USA TODAY: Death Comes to Valiant Comics Harbinger Series

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Animalia...

[bygranddesign]

Torque.

To be honest, if he kills Torque after yanking our chain in the Perfect Day arc, I will throw a nerd-fit of epic proportions and boycott this book and everything he writes.

Mostly joking.


Mostly.

Harbinger #15 was one of the best shocking moments in my comic reading life at the time. There was no article leading up to the issue suggesting that there would be a death. No huge promotion for the issue. So when it happened .. it was truly shocking ... and the WAY it seemed to happen made it EVEN more EPIC.

And of course it ended up being a dream (which we all somewhat suspected but still felt it would have been a cool way to kill off the Torque character while also dramatically impacting Kris and the rest of the renegades long term) and because it was a dream that issue has lost its luster. Still a good issue but more in style than substance.

I hope its still Torque. But I think its going Kris. She is one of my favorite characters but she is probably the IP that VEI least values.

[lorddunlow]

And of course it ended up being a dream (which we all somewhat suspected but still felt it would have been a cool way to kill off the Torque character while also dramatically impacting Kris and the rest of the renegades long term) and because it was a dream that issue has lost its luster. Still a good issue but more in style than substance.

Yes. This. Exactly!

This is why I will be *SQUEE* if he kills off Torque now. He had his chance. It would have been glorious. It would have been a truly shocking event in a superhero comic. History made.

[bygranddesign]

Lets start the speculation...

By my own odds:

1:2 - Flamingo
She has been pushing herself to be more heroic...so I could see her sacrificing herself or doing something stupid and getting doofed. She also would seem to have the least potential future story lines outside of a possible romance with Kris.

1:5 - Torque
There is still some mystery surrounding Torque (the end of #19 still felt "off" to me), but is it too obvious after what happened in Perfect Day? Or after VH1 for that matter? Also seems to have limited character potential after the recent focus on Torquehalla, etc.

1:10 - Kris
Killing Kris would probably drive Pete over the edge and create some interesting story opportunities, but would remove the team's key strategist (unless she were to be replaced by non-powered Ax). She's the philosophical leader of the team as well, and her loss could cause a lot of changes to the group.

1:10 - Faith
She's the heart and soul of the team, and the most likely to self-sacrifice. Her death would have the most resonance for the rest of the team and could push the characters in various directions. She's also the biggest fan-favorite, which would cause quite a stir. Could Animalia replace her childish innocence?

1:25 - Pete
There is just too much potential still in Pete's character. He is potentially the only real threat to Harada, is a continued pawn in the Bleeding Monk's long game, and is the only one who has kept the rest of the team from dying thus far. It wouldn't surprise me to see him die at some point, but not yet. He's also the individual who would take the death of a team member the hardest and this is what could push him to become the "Great Destroyer."

Good write up. I would have the odds

1:2 - Kris
1:5 Flamingo
1:5 Torque
1:15 Faith
1:20 Peter

I think the fact that Kris has no powers will catch up to her. Like you said ...it would drive Pete over the edge (mind squall for Pete?) and will lead him on the path to becoming the Great Destroyer.

I also think the end of the Perfect Day arc was odd for Torque. I'm sort of playing with the theory that he got burned up bad in the blast and maybe he is not dead but in a coma (like Ingrid) and Pete is helping him project his physical manifestation Torque outside of his body. Harada finds this out and finds where Torque is being kept and pulls the plug.

[Dallow Spicer1]

The thing I'm most glad about is that Warren Simons had confirmed that Valiant is still the place where DEAD IS DEAD! I think this is vital for the ongoing integrity of the stories/universe!

[Heath]

A press release doesn't make it any less of a spoiler.

[BugsySig]

Lets start the speculation...

By my own odds:

1:2 - Flamingo
She has been pushing herself to be more heroic...so I could see her sacrificing herself or doing something stupid and getting doofed. She also would seem to have the least potential future story lines outside of a possible romance with Kris.

1:5 - Torque
There is still some mystery surrounding Torque (the end of #19 still felt "off" to me), but is it too obvious after what happened in Perfect Day? Or after VH1 for that matter? Also seems to have limited character potential after the recent focus on Torquehalla, etc.

1:10 - Kris
Killing Kris would probably drive Pete over the edge and create some interesting story opportunities, but would remove the team's key strategist (unless she were to be replaced by non-powered Ax). She's the philosophical leader of the team as well, and her loss could cause a lot of changes to the group.

1:10 - Faith
She's the heart and soul of the team, and the most likely to self-sacrifice. Her death would have the most resonance for the rest of the team and could push the characters in various directions. She's also the biggest fan-favorite, which would cause quite a stir. Could Animalia replace her childish innocence?

1:25 - Pete
There is just too much potential still in Pete's character. He is potentially the only real threat to Harada, is a continued pawn in the Bleeding Monk's long game, and is the only one who has kept the rest of the team from dying thus far. It wouldn't surprise me to see him die at some point, but not yet. He's also the individual who would take the death of a team member the hardest and this is what could push him to become the "Great Destroyer."

Good write up. I would have the odds

1:2 - Kris
1:5 Flamingo
1:5 Torque
1:15 Faith
1:20 Peter

I think the fact that Kris has no powers will catch up to her. Like you said ...it would drive Pete over the edge (mind squall for Pete?) and will lead him on the path to becoming the Great Destroyer.

I also think the end of the Perfect Day arc was odd for Torque. I'm sort of playing with the theory that he got burned up bad in the blast and maybe he is not dead but in a coma (like Ingrid) and Pete is helping him project his physical manifestation Torque outside of his body. Harada finds this out and finds where Torque is being kept and pulls the plug.

I had actually theorized that either Pete was projecting the hard shell Torque to cover Torque's death in the blast, but the idea Torque is in a coma and projecting his shell like Animalia is even better.

[bygranddesign]

And of course it ended up being a dream (which we all somewhat suspected but still felt it would have been a cool way to kill off the Torque character while also dramatically impacting Kris and the rest of the renegades long term) and because it was a dream that issue has lost its luster. Still a good issue but more in style than substance.

Yes. This. Exactly!

This is why I will be *SQUEE* if he kills off Torque now. He had his chance. It would have been glorious. It would have been a truly shocking event in a superhero comic. History made.

Yep. I think I said at the time of that issue. If this is not Torque's death ... than how would you ever top that issue if you were going to kill him off for real?

But like I said in a previous post, the end of Perfect Day felt weird to me with Torque separated from the group. Maybe they will find a way to kill him off... but i'm with you - I think the odds are with Kris.

[Aram]

Honestly can you think of anything else that would more controversial or monumental than killing off Faith?

I'm betting on Kris or Faith. Kris would be the obvious and easy one, which is why I think it's going to be Faith. Faith would ultimately be good story-telling making it heart-wrenching with major repercussions and NOT the popular decision.

Which is one reason why Valiant always stood out to me.. It was usually not afraid to rock your world and shake things up, unlike the big two that can almost never let a character really die.

Honestly I will be disappointed if it's not a major original character now.

[bygranddesign]

Honestly I will be disappointed if it's not a major original character now.

yeah, I agree .. this has been sufficiently hyped. A major original renegade character needs to die. If its animalia or @x that would be a cop out.

[MoonChild]

It wont be torque, most likely flamingo or a non og renegade.

[Scarlet-Batman]

Valiant released an alternate cover on Facebook:

[bygranddesign]

wow ..well if we took that cover at face value it would be animalia or @x since the original renegades are all represented there.

but that might be a head fake

[SJS4]

wow ..well if we took that cover at face value it would be animalia or @x since the original renegades are all represented there.

but that might be a head fake

Hm, well lets consider VEI's record when it comes to covers and stories matching...

[Scarlet-Batman]

You know... Peter's silhouette is not casting a shadow into the grave... I wonder if they just added the silhouette to hide the fact that Peter is dying...

[bygranddesign]

wow ..well if we took that cover at face value it would be animalia or @x since the original renegades are all represented there.

but that might be a head fake

Hm, well lets consider VEI's record when it comes to covers and stories matching...

Yep .. agreed.

The other cover by Matt Walsh has the same thing with all the original renegades standing at the tombstone

They probably commissioned these covers before they even knew who would die .. so they probably told the artists to have all the renegades represented but to make it ominous and symbolic

[DirtbagSailor]

I might add "Exhibit #A"

[Scarlet-Batman]

Maybe Peter becomes a Force Ghost!!!

