Bloodshot #1 Review. Bleeds Red, White, and Blue.

Bloodshot #1 Review

Valiant in their, well, valiant effort, have brought back one of their most popular books in hopes of taking back the attention of their old audience, and capturing a new audience in the process. Bloodshot has some hype coming out of the gate, but can it’s revamped first issue put it back in the spotlight?

Bloodshot #1 takes you into the Total Recall like world of elite soldier Raymond Garrison. So let’s back up a bit, the military has advanced nanite technology that enhance his strength, reflexes, and even healing capabilities. This makes Ray a critical piece of military hardware, hardware that they manipulate as they please, and hardware that other’s will obviously try to get their hands on. Ray of course thinks he’s doing it all for God and country, but he’s soon finding, and will even sooner forget, he’s just a pawn in a chess match for planet Earth. So…I may have exaggerated about the whole taking over Earth thing, but it sounded really poetic so I’m keeping it.

The writing of Duane Sweirczynski makes Ray a complete badass, but also extremely weak at the same time. He’s made the character invaluable yet disposable, abusing the character in a way that makes the book very unpredictable, and with discussions among the higher ranks, it seems we wont really know what to believe when Ray thinks he’s the one actually in control. Trust me, it’ll all make sense when you read Bloodshot #1. The art by Manuel Garcia and Arturo Lozzi leaves something to be desired. It looked like two different art styles and low and behold, there’s two artists in the mix. I thought the book was struggling to find it’s artistic identity, but came to realize at the end of the book that one artist portrays Ray’s reality, and the other displays the actual reality in which he exists. Has your brain exploded yet? Because Ray’s does…a lot.

Bloodshot #1 is a competent book that has set itself up to go in any direction it wants to. It’s a safe book that’s well worth the read. Don’t forget to pick up your copy at Cosmic Comics! and #getyourfix today!

Burke