Valiant Entertainment 2015
Written by Jeff Lemire
Illustrated by Mico Suayan
Coloured by David Baron
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
After being recaptured by P.R.S., Bloodshot awakens on a desert island. He soon encounters a group of other Bloodshots — seemingly from years, and wars, gone by — and quickly learns they’re all target practice. Every day they’re hunted — and executed — by an unstoppable creature known only as Deathmate. But Bloodshot recognizes something familiar when he meets Deathmate.
I’m really enjoying this and can see how it’s going to turn into the new series. I love the twist with who Deathmate is and how I can’t quite see how that’s going to turn out. I’m waiting with great anticipation to find out how she has become Deathmate and if any of her old connection remains considering what we saw in a previous Eternal Warrior story. What that adds to this one though is wonderful from a characterisation standpoint for Ray.
Mico’s interiors here are exceptional. His attention to detail and the way he uses the page layouts with angles and perspective are so powerful. That all these Bloodshots have their own look and the intensity of the dog not to mention the alien nature of Deathmate, oh and those guys in the control room seriously the work he and David are producing here redefines what you should think interiors can look like.
Jeff has really managed to infuse Ray’s personality into Bloodshot so that he’s finally less machine and more man with the thinking process he goes through. It’s not just his characterisation that stands out either as we see those in the control room and we have those characters we love to hate and can’t wait to see them get their comeuppance.
We’ve gone from seeing him being this pathetic man falling into booze and drugs to numb himself into this competent commando who uses his brain. It’s been a great transition in not only finding himself but in him realising his potential. Jeff let’s us see how his experiences have shaped him and were necessary so that he could reach this stage and potential.
Valiant has done an exceptional job in getting the right talent to bring these characters back to life in ways that not only remind us why we liked them to begin with but to improve them and make them more now than ever. Through his journey we’ve been introduced to new characters, allies and enemies all the while with plenty of action and the type of actions that define the character himself.
There’s never been a more exciting to be a Valiant fan than right now and thanks to creators like Jeff and Mico we really are treated to some incredible storytelling.