[The Noto]

If Flamingo dies, I'm going to kick a *SQUEE* puppy.

That's all there is to it.

[hawkeyeps]

Nicely done DBS, it's Pete!!

I think Archer will take over the Renegades!!

Maybe Kris absorbs Pete and they have a kind of Fred Flinstone/Gazoo thing going on?

[DirtbagSailor]

Peter? Without peter, Harada has NOTHING to fear/concern from the renegades, and to date Livewire and others view Peter as the "check and balance" needed for Harada. Harada then either crushes, or forces the renegades to join him. Without Peter growing into his own, and becoming who he must, the Valiant universe would lose a significant future story-arc potential.

Faith? She represents MUCH in the way of what a woman, and a hero can (and should) be. She is common, with UN-common heart and soul. Her future with Archer is VERY possible (as Ivar suggested) and her future story-arc potential is quite strong. Killing her off would certainly be effective, but NOT in the best interest of the Valiant universe.

Torque? It's happened before, so repeat business with this story arc may not be what VEI has in mind. IF they did, it would call into question perhaps the originality that they are presently receiving praise from critics about. He would be a "logical" choice, in-that his death would serve as a long-standing reality-check for the team, and allow for another slot to be filled perhaps by Stronghold at a later date. However, the VH1 Torque's death was great in that it not only cemented the the rules of war between the Harbinger Foundation and Peter & Co, but also left us with an affair, a death, a pregnancy (Magnus), a Unity tie-in, and demons that haunted the team for issues upon issues. We DO NOT have this set-up (or one similar) with Torque as of yet in VEI's Harbinger.

Flamingo? I personally might like to see Flamingo evolve into VEI's sexy super heroine, and if played correctly, she could do just that. VEI has few (if ANY) sexy female character leads (examples outside VEI: Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Jean Grey, Catwoman, Ms Marvel, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, etc). However, she is also disposable at this point. One marketing issue that VEI will need to address at some point is the impact of pop-culture marketing. When some hot cosplay model dresses up like Power Girl (for example) and does a photo shoot, 10,000's of fanboys check it out online and (a few presumably) purchase the comics that have Power Girl in them. This leads to FREE character exposure, and as a result, FREE publisher exposure. VEI DOES NOT HAVE ANYONE like this yet, so it is an untapped resource. Flamingo COULD become this resource, and we could easily see Yaya Han (http://www.yayahan.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) at the next ComiCon dressed as Flamingo.

Ax? They JUST introduced Ax, and in the wake of Edward Snowden, Wikileaks, and PFC Manning, he is VERY relevant to today’s world. POOR choice to kill him now, while he can become a solid story arc player, OR if he is somehow involved in the death of a team member, he could become an AMAZING villain! (or not…)

Kris? Could be? But then again, she serves a role that cannot be filled by anyone else presently. She COULD die, and have her conscious live on in Peter’s mind, which would create a haunting and interesting twist of things, but as a whole, I think VEI is better served with Kris in the land of the living.

Animalia? She is cute, promising, and likeable. Her death would SHAKE the team, but NOT destroy the team. She would be a symbol of their fight, and fuel the fire of their rage against the machine. Her loss would NOT hurt the Valiant universe, but would certainly enhance it (watch the impact of the character “Rue” in the 1st and 2nd Hunger Games movies, and then tell me I’m wrong… )

[Scarlet-Batman]

Given how smart @x is, I wonder if he could be a legitimate, if wayward, replacement for Kris in terms of level headed tactician.

[drmirage]

Torque

[bygranddesign]

Killing off Pete would be a huge mistake

Peter vs. Harada is the lifeblood of this title, IMO

2 tremendously powerful Psiots with completely different philosophical outlooks.

The original Harbinger was never the same after Pete left after issue 25 but at least there was hope that he'd come back. Killing him off in this series would make a major dent in my love for this comic.

[ThatDarnCabbage]

Great, why surprise us? So Valiant will be taking the Marvel and DC route of spoiling everything in their books months in advance? Why can't a character just die? Why do we need an entire arc with a title telling us someone will die? So we shouldn't worry for any major Valiant hero unless the title of the arc explicitly tells us they are dying?