Why is Harbinger/Imperium so 'awesome'?

[Michael_Ayer]

I like Dysart and his work on Harbinger, Omegas and Imperium... But so many seem to think Dysart is beyond amazing, genius, etc.

I like it. I enjoy his reading. But it doesn't stand out more than all the others to me. Help me understand why you see it that way?

[ShadowTuga]

He gets character's voices in a team book like nobody else I read since Claremont.
He writes deep stories, that often left me in tears or just upset, in a good way mind you. His humour is flawless, but it's when he's writing serious dramatic stuff, that he's at his best. Either way, the man had me LOL a lot of times in the last years.
IMHO, yeah HE IS A GENIUS comics writer. The Very Best of the VEI gang, and that's saying a LOOOOOOOT.
Again, My opinion.

[BugsySig]

He gets character's voices in a team book like nobody else I read since Claremont.
He writes deep stories, that often left me in tears or just upset, in a good way mind you. His humour is flawless, but it's when he's writing serious dramatic stuff, that he's at his best. Either way, the man had me LOL a lot of times in the last years.
IMHO, yeah HE IS A GENIUS comics writer. The Very Best of the VEI gang, and that's saying a LOOOOOOOT.
Again, My opinion.

I have to agree with all of that.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

So, to me Dysart is head and shoulders above lots of other comic writers out there. That's not taking anything away from other writers, because I love them too. But, Dysart strikes a chord with me, just about every issue he writes.
So, to answer your question:
1) Consistency. He has really never had a sub par issue of anything he's written for Valiant. I think one reason for this is he is able to make whatever subject matter he focuses on really matter to the reader, AND the story.
2) Amazing twists, surprises, and reveals. Let's just talk about Imperium #1, and #2 for now. In Imperium #1, we open 100 years in the future, and I for one was under the impression that Harada had "won" the war, and realized his vision for the future. That he was dead, but his legacy lived on. Darpan living for over 100 years? Very cool. Then to pop that bubble and bring us back to reality? The execution of that was masterful.
Now, take Imperium #2. Who would have thought that GraveDog all that time was going to double cross Rising Spirit? Great twist IMO, and again, the nuances, and detail in which Dysart planned all that out, it's like he's actually had spy/espionage/military training.
3) How about the death of Flamingo? Or when Kris was bashing Torque's head in with a skateboard, and the twist in that as well? I could go on and on about big moments that were perfectly executed.
And in all honesty, there is never a moment that doesn't fit, or is just "meh". He delivers with every issue, page, panel. Truly, he's never missed.
4) How about character development? Character creation? Power sets? Personalities? He's basically responsible for the entire "Psiot" corner of the VEI Universe.
5) Dude's a beast!
6) Dude's a beast!
7) Dude's a beast!

The only drawback with Dysart, is that he doesn't write ENOUGH books for VEI!
MORE DYSART!!!

[pixierosa]

I'd agree with what everyone else has said. His character development is outstanding, and it's characters that make readers care about a franchise.

I'll add that I appreciate all of the little things he puts into the books to better define characters - things that are expressed through the art such as the titles of books on a shelf, posters on the wall, etc. He thoroughly thinks out a character. It's not just "Kris is a very smart feminist teenager" -- for those looking hard enough, we learn more about Kris from her book collection, the clothes she wears, her music.

Plus, if something is in a Dysart book, it's there for a reason. Like the Per Krogh mural in Imperium #2. He integrates symbolism in both his writing and in the art.

[ilzuccone]

dysart writes the type of book i want to read and he does it very well. it's a personal preference.

i'm always impressed by a writer who can make the "down time" in a comic as interesting as the big punch up scenes

[cray_ws]

His stories for the Valiant have been very Claremont-like, mostly due to the characters themselves lend to such writing. He's only doing a very good job of giving the reader of everything the X-MEN were like back in glory days. It's fairly easy to grow attached to his characters because he's being careful enough to give them distinctive and relatable personalities. I wouldn't rate him as revolutionary or genius writer, but someone who fully understands the superhero genre and knows what the reader wants.

[ValiantCentral]

Pixierosa and I are going to interview Dysart next week so feel free to post some questions too

[ShadowTuga]

Pixierosa and I are going to interview Dysart next week so feel free to post some questions too

Q: JD, I am your biggest fan over here, Portugal. I double-dare anyone to say any different, BTW.
So, my question is "is there any chance you might visit a con over these parts (EU)?"
Marco

[Spylocke]

I'm impressed by how quickly Dysart can get me to either like characters and want to know more about them.
For example, Stronghold hasn't had much development but Dysart had me curious about him after just a few panels. I think one of the marks of a good writer is making the reader pause and wish for a story based on a side character.

Peter and Torque are characters I wouldn't like in other books. On their surfaces Pete is a self-pitying rapist and Torque can out *SQUEE* any frat boy around and in a lot of books they wouldn't evolve past these points. Not only did Dysart break through their surfaces he did so in a short amount of time.

To boil it down: Harbinger is awesome because it develops characters swiftly and with grace.

[jmatt]

I'm impressed by how quickly Dysart can get me to either like characters and want to know more about them.
For example, Stronghold hasn't had much development but Dysart had me curious about him after just a few panels. I think one of the marks of a good writer is making the reader pause and wish for a story based on a side character.

Peter and Torque are characters I wouldn't like in other books. On their surfaces Pete is a self-pitying rapist and Torque can *SQUEE* any frat boy around and in a lot of books they wouldn't evolve past these points. Not only did Dysart break through their surfaces he did so in a short amount of time.

