Bloodshot #18

by Jason Laframboise on October 08, 2016

Bloodshot Reborn #18
written by: Jeff Lemaire
Art by: Tomas Giorello
Published by Valiant Comics


This issue is an epilogue to last weeks finale to the Bloodshot Island story. In that issue our hero Ray Garrison, aka Bloodshot escaped the island where Project Rising Spirit was holding not only him, but 4 other Bloodshots and one Bloodhound. The 6 nanite powered men/canines are now adrift at sea on a raft with  no land in sight. Three of the historical Bloodshots share stories about their life, we see the WWII Bloodshot diving off a ship in the Atlantic and blowing up a German U-Boat with a grenade, Viet Nam Bloodshot tells us how he was turned into Bloodshot against his will and then sent out to draw enemy fire and finally Cold War Soviet Bloodshot tells us his origin and how he ended up in American control. Bloodhound sadly doesn't tell any stories. Our Bloodshot and Gulf war Bloodshot both decline saying their lives are classified.  Bloodshot finds something to motivate himself to get off the raft and away we go into the next story.

It was an enjoyable quick read that leads nicely into the next story, Bloodshot USA. The story has flowed nicely from issue one, brining us to an eventuality, Bloodshoot taking Project Rising Spirit head to head. I imagine that's where Bloodshot USA will end up since it appears that PRS has infected at least a portion of the American population with a Bloodshot nanite virus, at least that's where the series seems to be heading. The issue was well plotted, with some really fun stuff that gives us some good insight into the non- Ray Garrison Bloodshots.

This issue unlike the last one wasn't drawn by Mico Suayan as with the previous issues in the arc, but by Tomas Giorello. I'm not familiar with Giorello's work but I would like to see more of it. I imagine the short turn around between issues(one week) was the reason for the change, and although I don't like art changes mid arc, this was fine. There is a really good page with WWII Bloodshot diving off the raft to catch dinner for the Bloodshots, a shark, that was quite good. I think more off putting then the art change was the change in colours, they are much paler in this issue, and it will hurt the flow I think when read as a trade paperback.

Over all it was a good read that serves it's purpose. We are set up nicely for Bloodshot USA, as I said in my review of Bloodshot 17, this book is the best pound for pound comic that Valiant puts out. It's brilliantly written and drawn, and is a absolute pleasure to read each month.
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Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside