Valiant Universe: Harbinger, Unity, Rai, A&A; current state & future prospects

[Captain Craig]

Getting caught up on the last two weeks of Valiant Releases. Being backlogged on Valiant fare is an enjoyable thing that had been relegated to years past for me with two years of only having 1 book a month.

The Valiants #1
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A mysterious sink hole has opened up in D.C. and caused lots of destruction and death. Many civilians unaccounted for. BG Capshaw is lamenting(again) the fact so many former super agents can't be reached. We find out that Savage jumped in there but has not come back out. Capshaw doesn't think much of him it seems(frankly I don't either, poor mans Turok). She manages to get Ninjak back after he'd been MIA but officially listed as KIA. He has Myrna(is that her name?) with him and .... I'm very curious as to this R-1 robot butler(for now) character. She is the first recruit for this new group Capshaw wants The Valiants. Gilad shows up with Geomancer Tama, who now appears more Tween in age, like 12/13. Readers will recall she was like 10 when the Geomancer role fell to her from Kay. They drop into the sink hole and suspect this phenomena is tied to the Faraway. Oh, and speaking of Kay aka Deathmate she shows up in a very ill mood. Lets see where that goes next issue, i always liked Kay as the Geomancer and this is again great continuity tie-back. So far bravo to Alien Books direction to the writers on these Resurgence books!!

Bloodshot Unleashed: Reloaded #2
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This concludes the two issue mini-series where Ray is tracking down the "Spent Shells"(failed alternate and competing programs to Rising Spirit) that are out there and malfunctioning. I enjoyed this largely for the family moments as weird as that may sound. I like the fact that Ray/Bloodshot has been developed so much as a character that he now has some semblance of the life that originally taken from him by Rising Spirit. Don't get me wrong the action is still great. I still don't like the inner monologue character of Bloodsquirt though. Already eager for the next installment of Bloodshot!

X-O Manowar: Invictus #1
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This feels like it picks up not too long after the conclusion of Becky Cloonans first arc. The art change is ok but most anything was going to feel a step down from the previous chapter. I did think the intro page explaining the characters involved was as well done as any I've seen lately making this easier to just jump in and feel like you have the necessary info for the story ahead. With Aric on an alien world and a small group depending on him made this feel reminiscent of Matt Kindt's tenure (second volume in nuVU). The Novus Romanus ship was powered by a unique engine, in that it was a captured Geomancer Ala something or other who blew up the ship. Now, this is the third Geomancer in as many reads. She may well have died with the ship but what if she didn't? I'm now wondering if there has been a Valiant story told where there is more than one Geomancer(whom Gilad is sworn to protect) active and alive at the same time? Tamara is the official, Kay is the transformed Deathmate and this time displaced one kept alive for centuries Ala....I feel this could make for an interesting story if the later is story crafted alive. But I'm digressing.
The real twist in this story is the singular page appearance of spoilers:

Ivar the Timewalker who is seeking to recruit Aric back to Earth(I'm guessing tied to that sinkhole in D.C from The Valiants #1.

end of spoilers
Ready for issue #2 to see where this goes and how it might emulate and separate from the Matt Kindt vibes. Although that was a good run so if imitated well it is a win-win!

Faith Returns #1

This was a very solid start to this story. I was curious about the "return" usage but it made sense within the story. One need not know the prior events of Faith but for those Valiant fans still on the train this was great continuity. It picks up some time after she has been framed by the supervillian team-up of The Faithless. Her "Return" is being seen out in public for the first time in a long time. She has Obie and Aram in tow as she seeks to clear her name. Brigadier General Capshaw shows up to make her an offer, as she has been doing of late. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Also, based on the inner monologue of Faith I feel a book called Zephyr is long overdue. Kind of like taking Spider-Gwen -->Ghost Spider.

[Captain Craig]

Punk Mambo: The Punk Witch Project (one shot)
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This was a fun one shot that no doubt will have some callbacks. The return of PM to London and having to straighten out an Punk Morlock (Victor something) who has his sights set higher than he should. Classic case of 'reach exceeding grasp'. I'm more intrigued by the "in house" London Warlock name of John Warlock that is "too scared" to tackle Victor himself. Mambo knows she is being played but I wonder if John's game of manipulation is deeper than Mambo senses? Mambo gets re-united with her Loa and it looks to be a much more symbiotic arrangement from when they were thrust together in that Shadowman story from a few years back.

Bloodshot Unleashed: Reloaded #3
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For some reason I thought this was a two issue story, picking up later. The circle of minis confused me. So picking up Ray is still hunting down The Spent Shells which are failed BS prototypes from other 'vendors' not called Rising Spirit. Last issue he took one alive, Deep Tank, and talked him and his programming down. This issue sees Deep Tank revealed to be a man named Steve but that doesn't matter for long cause the next Spent Shell has found Bloodshot and he's a beast calling himself Omega. Hope you don't get attached to Steve/Deep Tank too long (of course I submit he might can be rebuilt/rebuild himself even?). Omega is a bit more, he is a "What if the Hulk was a BS prototype?". Steve even tells us Omega emits some energy waves beyond the Gamma spectrum that don't play well with Steve's internals and well, we lose Steve.
Ray's daughter had snuck out of the house last issue, with Magic in tow and both catch up to Ray. The fun thing here is that Chambers, Spent Shell from issue 1, pocket dimension has now been accessed by BS's nanobots and Ray has access to so many fun toys. Hoping this new development is one that stays with the character going forward. We slow Omega down but we need one more issue to put him down for good. Next month, issue 4, the finale.