by Peter Milligan, Howard Chaykin, Duane Swierczynski, Duffy Boudreau, Justin Jordan, Daniel Kibblesmith, Lewis Larosa, Howard Chaykin, Barry Kitson, Manuel Garcia, Al Barrionuevo, Rafer Roberts

It’s finally Bloodshot’s turn to receive the anniversary issue treatment, and just like the character, this book really goes out with a bang. Read on for our full review!

Like previous anniversary issues, Bloodshot #25 is a collection of stories which pays homage to the character and his history. Each and every story was hand picked by editor Alejandro Arbona who really deserves tons of credit for putting together such a great book.

Regular readers to the site should be well aware of my reservations with Bloodshot as a character. While I have read the entire series run, it never really wowed me beyond the first issue and some tie in books – particularly Harbinger Wars and the Archer and Armstrong crossover issues – and the character sometimes felt flat, even through the potential he has. Bloodshot #25 has really changed my mind, and in particular the story entitled “The Glitch,” really serves as a showcase for what Bloodshot could become with a future incarnation of his book.

Peter Milligan, who also serves as as writer for Eternal Warrior: Days of Steel presents us with a powerful story of love and greed and provides us with further insight into Bloodshot’s history. It’s not very often that I feel so much for a character with whom I have little in common, but it is a heartbreaking story that really hits at the core of what Bloodshot is about. Lewis Larosa’s artwork is stunning, with so much depth and power that it left me staring at each and every panel to absorb all the work and detail that was put in. As always with Valiant, it comes down to the color work and there are few in the industry who can match Brian Reber’s skills in that area.

The backup stories don’t pack the punch that the headliner does, but are really entertaining. “Training Day” serves as a nice introduction to the character, and seeing Bart Sears’ pencils in a Valiant book really brought me back to the old days of Valiant, a nostalgic feeling that I hold near and dear to my heart. Among my favorite of these backup stories were “Is this you?” in which a scrawny nerd orders and ingests nanites to become as strong as Bloodshot and take revenge on a musclehead at the beach, and “Bloodshot’s Guide to Home Safety” in which Bloodshot makes a public service announcement on how to stay safe in your home in typical Bloodshot fashion, with lots of bullets and explosions.

Overall

We have seen Valiant get some of the anniversary issues right as of late, and Bloodshot is among one of the best. The stories are touching and right on character, and really made me finally love Bloodshot as a character. This issue definitely has me excited to see the next chapter for Bloodshot.

Bloodshot

Originally from ValiantCentral.com


About The Author Former Contributor

Former All-Comic.com Contributor

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