BOD: The Fall of Bloodshot - Discussion

[hunter_peterson]

Beautiful issue! Loved every thing about it! And Psi-Lords confirmed!

[erwinrafael]

The teases are good. But I wish there was a compelling story as well.

[Brapbrap]

one thing i was wondering about: in book of death #1 we saw an army of h.a.r.d. corps who had all been killed by something and in fall of bloodshot he says 'all i see behind be are bodies, and not just those of my enemies' and the panel is a similar picture of dead h.a.r.d. corps.

so did Bloodshot at some point kill hundreds of H.A.R.D. Corps soldiers?

[hunter_peterson]

one thing i was wondering about: in book of death #1 we saw an army of h.a.r.d. corps who had all been killed by something and in fall of bloodshot he says 'all i see behind be are bodies, and not just those of my enemies' and the panel is a similar picture of dead h.a.r.d. corps.

so did Bloodshot at some point kill hundreds of H.A.R.D. Corps soldiers?

I don't think so. I think they were his allies and he outlived them, as he does nearly everyone he will ever know. Something else likely did that.

[kjjohanson]

I wonder, considering the presence of dinos in earth's future, if there was some breach in the doorway to the Faraway, or if perhaps that's where the hunting takes place.

[String]

So much better than I originally thought it would be. That ending was so moving and touching, fantastic job Lemire.

All the future teases were great, I would love to see more of Capt. Red-Eyes and the possibility of Bloodshot taking on a version of the Malev Emperor in the Robot Wars is so tantalizing!

[Sir Sandrick]

I love Lemire's writing.

He somehow manages to give me something that I never expected, but secretly wanted, from a Bloodshot story.

Reminded me of the Rambo franchise. A life of badassary followed by the unexpected quiet.

[Thomas]

Really don't know what to think about it.
Do I like it? Not really. Do I hate it. No.
To me it was just ideas thrown out there.
Bloodshot fights dinosaurs
Bloodshot in space
Bloodshot as a pirate
Bloodshot living with Inuit(?)
Half of which sound like cheesy B-movies.

I didn't like the idea of showing the deaths or the future of the characters. I think you are writing yourself in a corner by showing the end of a character or revealing what will happen in the future.
I also see that as a problem with Rai and Ivar.
I would probably be the only one who would actually be happy if all those Book of Death oneshots were all all set in another universe. The universe in which Gilad fails to protect the geomancer, again. But that's just my wishfull thinking.

[jeremycoe]

Really don't know what to think about it.
Do I like it? Not really. Do I hate it. No.
To me it was just ideas thrown out there.
Bloodshot fights dinosaurs
Bloodshot in space
Bloodshot as a pirate
Bloodshot living with Inuit(?)
Half of which sound like cheesy B-movies.

I didn't like the idea of showing the deaths or the future of the characters. I think you are writing yourself in a corner by showing the end of a character or revealing what will happen in the future.
I also see that as a problem with Rai and Ivar.
I would probably be the only one who would actually be happy if all those Book of Death oneshots were all all set in another universe. The universe in which Gilad fails to protect the geomancer, again. But that's just my wishfull thinking.

I don't think they are too "painted in a corner" since most of the events are so far out they could publish for 100 years and never touch most of them.

[greg]

I don't think they are too "painted in a corner" since most of the events are so far out they could publish for 100 years and never touch most of them.

Unless there's a plan to "break" the future (which seems likely, otherwise sending Tama back did nothing), the concern that I would have is that there's no more danger for characters that we know live until a certain date.
You're "painted into a corner" if you try to write a story with danger to characters when you've already said they won't die for years.

VEI knows this... so my guess is that there's a plan.

[jeremycoe]

You are right, I hadn't considered it in that way.

[omega_override]

Fun book. Loved the guest appearance by Rampage, hope he eventually shows up in Reborn as there seem to be numerous opportunities to bring him in with the direction it's headed it

[grendeljd]

I really enjoyed this one-shot, I found it highly entertaining on many levels. All those periods of adventure & the background tales hinted at were fantastic. Although, I've never been much of a Turok fan so the Dinosaur Hunter bit I could have done without.

A great ending to his story too. My impression of the boy named Ray was that old man Bloodshot was simply hallucinating in some way - not that the nanites were creating a projection necessarily (although I wouldn't rule that idea), but rather I felt he just had a buried childhood memory of himself bubble up to the surface and just kind of imagined himself as a kid in those last moments of life. Great stuff.

