Comic Book Review: The Valiant #4

Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, and Paolo Rivera’s The Valiant series comes to a close with many of the featured characters taking different paths. Is it good?

The opening sequence gets your emotions boiling a little bit. Lemire and Kindt decide to push the story into the future. My initial reaction was “What?!? They are just going to skip the climax they have been building to? I’ve been robbed.” Fortunately, I kept reading and this emotion subsided a tad when they returned to the present. However, displaying the future, even the distant future, takes a little steam out of the journey to get there. Foreshadowing can be bad and in this case it lessens the shock factor of a later scene.

Lemire and Kindt continue to create one of the most frightening and evil villains I have read. He combines the power of nature inherent in Doomsday with the ability to prey off his enemies’ fears like Scarecrow. He is the power of nature and fear incarnate. Not only do they continue to build up the pure evil of the Immortal Enemy, but intertwined within the almost non-stop action are large character-building moments for Kay, the Eternal Warrior, and Bloodshot. Kay fully comes into her own and you feel yourself cheering her on as she unleashes the power of the Geomancer to battle Mr. Flay.

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Comic Book Review: Imperium #2

Toyo Harada and his Foundation have begun their crusade to bring about world peace, but there are pieces moving against him and one is the Rising Spirit. Who are they and will the Foundation be able to withstand them? More importantly is it good?

Joshua Dysart and Doug Braithwaite left us with the impression all other avenues to secure world peace had been attempted and violence was the last resort. However, this is not the case as Toyo Harada and his Foundation psiots explore other tactics to secure their strategic objective. One of their tactics is the infiltration of a group called Rising Spirit and their H.A.R.D. Corps.

The H.A.R.D. Corps is led by a man codenamed Gravedog. The beginning portion of the book is much like the previous issue that it builds slowly to a violent climax. Dysart and Braithwaite spend a decent amount of time introducing Gravedog and building up his character while also exploring what Rising Spirit is and how the H.A.R.D. Corps fit in. There are some very interesting philosophical discussions looking at what incentivizes or motivates individuals to take action. Of note, is how Dysart characterizes Gravedog with an almost identical motivation technique as Harada: get the job done no matter the costs. This portion of the book takes up the majority of the pages and can be a little slow since there is quite a bit of dialogue with little action.

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Comic Book Review: The Valiant #3

The battle against the Immortal Enemy requires all hands on deck as Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt do an in-depth character exploration of Kay McHenry and Bloodshot. Is it good?

Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt begin with a little bit of exposition explaining the magic box, while introducing a bit of mystery as to how the whereabouts of the box were actually discovered, while reinforcing the all-encompassing threat of the Immortal Enemy. In case you didn’t realize how scary he is, Paolo Rivera reminds you with a bone-chilling image of his raw nature. Contrasting the raw nature and fear created by this image, the next image you see depicts courage, teamwork, and recognition of the threat in what I can only describe as the entire Valiant universe of superheroes including a goat with laser vision and a fleet of high-tech warplanes mobilizing to combat their new foe.

Rivera uses a number of different camera angles to depict the action sequences, whether it is a close up of a hero’s torso ready to launch a Molotov cocktail to an over-the-shoulder angle of Gilad swinging his axe.

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Comic Book Review: Imperium #1

What does it take to build a utopia? Is the price worth it? These are just some of the questions Joshua Dysart, Doug Braithwaite, Brian Reber and Dave McCaig are asking in Imperium. We have a different question. Is it good?

Writer Joshua Dysart and artist Doug Braithwaite open the book with a comparison. The opening page is a memory of the past, what the world was like: extreme poverty. On the next page they perform a good transition through an internal monologue showing what the world is now: utopian with giant skyscrapers overflowing and surrounded with vegetation.

Braithwaite dreams up a beautiful utopia, with sleek architecture, many of the buildings have sweeping edifices. There are blimp-like sky ships soaring through the sky and trains running through, above, and under the water. Once you get underwater, civilization continues with globe and oval-shaped pods housing more vegetation. There is one panel displaying hexagonal sections depicting food and energy harvest communities.

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Comic Book Review: The Valiant #2

The eternal conflict between the Immortal Enemy and the Geomancer has resumed, but this time the Eternal Warrior, guardian of the Geomancer, has a number of allies to aid him in his protection of the Geomancer. Is it good?

Having introduced us to the Eternal Warrior, Bloodshot, and Neville Alcott in the previous issue a fourth player takes the stage in the opening pages. Ninjak lives up to his name as a master of his own body, able to control his breathing to survive in what appear to be subzero temperatures. He is also an expert in disguise. Paolo Rivera has a beautiful panel showing him rise up out of the snow sword in hand as he begins his stealth attack.

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Comic Book Review: The Valiant #1

An epic struggle between the protectors of Earth and chaos that spans centuries and civilizations has unfolded with every battle ending in the same way. Can the pattern be broken? Can entropy and decay be defeated? Is it good?

Writers Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt spend the first ten pages of The Valiant portraying a multitude of battles between Gilad, the immortal protector of the Geomancers, and a force of entropy and decay. The narration takes the voice of Gilad giving the reader a good view into his unflagging determination and belief he can adapt to overcome the Immortal Enemy. However, outside of the narration, Kindt and Lemire adopt a different tone. The Immortal Enemy taunts Gilad and challenges his belief and determination with the power of a law of nature. In just ten short pages Lemire and Kindt introduce a strong stalwart character only to bring doubt and defeat to break this potential hero.

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