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ADVANCE REVIEW: Bloodshot Reborn #10

By Matt Conner

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Cover by Lewis Larosa with Brian Reber

Bloodshot Reborn #10 “The Analog Man, part one”

Writer Jeff Lemire

Artist Lewis Larosa

Colorist Brian Reber

Valiant Entertainment

Cover by Dave Johnson

Thirty years have passed since the end of the last Bloodshot story, and now our hero is leading a settlement in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Valiant Universe’s Southern California desert. He’s happy with his wife, Magic, defending his people from a roving gang called The Shadowmen. Los Angeles has been overrun with The Goo, the next generation of the nanotechnology that gives Bloodshot his powers, and it’s patrolled by drones that look like X-O Manowar. Every so often, he drives his big truck to LA for supplies. On the way back from one run, a convoy of Shadowmen get the drop on him in an amazing rolling firefight, and he’s just about done for until another one of Valiant’s icons surfaces out of history to start a little revolution.

Cover by Ryan Sook

Bloodshot was the biggest surprise for me when I started reading Valiant comics. He’s a big guy with a bunch of guns, and though I like the occasional action movie, I had no interest in an action comic. But the book turned out to balance tension, exciting science fiction, and genuine heart, exploring the man’s history of being a pawn for Project Rising Spirit, his core wish for peace and family. By the end of the first arc, Bloodshot was one of my favorite Valiant titles, and I am so excited for the plans to bring him to the big screen.

Cover by Tula Lotay

This story keeps up everything that makes Bloodshot work – the action scenes are a thrill, full of detailed explosions courtesy of Larosa and Reber with Lemire’s grim narration stressing the meaning for the scene. The pulling in of prominent Valiant characters like Shadowman and X-O Manowar as visual motif and legacy give the story a rich quality and a playful exploration of what it’s like to read a shared comic universe without feeling like a cheap crossover attempt. Lemire’s apocalyptic hero is a family man, and he has learned to see himself as his own tool in service of his dusty little town. He sneers at the new technology not because he’s a cranky old man (well, okay, not just because he’s a cranky old man) but because he sees himself as built to last, and he knows his people deserve that level of quality in their equipment. When he thinks he’s dying, he’s apologizing to his wife and flashing back to one of their first arguments. Lemire knows how to tell a gripping action story by leading with his heart.

Bloodshot fans are going to love this peek into the future, and if the whole arc can sustain the quality of this first act, it’s going to be the best Bloodshot story yet.

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Bloodshot Reborn goes on sale Wednesday, January 27.

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