Archer & Armstrong and Bloodshot #1-3 review

Archer & Armstrong #1-3 by Fred Van Lente, Clayton Henry, and Matt Milla

Over ten thousand years ago, Armstrong’s brother Ivar activated The Boon – an instrument of the Gods that supposedly granted eternal life – to save their brother Gilad (old-school Valiant readers know Gilad as The Eternal Warrior). The Boon ended the world. Since then, Armstrong hid the six pieces of The Boon but various sects have been trying to put it all together for thousands of years.

Meanwhile Archer is a kid raised in an amusement park with more than a dozen foster kids all being trained to be warriors. When Archer is unleashed on the world to kill Armstrong, he’ll discover that his parents are evil and that Armstrong is a hero trying to keep a very dangerous weapon from being used for evil.

The original pull to this series was the contrast between the honorable but naïve Archer and the boisterous and inappropriate Armstrong. The first issue sets this relationship up and #2 and #3 do a great job showing these characters trading really funny lines. Archer and Armstrong’s motivations and missions are clearly laid out and both characters are likable. And who doesn’t like watching “nunjas” get smacked down.

Another welcome addition to the Valiant reboot.

Bloodshot #1-3 by Duane Swierczynski, Manuel Garcia, and Arturo Lozzi

Bloodshot is a nanite-infused super soldier who leaves his loving family’s side to go on one last mission to save his friend. When Bloodshot winds up in the hands of the man who helped create him, he learns that his life is actually many lives preprogrammed in his brain so that his handlers can change the channel to whatever scenario they need to motivate him. Driven crazy by the memories of many different sets of wives and children, Bloodshot is looking for answers.

Bloodshot was always a violent title but the first book does a great job introducing Bloodshot’s mission and putting him through his paces. When the character is parachuting down for a job and gets fatally injured I think we’re about to see the story of a guy who is dead or close to death who gets experimented on until he’s unrecognizable and can’t ever see his family again. Instead, the nanites are already a part of him and rebuild him even when he’s fatally injured. Bloodshot is already Bloodshot. The twist comes when you find out that the man with the loving family has multiple sets of families and that none of them truly exist.

With a full memory of his many lives, Bloodshot’s brain processes information from the nanties by showing him various family members who always appear to tell him what the nanites detect. It’s a nice touch to give Bloodshot the information while rubbing salt in the wounds. The first issue of the book’s front inside cover describes what various abilities the nanites give Bloodshot as well as their possible weaknesses.

The first three issues deliver a few mysteries. Is Kuretich, who downloaded all of Bloodshot’s memories and gave Bloodshot access to them, really a bad guy or is he trying to do the right thing by exposing Project Rising Spirit. Once Pulse gets free, is she going to be on Bloodshot’s side (she thought Bloodshot was dead and it didn’t seem to bother her and she encourages killing him – but her expression is horrified when he gets shot).

Overall, Valiant is building a universe and Bloodshot is a welcome addition.

Review: Harbinger #1-3 by Joshua Dysart, Khari Evans, and Lewis Larosa

I'll be honest, I don't remember the original series that came out over two decades ago but I remember being a fan. I remember that, before eBay, the pre-Unity issues of all Valiant titles were unaffordable so I couldn't go back to the beginning on anything. But I'm a fan of the universe so as eager as I was to review X-O Manowar, I was eager to review this as well.

Peter Stanchek is a 'psiot' or someone with powers. In Peter's case, his telepathy and telekinesis allows him to read minds, alter thoughts in others, and physically effect things. He's on the run from a hospital he escaped from with a friend of his when he decides to hide out in the last place anyone would think to look for him: Pittsburgh - the city the hospital is located in. Peter is going through a rough time - in addition to running, he's also robbing pharmacies to get pills that dull his power so he isn't burdened with other people's thoughts and help his schizophrenic friend. When Toyo Harada, who is a psiot in addition to running the largest corporation in America, reaches out to him with an offer of training and protection, Peter cautiously accepts.

Dysart gives us plenty in Peter Stanchek to like and dislike. He's sympathetic to readers because you can feel his desperation and exhaustion but when he forces an old friend to fall in love with him, he crosses the line. When I was a kid you'd have all kinds of arguments with your friends about what you'd do with superpowers and we used to come up with all kinds of irresponsible or immoral answers - "I'd rob a bank - they'd never catch me cuz I'd be invisible," "I'd date Heather Locklear (hey - it was the 80s okay?) because I'd have mind powers," "I'd fire optic beams at the school bully from a roof - they'd never know it was me," etc.

