Armor Hunters Aftermath #1
The events of Armor Hunters are sure to have long-lasting consequences on the Valiant universe for years to come. Find out how the world is reacting to the death and destruction caused by the hunters in Armor Hunters: Aftermath #1.
The story
The agency formerly known as M.E.R.O. – now dubbed G.A.T.E. for Global Agency for Threat Excision – has set up camp at the abandoned NASA shuttle installation in the Florida cape and there are thousands of people camped out waiting to hear some revelations about the armor hunters’ attack on the world. Inside the base, Livewire has been communicating with GIN-GR, the giant robot the hunters used for interstellar travel, and have an interesting conversation about how the world will react to GIN-GR’s existence. Meanwhile, Colonel Capshaw and her superiors have been setting up a plan to reveal the existence of the Unity team to the world in a press event. We learn of each of the hunters’ final fates, and are finally formally introduced to Unity as the team who saved the world, with Aric as its leader.
After the break-neck pace of the Armor Hunters miniseries, Aftermath offers a return to normalcy for the world and the reader. You won’t find the action-packed battles of previous issues here, but rather some interesting interpersonal moments between people who have witnessed the events, and those who experienced them first hand. Robert Venditti’s script is clean and clear, and this issue does a terrific job at not only wrapping up the event, but at giving readers a glimpse at the future of the Valiant universe. Unity and M.E.R.O. is no longer a covert operation, but is now in the public eye. The press event revealing Unity’s existence didn’t seem out of place, and felt very much like a modern well-crafted political spin story – something everyone should be able to related to considering the constant political turmoil we’ve seen over the past decade.
There are some tender moments though and the interactions between GIN-GR and Livewire show a lighter side to the whole event. It was amazing to see GIN-GR have some sort of personality, with a giant grin on her face. To her, this should be enough for the people of the world to forgive her and move on, because she doesn’t understand the intricacies of the human condition. Livewire offers a nice juxtaposition to this belief, since, unlike GIN-GR, she is human and well aware of how people will react. Still, Livewire understands the sentiment behind GIN-GR’s actions and defends her to Colonel Capshaw, explaining that GIN-GR simply wants to be “one of us.” This is great story telling and fantastic storytelling and character building in Venditti’s part.
The art
CAFU’s art is top notch as always. There were a few pages where I wondered if this was really the right artist for this book, but that thought would be quickly swept away by some amazing panels particularly those involving GIN-GR and Livewire, and the final page as Aric, Gilad, and Livewire emerge from the hangar atop the Love Boat.
Overall
Armor Hunters: Aftermath #1 is a nice bookend to a great miniseries. After so much action, it was nice to see some more character building for all the characters involved, and I look forward to seeing more of how Armor Hunters has affected the politics and day-to-day affairs of the Valiant universe.
Rating
4/5
Issue information
Written by Robert Venditti
Art by CAFU
Covers by Diego Bernard, Brent Peeples, and Mico Suayan
Price: $3.99
Release date: October 1, 2014
Review by Martin Ferretti courtesy of ValiantCentral.com
For your daily source of Valiant news, reviews and articles visit ValiantCentral.com
—————————–
Bloodshot #24 review
Bloodshot is back in his own solo adventures with the return to his titular book. In anticipation for the anniversary blowout #25 next month, we get a story from Bloodshot’s past with a new creative team. Will it deliver?
The story
Set in the year 2000, a sleeper cell of communists threatens to take over the Crimean region, and it is up to Bloodshot to stop them and return the area to democracy.
The premise is simple but the story is pretty well written. As the communist takeover plot starts to unravel and Bloodshot starts to figure out how to defeat this cell, we learn that this has been nothing more than a training mission all along. Project Rising Spirit knew from the beginning when the sleeper cell would appear, what technology they possessed, and exactly how to defeat them – they just needed Bloodshot to figure all that out on his own. In the process, Bloodshot begins to doubt some of his own actions and motivations as he begins to see the parallel between the communists’ mind control technology and his own – that is until he gets turned off and taken away by PRS.
Not being familiar with B. Clay Moore’s previous work I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I enjoyed the story. It’s not perfect by far, and some of the transitions between the action Bloodshot is experiencing and what his PRS handlers are seeing can be a little jarring.
If you’re excited to pick up this book in anticipation of a new story arc, stop right there. This issue is just a one-shot filler until issue #25. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it’s kind of nice to read a self-contained story instead of arc after arc. Bloodshot #24 may not be a great issue, but it’s a fun story that does the character justice.
The art
This is the first time I’ve seen Will Rosado’s work and it was a good fit for the book. The art style is very reminiscent of early 90s books to me which fits the flashback setting of the book quite well. There is plenty of grit and almost a pulpy feel we don’t often see in comics today. Allen Passalaqua’s colors are top notch as always and serve to create a dark and spy-movie-like atmosphere.
Overall
While nothing extraordinary, Bloodshot #24 offers a good standalone story in Bloodshot’s past. The book is far from perfect, but Bloodshot fans will appreciate getting a bit more history into the Project Rising Spirit experiments; however, I hope that after issue #25, the character is put to better use with a creative team that will truly make him shine.
Rating
3/5
Issue information
Written by B. Clay Moore
Art by Will Rosado
Covers by Diego Bernard, Brent Peeples, and Mico Suayan
Price: $3.99
Release date: October 1, 2014
Review by Martin Ferretti courtesy of ValiantCentral.com
For your daily source of Valiant news, reviews and articles visit ValiantCentral.com
Share on Tumblr
