out that he’s a weapon, and will probably break free next issue, or the issue after. From there, where looking at a hero on the run comic, maybe… which I’ll admit, aren’t my favorite kinds of stories, but with Bloodshot, I’m betting “hero on the run” really means “on an off the radar mission to bring down the dudes that made him into an unkillable monster.”
David, you know this, I’m sure, but classic Bloodshot ended up having ties to future hero Rai, making him sort of Valiant’s first legacy hero. I’m wondering if we’re not going to see Sweirzcynski start to play that up a little. I’m pretty sure Valiant has announced they’ll be doing Rai with, who, David Aja, I think? So it’d make sense to go ahead and start building. Plus, Bloodshot is just a good, solid character to use for that kind of “lets meet all the other heroes” story that makes shared universe comics the absolute best.
Let’s talk about the art. I really felt like Manuel Garcia and Arturo Lozzi did a fantastic job here. The storytelling’s very strong, and this book’s definitely got a unique look to it. The opening by Lozzi, has Ray’s life come across as very polished, and almost dream-like. And then, when things switch over to Bloodshoot and Garcia takes over, it’s all just nasty and harsh and blood-soaked. Also, Garcia brings a little Bernie Wrightson to the table too, y’know? That couldn’t be more perfect for a book that’s equal parts horror story and brain-addled sci-fi soldier. For me, it really sold the idea of Bloodshot being a modern day Frankenstein. Okay, and then there’s sort of this issue’s language of violence. Having read the classic series, I figured we’d see some graphic stuff, but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be this violent. However, it totally works, and extremely effective. It completely does what it’s supposed to do, and opens your eyes to just how awful it is to be Bloodshot, y’know?
David: Yeah, I could easily see that, both the “hero on the run” story and the Rai part. The good news is this issue shows that Sweirczynski is skilled at taking concepts that have been used and used previously…and then turning them on their head. I definitely could see him working Hero on the Run into something much more unique and exciting than the base level we’re used to seeing.
And the Rai part – yeah, I think it seems as if Valiant is making a concerted effort at tying these books together in organic ways, and they already have a solid recipe to work from with Bloodshot and Rai’s previous connection. I could definitely see that coming together.
As for the art, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that Garcia and Lozzi opened our eyes to how much it would suck to be Bloodshot. That guy dismembered twice in the first issue! That’s an all-timer in terms of “painful first appearances.” I thought their art was very solid – maybe a bit less exciting to me than the writing, but overall very solid.
Continued belowBut I did want to highlight the presentation of the book again. Valiant has done a great job with the intro pages in their first issues, and I loved the introduction that basically was “Nanites 101.” You and I are both comic nerds, so Nanite tech is common knowledge to us like…I don’t know, the hook from that “Call Me Maybe” song is to the average American. For the theoretical new fan, this dude getting blown to bits over and over could be a little weird, but in that intro they walked everyone through it in an entertaining and informative fashion. I’m very pro-Valiant intro infographics.
So, I think we’ve both established that we quite liked this issue. What would you give it out of ten sir?
Chad: OH! You bringing up the nanites reminded me of how much I like this issue’s double page spread. You know, the one where Bloodshot’s corspe is reforming itself? A body putting itself back together is nothing we haven’t seen before, but this is about as good as I’ve seen it done in comics. They’ve got those great cutaways and then there’s the multiple action going on — like, there’s literal reconstruction taking place on separate levels of Bloodshot physically, but they don’t stop there. They go one step farther and have this unique sort of mental rebuilding happening too. It’s a really fantastic scene, and an example of what comics can do that other storytelling outlets maybe can’t.
Sorry. Had to mention that.
As for my final verdict, I give Bloodshot #1 a solid 9.0 — highly recommended. It’d like to go higher, but I recognize that the intense violence and gore won’t be for everybody.
David: I also dig it, but I’m going to give it a slightly lower grade. 8 out of 10 ain’t bad – it’s a damn fine book. It was a big week filled with a lot of great comics, but Bloodshot definitely stood out. In fact, I’d say it’s the best Valiant book so far, at least in my book.
