Valiant Entertainment 2018
Written by Matt Kindt
Illustrated by Tomas Giorello & Renato Guedes
Coloured by Diego Rodriguez
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
With the existence of psiots made common knowledge, the governments of the world have been faced with the dilemma of ignoring or policing them. The American government has partnered with the black ops, private military contractor called OMEN to monitor the growing psiot population and to control it, if necessary.
Just once I would love to see that the American government didn’t round up a group of people, put them in internment camps and forced their will upon them so they could control them as an asset instead of treating them like people. The really sad part is that Matt isn’t exactly portraying something that isn’t currently happening or that would happen the minute someone with powers was made public. Just as in fiction in real life those with powers not wishing to regulated against their will they would rise up and protect themselves and others.
This story is so well written by Matt it’s kind of scary. It isn’t just because of the whole premise either but from the viewpoints of those in it. We see Livewire doing her thing and yes it’s overly aggressive but one response leads to another and so and so forth. But at the farmhouse it’s the young girl Monica who really spells it out for us in a way that leaves a massive impact. Hope being ever the optimist cannot even argue the final part of their conversation and it makes you want to protect her from having to end up that way.
Oh poor Peter he’s running on fumes as he tries his darnedest to activate latent Psiots and is now being chased by Palmer of H.A.R.D. Corps. Not just him either after all Aric and Ninjak are there as well and I have to say in this instance it’s why I have the utmost respect for Ninjak and why of all the characters around in comics he remains one of my all-time favourites. Still I found the dialogue extremely interesting and of all people that Colin would sanction any government agency doing what they are doing. More so later on when aboard the Loveboat we hear what we do. I mean Psiots may have powers but they are also people when does humanity lose control to the point where they feel it’s okay to enslave those they cannot control?
Sweet mother of Pearl Bailey the interior artwork here is beyond stunning. Monica just look at her face, look at her eyes it’s so eerie to see how the depth of emotion and feeling it gives you in that moment. The subtlety of what we see and with Diego’s colours just elevate this book beyond what Matt has already made it. The attention to detail, the way that we see faces, facial expressions, eyes as well as farmhouse and characters we know and don’t all come to life beautifully. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective show off one of the finest eyes for storytelling around.
Livewire is a great character and her team of misfits are high up on the things I want see regularly BUT if she really has crossed that line she’s way more off-balance than I would’ve thought possible. Bloodshot doesn’t like being used and he certainly didn’t like being someone’s weapon without a say Oh Mister Tambourine Man do I not want to be around for the aftermath. If it is a collaborative effort hey no worries yet it feels like she’s making him help her. Colin went off the rails and she helped him a return of serve would’ve been nice but maybe its still there.
Valiant continues to blow me the EF away with the sheer audacity, quality and level of storytelling they are putting out on stands today. Between the characterisation and interiors here the story already has a larger than life feel.