Divinity III Review: Komandar Bloodshot Loves Elseworlds, Too!
By Matt Conner
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Komandar Bloodshot’s origin one-shot has all the twists, thrills, and heart readers love seeing in our alternate-reality stories.
Divinity III: Komandar Bloodshot #1
Written by Jeff Lemire with Matt Kindt
Art by Clayton Crain with Juan Jose Ryp
Published by Valiant Entertainment
Divinity III: Komandar Bloodshot #1
Komandar Bloodshot stood out in last week’s launch of Divinity III: Stalinverse. In a reality twisted to a globe under the Soviet boot, government powerhouse Bloodshot puts down rebellion with brutal efficiency. This week, we learn more about him and get a glimpse at a crack in the Stalinverse reality.
As with the effective 4001 crossover, Stalinverse enriches its story with a handful of one-shot tie-ins by each character’s regular creative team. Jeff Lemire has obviously loved his run on Bloodshot Reborn, and the chance to tell a scary story plays to his strengths. In this tale, the Komandar sets his sights on a rebel base in Colorado filled with some of Lemire’s best supporting characters. The guest stars surprised me, and I held my breath when Lemire found a way to mix the monstrous villain with the most painfully romantic scene in Bloodshot Reborn. Twists like that have me reading the main series with even more of a magnifying glass. What else is going to break into this Soviet nightmare?
Clayton Crain has brought out some of the best in his Valiant crossovers like Harbinger Wars and 4001. This week, he sells the zombie juggernaut of this killing machine. Crain’s painted figures explode with gore, but it never feels exploitative.
Seriously, this is a scary movie already.
Alternate reality stories are popular for good reason. Things like DC’s Elseworlds or the X-Men’s Age Of Apocalypse give the reader the fun of seeing our favorite characters in cosplay. The writers get to drill to the core of each character. Really, the best multiverse stories make the main books that much better. And this take on Bloodshot, a powerful machine reflective of his government but still moved by true love? That’s what I want to keep following in Bloodshot USA.