Bloodshot #1
July 11th, 2012
Valiant Comics
Writer; Duane Sweirczynski
Art; Manuel Garcia, Arturo Lozzi, Stefano Gaudiano
I admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of Bloodshot during the original Valiant Era and I’d passed on the Acclaim reboot of the early 2000’s but I still respected the character and the stories being told. The The Bloodshot of the 90’s always seemed to me like a toned down Wolverine; confusing back story, nearly psychotic and a military instrument of destruction gone awry.
Not so with the next era of Bloodshot. The premiere issue starts with an overview, giving new readers a background on the nanites flowing through Bloodshot’s body, giving him extraordinary abilities. What was initially though as science fiction for the original Bloodshot character, has become more science fact in 2012. The overview details the basic information, medical applications, military application and possible dangers of using the nanite technology.
From the moment the cover is turned, we hit the ground running. Sweirczynski crafts a story of confusion and loss and betrayal that is easily followed byt the reader and perfectly executed by Garcia, Lozzi and Gaudiano. Poor Bloodshot doesn’t know who he is. Project Rising Spirit, introduced in Harbinger #2, uses Bloodshot as a weapon of mass destruction and has implanted false memories of multiple lives and using them to control their experiment.
Betrayl comes when one scientist decides Project Rising Spirit has done enough destruction and intends to put an end to the trails.
As with every dark, sci-fi, military, espionage story, something goes wrong and Bloodshot is made aware of his intended purposes.
Sweirczynski isn’t just dropping us in the middle of a story in-progress and telling us to find our own way out, he takes us on a guided journey through the twisted labyrinth of Bloodshot’s mind. Each page reveals more of our title character and the military secrets of Project Rising Spirit.
Don’t let the $3.99 price tag hold you back. It’s the stories told in the revamped Valiant Comics’ line that have been missing from the industry since mid-1990’s. Stories told by fans, for fans.
5 out of 5
