Divinity III: Aric, Son of the Revolution #1

by Joe Harris, CAFU, Andrew Dalhouse and Dave Sharpe

It’s hard not to compare the Stalinverse event coming out of Valiant to DC Comic and Mark Millar’s Superman: Red Son from 2003. However, the difference here being that the Valiant characters, across the board, are far more interesting that the vast majority of what DC can throw at you. So, forget Red Son and focus on the Valiant event in front of you here. It’s tiresome to bring up Stalinverse and get bombarded with comparisons and questions about Red Son and whether or not Valiant is copying them and blah, blah, blah. Forget it. Stalinverse  is better, well thought-out, imaginative, and excellent. There, we covered the Soviet elephant in the room.

Now, on to Aric, Son of the Revolution. Joe Harris, star of the Armor Hunters: Bloodshot mini-series that tied into the fantastic Armor Hunters event, writes another hell of a one-shot for Valiant here. In the Bloodshot series, he nailed the character and took him to another level that Bloodshot’s previous series hadn’t quite done. Now, it’s hard to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the fifty-plus issue, Valiant champion that is X-O Manowar, but he does a damn good job in this, shall we say, darkest timeline for Valiant. The feel for Aric is the same that we’ve gotten used to, but with a big red twist. Harris really melds himself well inside the Valiant Universe, and this is another shining example. Barring his work load, simply on the merits of these two series, Valiant really needs to give him his own ongoing series. It’s about time, and clearly this guy has a vested interest in the world Valiant has constructed.

CAFU, artist, and Andrew Dalhouse, colorist, team up for a stellar visual issue that you’ve by now come to expect with Valiant books. CAFU gets the characters down, and the scenery is excellent. It’s really one of the best outings from a stellar artist in the Valiant rotation. However, his black and whites not withstanding, it really feels like Dalhouse steals the show out from under him. The colors are vivid and exceptional, particularly during the Deadside invasion scenes. The various shades of  purples blend extremely well together and it gives the Deadside a great contrast to the big, red, real world. Even his work on the small back-up story is excellent and really showcases Dalhouse’s versatility and expertise.

Divinity III has been a fantastic event so far and this additional one-shot really helps put another piece to the puzzle. Aric on his own is interesting, but setting him down in this Soviet run world really puts an interesting spin on him. Aric, Son of the Revolution is awesome and can certainly be a great way to dip your toe into this event and the Valiant Universe as a whole. It’s one comic that can open up an entire new universe to you, so get out and pick this up. You won’t be sorry.