Valiant Entertainment 2016
Written by Fred Van Lente
Illustrated by Francis Portela
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
They are psiots - people born with the potential for incredible abilities of the mind. They were captured and trained by sinister corporate forces to become killing machines. They became one of the youngest strike forces on the planet. They broke free of their masters and, inspired by the heroism of their fellow psiots, the Harbinger Renegades, struck out on their own to make the world a better place. They will help you - if your cause is just.
Well this was a great first issue. I like that we don’t spend time in the past when the kids were last seen and instead pick up where they are today. Using a social media app that they can monitor and be reached by to decide who the deem is in need of their help. It’s really a great way to do things and keeping up with the times while also allowing them to remain somewhat anonymous.
If this first issue is any indication of what we can expect then it’s going to be rather interesting. More so with Francis doing the interiors with Andrew colouring his work. Francis has this amazing eye for storytelling and how to use the panels to really grab your attention and control the flow of the story. His attention to detail is sublime and thank goodness he understands perfectly how to use backgrounds to flesh out the bigger picture, the mood, tone and feel of what’s going on.
I like the way we are introduced to Keisha and the team. This is a modern thriller type of story that took me a little by surprise. Fred always impresses me with his writing skills but honestly I hadn’t expected this from this book and that’s a good thing. The way he crafted this really does turn this from your average superhero book into something much stronger, more involved and surprising. There’s this whole mystery that runs deeper than we could have imagined and more than likely deeper than Fred’s let on so far that as things are revealed you begin to see conspiracies in your head. So it’s very much a mental effect on the reader as well.
Honestly I barely remember any of these characters, if like at all, from the Harbinger story so it’s like i’m getting my very first look at these characters and what they can do. So it’s like we’re getting in on the ground floor of a brand new group of kids ready to take up a cause and follow the example of those that freed them in the first place. Since we aren’t focused on them right now, Keisha steals the spotlight for now, they are pretty much a mystery too. Which is fantastic since we aren’t quite sure what their power sets are.
The way the whole book has been crafted has been done in a way that engages the reader’s mind and senses. I think what Fred has done here is create a fresh modern take on the superhero genre that is going to be extremely fun to watch unfold.