[grendeljd]

This is a little late, but if anyone (who hasn't already) would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue (& Ivar, Timewalker #7), please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr24/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in

[FormerReader]

The teases are good. But I wish there was a compelling story as well.

I am disappointed to say I would have to agree with you. It seemed the issue was a chance to do a bunch of name dropping and lacked any real substance. The fact that Bloodshot dies of old age was a real let down. In Rai #0 he dies in battle with Ax and his blood is then used to make Rai. That was a great story. Him growing old and dying is well, underwhelming.

[grendeljd]

The teases are good. But I wish there was a compelling story as well.

I am disappointed to say I would have to agree with you. It seemed the issue was a chance to do a bunch of name dropping and lacked any real substance. The fact that Bloodshot dies of old age was a real let down. In Rai #0 he dies in battle with Ax and his blood is then used to make Rai. That was a great story. Him growing old and dying is well, underwhelming.

On my first read through, I found the end of it a bit abrupt & an underwhelming finish as well - I was expecting & hoping for some kind of mention of the Blood Of Heroes story to be in there. But then, on re-reading I enjoyed it anyway as a poetic tale that still leaves things open for a Blood Of Heroes kind of situation to occur in another tale.

[FormerReader]

The teases are good. But I wish there was a compelling story as well.

I am disappointed to say I would have to agree with you. It seemed the issue was a chance to do a bunch of name dropping and lacked any real substance. The fact that Bloodshot dies of old age was a real let down. In Rai #0 he dies in battle with Ax and his blood is then used to make Rai. That was a great story. Him growing old and dying is well, underwhelming.

On my first read through, I found the end of it a bit abrupt & an underwhelming finish as well - I was expecting & hoping for some kind of mention of the Blood Of Heroes story to be in there. But then, on re-reading I enjoyed it anyway as a poetic tale that still leaves things open for a Blood Of Heroes kind of situation to occur in another tale.

For me this was really just a missed opportunity. This should have been a great story. Instead for me it was blah. Legends of the Geomancer I thought was very good however.

[ShadowTuga]

It's good to post again on this part of the boards. This issue made me do it. The Adventures of Captain Red Eyes, that is a miniseries I want to read asap. Fantastic action, superbly written monologue and that final scene is just the cherry on top. One of the best single issues by VEI since 2012, but it may be me. Bloodshot is not even in my top 3 characters but this made me feel for the guy.
More!!!!!

[jeremycoe]

I was just thinking, what if Armstrong's future "nanite body" that Ivar foretold has to do with him and Bloodshot being pirates together?

[ChiptheRipper]

I thought it was great. Very emotional, and a ton of great teases and references (Psi-Lords and Dinosaur Hunting!). As others have said, if this is how all of the Fall Of.. books are going to be, then I can't wait. However, I think some people may be over-thinking the kid at the end. I think it was just supposed to be a nice, peaceful moment for Bloodshot, not some hint that he is actually from the future or something like that. I also liked how the way he was sitting against the wall at the end with the dog was similar to how he sat on his throne with the alien babes (you know it's a good comic when you get to say that ), that was a nice touch.

[first_citizenx]

I finally got around to reading this last night. It was nice to see that Bloodshot gets to go out on a peaceful, quiet note and not in the middle of yet another battle. Rather poetic, certainly.

[Watchtower]

So I caught myself up with Bloodshot: Reborn first before reading through this, and it's interesting comparing Bloodshot in both books. I'll save most of my thoughts of Reborn for Reborn #6, but his whole character arc has been oddly fascinating and a very different take on the character as we know him.

If Fall of Bloodshot shows anything, it's that Lemire actually has an idea of what he's doing. Sure, Bloodshot's white-skinned return was always a foregone conclusion, but we're already seeing how he's been changed and made more human after Reborn, and how much Magic has come to mean to him after he just got rid of Kay and Bloodsquirt. The flash-forwards also have a bit more meaning here than in Book of Death, as we actually see Bloodshot as a zombie pirate and an arctic native and a Robot Fighter and a Dinosaur Hunter.

Some of you guys have called the end anti-climatic, but that once again assumes that everything needs to end in a gigantic fight. I actually find Bloodshot's end very poetic and serene: he lived alone and dies amongst company, he lived a machine of war and dies in a moment of peace. Excellently done.

[leonmallett]

An entertaining issue, an elegy of sorts as we see Bloodshot's end. I thought the final moments were well handled and made the book work. Good stuff.