Bloodshot #1 & #2 (2019) – Review

With the upcoming release of the Bloodshot movie from Sony Pictures and Valiant Entertainment; Valiant has relaunched the Bloodshot title once again. Originally published in 1993 with the original run of Valiant comics and then relaunched in 2012 with the newly reformed Valiant Entertainment, Bloodshot has been a character in comics for quite some time, but is only now truly coming into his own.

Bloodshot is the story of a soldier who has been revived from death by Project Rising Spirit. His bloodstream shot up with nanites (hence the name), Bloodshoot has the ability to reform, and heal his body at will, make him nearly invincible to standard weapons technology. As part of Project Rising Spirit his mind was erased over and over and filled with false information about his past, so now Bloodshot is on a mission to find out who he is.

But very little of that is in these first two issues of the relaunched Bloodshot. While issue #1 (In Stores Now) is an excellent jumping off point that give some of the basics of the story, very little of the origin of Bloodshot is revealed, which may be a really good thing for readers. With a print history that goes back to the 90’s and a series that just wrapped up before this relaunch, interested readers have plenty to fall back on if they are wanting to know that story, and current readers aren’t put through the standard reboot origin story. There is enough there to keep you going without having to read all about it all over again.

The story itself smacks of the 90’s. Bloodshot is being hunted by General Grayle who sees Bloodshot only as a weapon of mass destruction that needs to be eliminated, and not a human looking for his past. To get to that though there are lots of BOOOMs, THOOMs, BRAAAAAPs, and YEARGHHHs. That hyper-kinetic action shot popularized by Rob Liefield and Todd McFarland fills the pages of both issues of the book, making it feel a little dated for my taste.

There is nothing wrong with this book, as a matter of fact it is really well done, it is an interesting read and both issues (#2 releases October 30th, 2019) move quickly setting the stage for subsequent issues. I just don’t know that this is the time for comics like this anymore. With the success of more artistic and inventive comics across all brands I often wonder what the shelf life of ideas like this. I feel this will make an amazing action movie, but are action comics a little tired now. When we open the pages of a book is this still what we are looking for? For the average comic book reader that might be yes.

If rollicking action, man on the run, man seeking out his past, and lots of explosions is your jam; then this book is a great place to start! Bloodshot will deliver all the action you can handle, with a lot of previously release material to dig into. Just in time to get into the book before the movie comes out, I suspect this ongoing series from Valiant will continue to deliver the goods!