Harbinger: Omegas #3

by Joshua Dysart, Rafa Sandoval

The Story

Now that Harada has taken control of Somalia and set up his Foundation Zone, he decides it’s time to send the world a message. We first see Toyo, Law, and Stronghold take down the entire African and U.N. coalition forces as the White House watches events unfold in Washington D.C. Though we’ve seen these characters in action before, it was really great to finally learn what Law and Stronghold’s powers are, and both are much more powerful than I had previously imagine.

After the battle, Harada shows up at the White House to give the President and ultimatum as Peter emerges from his self-imposed exile to try to break Kris out of prison. The parallels between Toyo and Peter are something that writer Joshua Dysart has been setting up since the beginning of the Harbinger ongoing, but they have become much more obvious with this issue. I’m not entirely sure whether Toyo and Peter were actually communicating or whether they were just talking to themselves, and the way that Dysart wrote this book leaves that up for interpretation. Regardless of the similarities, the two have chosen very different paths, ultimately making this just as much a story about life choices and consequences, as it is about superpowered beings.

In the end, we learn that while Harada may appear to be a power-hungry gangster, he is still ultimately motivated by noble reasons. He has seen so much death and destruction in his life – from the Hiroshima bombings, his love killed in battle, his Foundation destroyed – that he just wants to create a safe place for the poor and unwanted to belong. That place is the Foundation Zone. That place is his Imperium.

The art

Rafa Sandoval has continuously impressed me with his pencils through this miniseries, but his work in this final issue is outstanding. Few artists have caught my attention as much as Sandoval has lately – his work is clean and precise and he obviously has a great eye for perspective. The action panels in this book are spectacular, the scenery is beautiful, and his facial expressions are emotive and powerful. I certainly hope Valiant keeps Sandoval around for more projects.

As is true with every Valiant book, the color work in this issue, provided by David Garcia Cruz, is terrific. I’m not sure how Valiant keeps finding such talented color artists but they truly make the art in the books really stand out.

Overall

I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire miniseries but after the second issue, I had some reservations as to whether or not this run would have a satisfying conclusion. With superb writing and killer art, Harbinger: Omegas #3 is one of the best comics Valiant has published this year.