Last week we took a look at what I have begun to call as the
pre-Valiant, VALIANT, era of Valiant Comics. This week we officially kick
things off in the new era in the form of Harbinger Wars.
Harbinger Wars, like all crossover events, involves a
lot of parties or set of cast of characters. If I had to break it down, the
story involves five: Toyo Harada and the Harbinger Foundation, the Renegades, Project
Rising Spirit, Generation Zero, and of course, Bloodshot. All the parties involved
have their own ambitions and motives, which overlap and intertwine with each
other's, causing conflict among them. I could detail for you who's fighting
whom over what and all, and bore, or perhaps more likely, confuse you, or I
could simply show you this:
This is the first page of the 12-part story (including the
tie-ins) and it does an excellent job in setting up the stage. As a new reader,
with absolutely no knowledge of these characters, this was really helpful. Even
if you choose to skip this page (But why would you? Not only is it a recap page,
but look at it! It's masterfully designed! It is stunning.), the book is written
so exquisitely that the story provides ample history, motivations, attributes
for pretty much all of the major players. You get that Bloodshot is a douche, a
one-man army on a mission. And you get that Toyo Harada is a dick. Obviously,
having read the entire catalogue of Valiant Comics would certainly help, but it's
not explicitly required; which is great for new readers like me.
Speaking of the story, writers Joshua Dysart and Duane
Swierczynski split the writing duties here, with Dysart writing the Harbinger
tie-ins, Swierczynski writing the Bloodshot tie-ins, and both co-writing
the main Harbinger Wars book. I am so glad I chose to read the tie-ins
here because they are fantastic, especially Harbinger.
It's a period story, set in the 60s, and takes a look at the business dealings
and the tense relationship between Toyo Harada's Harbinger Foundation and the
government's Project Rising Spirits. This arc does exactly those things which
are why I don't read the tie-ins to any event in the first place, but it does
it so well that I was hooked.
Just like the writing duties, the art duties are split
precisely: Clayton Henry draws Harbinger Wars, with Clayton Crain coming
in from time to time to draw the flashback scenes; Khari Evans and Stefano
Gaudiano team up for the Harbinger tie-ins; and Barry Kitson does the Bloodshot
tie-ins. This avoids any rushed artworks or tons of inkers filling in to keep
the book on schedule, but more importantly, this gives everyone a chance to
shine. And boy do they shine. Harbinger Wars and its tie-ins are one of
the most gorgeous superhero books in recent memory. Finally, if I may say so,
Khari Evans is a monster and every major publisher should be fighting over him.
This may be nitpicking, but my only quibble with this book
is slight lettering issues. I ran across a lot of instances where the word
balloon did not coincide with the panel box, and it made me... uneasy. What can
I say. I'm a perfectionist, I guess.
In the end, Harbinger Wars is not only a excellent
introduction to the post-VALIANT, Valiant, era of Valiant Comics, it is, hands
down, one of the best big superhero crossover stories. I had fun and isn't that
what comics are supposed to be?
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