Valiant Entertainment 2019
Written by Joshua Dysart
Illustrated by Cafu & Adam Pollina
Coloured by Andrew Dalhouse & Kat Hudson
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
Wait, did we kill Toyo Harada in the middle of his own series? It is called THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOYO HARADA, after all…
A young Toyo spends some quality time with one of the most brilliant men in history: Albert Einstein. Yes, really.
Things get veeeeery violent with Toyo’s savage alien friend, LV-99…
Damn is this good! Joshua is taking us there and then some and I have to say that while I doubt it will change the way I feel about the man it does change the admiration for him. There is something about the opening here that while I can’t put my finger directly on it I can recognise it’s significance in terms of how Toyo saw and sees himself. I don’t know why I am surprised by this but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t have such an emotional impact upon the reader. This is among the many reasons I rather thoroughly enjoy what and how Joshua writes.
The way that this story is being told is utterly brilliant. I think the way that Joshua takes the then part and weaves that directly into the now part is genius. This way we actually see how much of what happened in his youth actually affects and influences him as an adult has been an unexpected delight and if Joshua keeps this up well I dunno but I’ll be damned. As powerful a psiot and man that Harada is there is no way that death is final for him and unless I miss my guess the AI known as father in the future is based off his brainwave patterns so he still has more to do and contribute yet.
The characterisation here is superb and more so in the likes of the Angela being and even LV-99 than in Harada himself. Granted we are seeing him admit defeat and doing what he can for those loyal to him, as well as betray them and save his own arse all at the same time. The Angela being is someone who fascinates me in how ruthless and unapologetic she is in her desires and knowledge. She is one that I would love to see Joshua tackle in a limited series, can you imagine the beautiful horrors that could be unleashed?
The interiors here are beyond what I was expecting to see. The flashback to his teenage self and what he was doing and how that is rendered has this utterly lovely feel to it. Like it’s illustration you’d see in a book from the library as it takes us through this entire encounter. In stark contrast to the sleek and shiny present that is full of intensity and elements of horror and danger. The linework throughout and how we see the attention to detail in these pages is astonishingly good. The colour work here as well I mean c’mon now how can this be fair to others in the industry when we see what’s capable of happening? The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off some extremely good eyes for storytelling.
So there is also a few surprises among the surprises here for the reader. The way the final moments seem to unfurl in both sections are interesting to see. I mean loss of control, feeling swept up and unable to stop something from happening, these are Harada’s greatest fears. Sure he thinks he’s always in control but reality is something else entirely. For someone so smart he’s awfully stupid and opened himself up for his ultimate downfall. I cannot get over the strength of the writing through the story & plot development, pacing and, this oh boy, characterisation all wrapped up in these gorgeous pages.
Valiant is home to some of the hottest talent working today and if you don’t think that’s accurate pick up this story and tell me otherwise, you won’t be able to.