To boil it down: Harbinger is awesome because it develops characters swiftly and with grace.

Well put. In interviews, Dysart always says it's character first, and he delivers. IMO, if a writer can make me 'feel' the character, everything else follows naturally.

[erwinrafael]

Dysart is like a modern-day Chris Claremont. I am not really that sold with how he paces his plots. Perfect Day, for example, is not well-paced as it dragged by the third or fourth issue. The same goes with his plot heavy writing of Harbinger Wars and Bloodshot and Hard Corps, which really meanders at times. But you won't hear me complain about characterization. That he does really well.

[Phoenix8008]

I'm impressed by how quickly Dysart can get me to either like characters and want to know more about them.
For example, Stronghold hasn't had much development but Dysart had me curious about him after just a few panels. I think one of the marks of a good writer is making the reader pause and wish for a story based on a side character.

Peter and Torque are characters I wouldn't like in other books. On their surfaces Pete is a self-pitying rapist and Torque can *SQUEE* any frat boy around and in a lot of books they wouldn't evolve past these points. Not only did Dysart break through their surfaces he did so in a short amount of time.

To boil it down: Harbinger is awesome because it develops characters swiftly and with grace.

Well put. In interviews, Dysart always says it's character first, and he delivers. IMO, if a writer can make me 'feel' the character, everything else follows naturally.

And if the writer can't make you 'feel' the character, then no matter how grand the setup, mythology, or potential, the book will fail... see Shadowman for reference.

[ilzuccone]

Dysart is like a modern-day Chris Claremont. I am not really that sold with how he paces his plots. Perfect Day, for example, is not well-paced as it dragged by the third or fourth issue. The same goes with his plot heavy writing of Harbinger Wars and Bloodshot and Hard Corps, which really meanders at times. But you won't hear me complain about characterization. That he does really well.

Yeah those two arcs were not the best.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Dysart is like a modern-day Chris Claremont. I am not really that sold with how he paces his plots. Perfect Day, for example, is not well-paced as it dragged by the third or fourth issue. The same goes with his plot heavy writing of Harbinger Wars and Bloodshot and Hard Corps, which really meanders at times. But you won't hear me complain about characterization. That he does really well.

Yeah those two arcs were not the best.

Just going to point out that those two arcs both had co-writers. I still liked them both, but I believe he only plotted the HARD Corps arc while Christos gage did the scripts.

[erwinrafael]

Perfect Day was entirely Dysart. Harbinger Wars actually broke the momentum of Harbinger for me (and totally destroyed the Bloodshot series). Dysart only recovered with the Death of a Renegade arc.

[ilzuccone]

Perfect Day was entirely Dysart. Harbinger Wars actually broke the momentum of Harbinger for me (and totally destroyed the Bloodshot series). Dysart only recovered with the Death of a Renegade arc.

harbinger wars and bloodshot hardcorp was the beginning of a vei dry spell imo

[ilzuccone]

Dysart is like a modern-day Chris Claremont. I am not really that sold with how he paces his plots. Perfect Day, for example, is not well-paced as it dragged by the third or fourth issue. The same goes with his plot heavy writing of Harbinger Wars and Bloodshot and Hard Corps, which really meanders at times. But you won't hear me complain about characterization. That he does really well.

Yeah those two arcs were not the best.

Just going to point out that those two arcs both had co-writers. I still liked them both, but I believe he only plotted the HARD Corps arc while Christos gage did the scripts.

while i never completely hated gage's writing i can't say i've ever really enjoyed it.

[Tim]

Dysart is like a modern-day Chris Claremont. I am not really that sold with how he paces his plots. Perfect Day, for example, is not well-paced as it dragged by the third or fourth issue. The same goes with his plot heavy writing of Harbinger Wars and Bloodshot and Hard Corps, which really meanders at times. But you won't hear me complain about characterization. That he does really well.

Yeah those two arcs were not the best.

Just going to point out that those two arcs both had co-writers. I still liked them both, but I believe he only plotted the HARD Corps arc while Christos gage did the scripts.

while i never completely hated gage's writing i can't say i've ever really enjoyed it.

I haven't read TOO much of Gage's stuff but his Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War one-shot is one of my favorite single issues ever.

[Sven the Returned]

Read his Unknown Soldier.

[Chiclo]

Read his Unknown Soldier.

Yes. It's a beautiful world.

[Spylocke]

While we're suggesting Gage's stuff I'll throw in Avengers: The Initiative and Avengers Academy.
He had me close to tears (really manly tears, like tiny wet fists) in one issue focusing on lame Dazzler villain Johnny Guitar.

At his worst I think Gage is adequate but I don't recall reading a bad issue he's ever written.

[Tim]

While we're suggesting Gage's stuff I'll throw in Avengers: The Initiative and Avengers Academy.
He had me close to tears (really manly tears, like tiny wet fists) in one issue focusing on lame Dazzler villain Johnny Guitar.

At his worst I think Gage is adequate but I don't recall reading a bad issue he's ever written.

Was his Avengers: Initiative the ones that had the character, M.V.P.? That was such an awesome concept for a character. Great series IIRC.

[jmatt]

He had me close to tears (really manly tears, like tiny wet fists)

You have a knack for imagery.

[Captain Craig]

For me I feel like Imperium is the story of what it might be like watching Dr.Doom take control of Latveria.
In the comics we just accept that Doom is the monarch of Latveria, the undisputed ruler and the world takes a hands off approach to keep him tucked in that one corner where he seems happy a lot of the time.

This book is the "How a super powered egotist takes and maintains control" in a why that Aric could not or would not due to his choice of location and determination.