Brandon If i’m going to be completely honest I have got to say I was very disappointed in this issue. It again covered a lot of ground as Harbinger Wars did and didn’t add a whole lot worth mentioning. Sure it wrapped the storyline of one key character but outside of that there wasn’t anything that was really satisfying. Even that characters end, while making sense, fell flat for me as well.
Did you enjoy this more than me? Am I being too doom and gloom?
David: Nope. That is not the case my friend. I agree entirely. This issue amounts to the end of Duane Swierczynski’s run and ultimately, it finds one character’s role ending, as she has no utility going forward, but not much else. As you said, besides that it is a rehash of the Harbinger Wars finale.
This is a disappointing way for Swierczy to go out, as he did a lot to imbue Bloodshot with a lot of humanity in his run, and I found this issue very lacking. So, no, I am right there with you Brandon.
Brandon: I would agree that my favorite part of this title has been the character work. It has been what has made this title one of my two favorite titles from Valiant. It was completely devoid of any of that engaging character work. It felt less like a creator wrapping up and saying goodbye and more like a writer being told to move on and leave things clean for the next writer.
David: Hit the nail on the head there. I mean, look at it. Kueritch is dead, his supporting cast is gone and Bloodshot is alone. To me, as we currently stand, Bloodshot is in a worse place now – as a book – than it was before Harbinger Wars. As entertaining an event as that was, I can’t help but be a bit disappointed. How do you feel about the effective clean sweep of Swierczy’s run? Personally, I wish there was a bit coming over to Bloodshot and the HARD CORPS than we are getting. I suppose it may surprise me, but it doesn’t feel like that.
Brandon: I am not a fan of them just clearing the table of the previous run. Although, with them just wrapping it the way they have it makes more sense as to why there is no real bridge from this to H.A.R.D.corps. They don’t need to. I could see them jumping a bit ahead in time, not a ton, but a little bit to then allow for even more distance so that the oncoming team can make it even more so their own and not really have to explain it all. Flashback and allusions can and will fill in that space is my guess.
Well, we know where we stand on the writing. What were your feelings on the art?
David: Barry Kitson remains a consummate professional and someone who ups the quality of the art in his Valiang run. What else is there to say? The guy is as rock solid as they come, even if he is rarely spectacular. I actually thought he did an excellent job with Kara’s departure, as he made her joy over finding the money palpable in the expressions he gave her. Damn fine visual storytelling, and I am excitef to see what he can do over on Harbinger going forward. Given his work on The Order, I think he will be great over there.
What did you think?
Brandon: I don’t know. The art really didn’t do a whole lot for me either way. I suppose you could say it did the best with what was available. It’s hard to put good art to a not so good story.
David: I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that, but that is fair enough. Well let’s end this procession. I will give it a 5.0. Pretty disappointing wrap for Bloodshot, I say. What would you give it?
Continued belowBrandon I’d give the issue a 5.0 as well. Very forgettable end to a rather fun era.
David: I have to admit…not really. In fact, it was even more frustrating than Bloodshot, as its entirety was Harbinger Wars and then correcting the false ending for the Renegades team that we were left with in issue #4. The only part of dramatic tension that in theory could hit was the idea that the Renegades had lost Faith, their heart and moral compass. This issue wrapped that up in a quick drive. What about you? What were your thoughts about this issue?
Brandon You could almost take what I said about this month’s issue of Bloodshot and repeat it all over again as far as my take on this issue. It was another massive let down. I loved Harbinger Wars but the tie-ins were just not that strong.
Having said that I did at least enjoy getting some more of young Harada. I enjoyed the flashbacks to a younger him during Harbinger Wars. That enjoyment was not enough to make the tie-ins as a whole enjoyable though.
David: Agreed. If these were the final issues of Harbinger Wars, the event ended on a whimper for me.
And you’re right: the stuff with younger Harada was interesting, but I have to ask, do you think ultimately it really added anything to the story? Does him fighting MEGABRAIN add anything to the character, besides additional reason to not like Project Rising Spirit?
Brandon Well, I think it added some depth to the character and established some of why he does things the way he does. In this issue he makes the decision to keep his powers hidden instead of putting them on blast for everyone to see. So it was cool how he came to that decision. It was also interesting to see his relationship with the two peeps who got dead.
David: I suppose! Let’s talk about the art, as we had two artists on this book in Trevor Hairsine and Khari Evans. Anything stand out here for you?
Brandon: I thought the art looked good and they split the story well enough that the art change wasn’t distracting. It just wasn’t enough to save the issue though.
What about you?
David: It didn’t distract but it continues to be a bother for me. I really wish there would be more issues with one artist, and maybe with Hairsine going to Eternal Warrior and Kitson coming over here, we’ll have Kitson on it every month. I would love that.
Overall though, the art was fine. Nothing about it really stood out, and the biggest prop I can give this book on art was it gave us the easiest look at exactly what happened in the fight between Bloodshot and Peter – I had no idea Bloodshot tried to reach through Peter’s shield and had his arm get lopped off. That was super badass…whichever artist did that.
Let’s get to grading, as this has just been a march towards sadness anyways. What would you give this issue, Brandon?
Brandon: I’d give this issue a 5.0 as well. I am really looking forward to getting into next month and away from this week.
How about you?
David: Clean sweep! If you combine our grades, you have two 10.0 books. Sadly, that is not how this works. I’m looking forward to where we go next, especially with Emanuela Lupacchino and Kitson onboard. But right now, I don’t like how the current mega arcs wrapped.
