PSA: June Reading Order for Harbinger and Bloodshot

[Keith]

Hey gang,

Posting this on the General Board for all to see. No spoilers below.

Just finished reading Harbinger#13 and Bloodshot #12 on Comixology. If you are interested in reading them in chronological order for the events of Harbinger Wars, go with Bloodshot first and then Harby.

Bloodshot takes place in the kinda mentioned meat packing plant, before they get to Vegas.

Harbinger is primarily centered around the conflict when Bloodshot gets to Vegas, but also flashes back to 1969 a couple of times.

Enjoy!

[Phoenix8008]

Thanks for the PSA. I was wondering what the optimal reading order for all twelve issues would end up being, but figured I'd wait till I have them all to figure it out.

[IanAlexavier]

I wish VEI would meet this reading order need by placing something in the books, even if it was small and inside the front cover. No need to make it fancy... just a little something to help the readers keep it all in order.

[Tim]

Thanks for this Keith!

[jmatt]

Yeah, I did it in reverse. It works either way but it's better if you start with BS.

[Shadowman99]

You know, you can just figure out the order that the comics are best read in by actually just *reading* the comics and following the chain of events. If nothing else, it gives you a little-needed reason to go back and re-read them in order next time you look at them

Speaking of which, just out of curiosity, what order is everyone keeping their comics in their longbox?

I've got my HW comics (Including HW, Bloodshot and Harbinger) in reading order sandwiched between the rest of the Bloodshot comics on one side and Harbinger on the other. I figured this would make reading the HW series easier anytime I wanted to come back and read it from the beginning. Is anyone just keeping their Bloodshot and Harbinger in number order as per usual and keeping the 4 HW comics in number order separately?

[Phoenix8008]

Speaking of which, just out of curiosity, what order is everyone keeping their comics in their longbox?

I've got my HW comics (Including HW, Bloodshot and Harbinger) in reading order sandwiched between the rest of the Bloodshot comics on one side and Harbinger on the other. I figured this would make reading the HW series easier anytime I wanted to come back and read it from the beginning. Is anyone just keeping their Bloodshot and Harbinger in number order as per usual and keeping the 4 HW comics in number order separately?

This is exactly how I'm doing it for now. When it's done and I've determined what the right reading order is (oh jeez, I'll have to go read them... again ), then I'll probably make up a little paper with that reading order on it and stick it on the back side of the board in the bag with whatever issue #1 is in the story line. I also want to go through and try reading them separately (Harby, BS, and HW) just in number order and see how well they read without the crossover stuff.

[tchalla8]

Anyone else concerned about the chronology of the story compared to the release date of each issue? I'm worried that next month's final books are going to be released out of chronological order, and we're going to see the big finale of the crossover in HW #4 prior to the tie-ins from Harbinger #14 and Bloodshot #13. Feels like poor planning to me.

[MrDomino]

I keep all 3 Valiant universes organized in release order in my longboxes, because that's the order I read them in.

[Shadowman99]

...I'll probably make up a little paper with that reading order on it and stick it on the back side of the board in the bag with whatever issue #1 is in the story line. I also want to go through and try reading them separately (Harby, BS, and HW) just in number order and see how well they read without the crossover stuff.

That's a pretty nice idea

Anyone else concerned about the chronology of the story compared to the release date of each issue? I'm worried that next month's final books are going to be released out of chronological order, and we're going to see the big finale of the crossover in HW #4 prior to the tie-ins from Harbinger #14 and Bloodshot #13. Feels like poor planning to me.

Not really. I just make a once-monthly trip to the comic shop and pick them all up on the same day, so it doesn't really make that much difference to me because I'll read them all at once anyway.

Perhaps if anyone's concerned about reading finales before tie-ins then it might be wise to wait until the final comics come out on July 24th and just read them all on that day? If you have the patience for that

On the other hand, if you don't really care, just read Harbinger Wars when it comes out on July 17th and read the tie-ins the following week

Personally, the HW series has been a LOT slower paced than I thought it would be, and I'm preparing for a bit of an anti-climax in the final issues. It seems more to me like the HW series has been a REALLY big plot device to steer Harbinger and Bloodshot in new directions, and possibly lay early groundwork for new comics for release late this year or next year, so I'm not really certain that there's going to be a huge 'climax' at the end of the series.

[Keith]

Anyone else concerned about the chronology of the story compared to the release date of each issue? I'm worried that next month's final books are going to be released out of chronological order, and we're going to see the big finale of the crossover in HW #4 prior to the tie-ins from Harbinger #14 and Bloodshot #13. Feels like poor planning to me.

I was thinking the same thing, but if I recall rightly, Valiant set this whole thing up so that you could read just the Harbinger Wars mini and get the whole story. You could read just Bloodshot, and get Bloodshot's Harbinger Wars experience but not necessarily the whole HW story. Same thing with Harbinger. Having issues of either of those that don't deal with the end result might jip those folks not reading the HW mini, though I can't imagine there are many of them.

I'm hoping that we will see the resolution to the Harbinger Wars, but the impact of that resolution for the characters will be explored in greater detail and probably set up the next story arcs for Harbinger and the new Bloodshot and H.A.R.D Corps.

Then again, I could be wrong. It's happened before. Once. The year was Nineteen-Dickety-Two......

[grendeljd]

Anyone else concerned about the chronology of the story compared to the release date of each issue? I'm worried that next month's final books are going to be released out of chronological order, and we're going to see the big finale of the crossover in HW #4 prior to the tie-ins from Harbinger #14 and Bloodshot #13. Feels like poor planning to me.

While I agree with Shadowman99 that the pacing of the HW mini has been a little slower than I expected, I am enjoying it immensely regardless.

And to address your concern, tchalla8 - I think it is all leading up to a pretty big finale, what with the HARDCorps, Harada, Gen Zero, Bloodshot & The Renegades all in one place at last, and conflicts already beginning as of this months 3 crossover issues. I don't need to see a crazy epic bloody battle to feel satisfied with the story, but I am kind of expecting a horrific, impactful resolution to it all.