Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps #15

By Christos Gage, Joshua Dysart, Emanuella Lupacchino, & Brian Reber

Valiant is making some creative changes on some of their books, and Bloodshot is no exception. Christos Gage with the help of Valiant architect Joshua Dysart are diving into their first arc on the series, which also features the H.A.R.D. Corps gang.

Palmer and his crew sprung Bloodshot free and now it’s time to do the hard part, get away from Harada. After exchanging pleasantries, H.A.R.D. Corp and Bloodshot have to escape the most powerful man in the world. This issue has action, death, and someone’s brain falling out and then exploding. We also get some touching moments from an unkillable killing machine.

The tandem of Gage and Dysart  should be enough to draw interest in this book, but if not, they also do a pretty good job on the story too. Palmer continues to get good characterization and is becoming a breakout character for Valiant in recent months. Gage and Dysart also find really creative ways to use the H.A.R.D. Corps power through the lifeline. I was a reader of H.A.R.D. Corps back in the 90’s and I don’t remember it being quite this cool. This is a well written issue that has a shocking death too.

Valiant has also found new underrated talent in the art department as well, as Emanuella Lupacchino continues to impress in this issue. She continues to be very good in her detail on every panel, and her facial expressions and emotion on the faces of many characters is excellent as well. She has a couple full page panels that will dazzle, but the best image is that of someone losing their mind, literally. Just a gorgeously drawn panel. This is another well drawn issue for her; it’s starting to be a trend.

This issue is solid for the second chapter in a story arc. The artwork and character development are very strong in this issue, and there are some surprises to keep the reader guessing about who will actually survive. Valiant strikes again.