After forcing a girl to fall in love with him and presumably sleeping with her (they are in bed together at one point), which would not have been consensual if she'd been in her right mind, he releases her from his control. But he doesn't absolve himself of taking control of her. Peter's usual move is to tell the person under his influence not to remember him but he simply releases her in a way that she can remember everything she experienced and she's angry as is reasonable. I think by not glossing over it, he's taking some kind of responsibility for it. But I think it would have been kinder to make her forget about the whole thing. This is an emotionally complicated way to introduce a character that we're supposed to like.

And once Peter's safely at Harbinger Foundation, he shows he has a little bit of a temper and the power to back it up. Even before his outburst the other students dislike him or fear him because of how powerful he is. Dysart isn't afraid to make Peter deeply flawed, disturbed, and really put him through his paces. After all, if the Bleeding Monk's vision of the future is correct (the name is literal which is kind of gross and I could have done without that character even if he doesn't appear much), Peter destroys the world. How's that for high stakes?

The thing I loved about the original Valiant Universe is that it had fantastic characters who had powers but weren't superheroes. The first three issues of Harbinger do what the first three issues of X-O Manowar did, which was to establish the character, the problems, and the universe Peter Stanchek inhabits. It's a great introduction to the characters and a great foundation to tell more stories from. Although I do wish the artwork were a little tighter - sometimes it's hard to make out what's going on or the ethnicities of the characters. This will be well worth picking up the trade paperback. While we're on the subject - X-O Manowar's first TPB is offered in Previews this month for $10. This is two great titles right out of the gate for Valiant Comics.

Valiant's X-O Manowar #1, 2, 3 review

Back when Valiant first came out, I was oblivious. It wasn’t until after it had gotten hot (right before Unity which was a few months after the universe had begun) and Wizard: The Guide to Comics told me I should be reading it, that I started picking up issues. I started with the complete Unity Saga. Back when Harbinger #1 came out, there was no eBay or milehighcomics.com to find back issues so you were stuck with the five or six comic stores I could drive to and the back issues were expensive.

Fortunately, I was able to jump on the band wagon early and ride it until Jim Shooter got off. After that, Valiant titles seemed to suffer. They weren’t as good as they’d been under his watch. Still I stuck with some of the titles and bailed others.

When I heard Valiant was coming back I was excited and couldn’t wait to order the issues.

I’m giving each title three issues to make me a believer so I’m going to start with the first title out of the gate: X-O Manowar.

X-O Manowar #1-3 by Robert Venditti, Cary Nord, and Stefano Gaudiano

First I have to admit that I can’t remember the original X-O Manowar’s history (because I couldn’t afford the back issues at the time and I haven’t gotten the hardcover reprinting the first few issues) but it doesn’t feel familiar at all.

The story is essentially this:

In issue #1, Aric, a proud, stubborn warrior, and a few of his fellow warriors mistake a group of aliens for Romans and attacks them in the middle of the night. Unfortunately Aric and his friends are defeated, captured, and taken away in the alien spacecraft. The aliens are trying to harness Shanhara (the X-O battlesuit) but each warrior who tries on the armor is killed by it.

In issue #2, after being an alien prisoner for years, he and the rest of the surviving humans attempt to escape and Aric gets a hold of Shanhara and joins with it for the first time.

In issue #3, with all of the escapees dead and Aric about to join them, his desire to return to his home and his wife triggers a teleport. He returns to Rome but in modern times and is greeted by soldiers.

In the first three issues, deadly warrior Aric has had to suffer his father’s death, his wife’s abduction by the Romans, years of captivity by aliens who used him as slave labor, and now – instead of returning to his own time where he could get his wife back or avenge her, he’s lost in time. I can’t wait to see the rage bubble over next month.

Robert Venditti crafts an origin story that gets us involved with the character and lets us see him lose everything in order to set the story up. I love how each issue covers one thing about the origin (#1 intro, #2 gets the armor, #3 escapes to present time) and manages to be engrossing. I don’t remember X-O Manowar ever being this good.

Cary Nord and Stefano Gaudiano’s artwork is amazing and fits the title well. Whether Aric is in battle with the Romans or slaving away on a spaceship with aliens on it, the art always does a great job conveying what is happening on the page.

I like this title and will be looking forward to many trade paperbacks to come. If this is what I can expect from Valiant, I can’t wait to dig into Harbinger.

I will leave you with my favorite line from #1:

Gafti: There are too many of them!

Aric: Patience. I can only kill one at a time.