Armor Hunters #1 Discussion

[Keith]

... and so it begins.

I just burned through AH thanks to Comixology. Impressions: Quick read. Very quick. I dare say because a major chunk of it has already been revealed thanks to the various previews, but it just felt quick. Hopeully those of you with the willpower to withstand previews will have a meatier reading experience.

That being said, it was a great read. Mostly set up, but the Hunters strike first, and in a big way. Really big. Can't wait to see how the ramifications of their assault impact the line of books!

[BugsySig]

... and so it begins.

I just burned through AH thanks to Comixology. Impressions: Quick read. Very quick. I dare say because a major chunk of it has already been revealed thanks to the various previews, but it just felt quick. Hopeully those of you with the willpower to withstand previews will have a meatier reading experience.

That being said, it was a great read. Mostly set up, but the Hunters strike first, and in a big way. Really big. Can't wait to see how the ramifications of their assault impact the line of books!

I didn't read any previews and it felt like a normal read.

I agree with everything else you said. It seems clear that Primary is losing it and his team may ultimately have to turn on him in order to end the threat and save billions of people.

[Phoenix8008]

Must... resist... buying... from Comixology!

[Keith]

Must... resist... buying... from Comixology!

But it would feel so good.......

[BugsySig]

Also noticed Primary refers to the armors being treated as a boon by the planet's inhabitants...cue conspiracy nut Greg...

[Phoenix8008]

Must... resist... buying... from Comixology!

But it would feel so good.......

*Sits in corner hugging self while head bobs forward and backward in time to the mantra...* "I can wait 3 weeks to get my monthly shipment. I can wait 3 weeks to get my monthly shipment..."

[BugsySig]

Must... resist... buying... from Comixology!

But it would feel so good.......

*Sits in corner hugging self while head bobs forward and backward in time to the mantra...* "I can wait 3 weeks to get my monthly shipment. I can wait 3 weeks to get my monthly shipment..."

My god, that sounds horrible...

[mateo107]

if Comixology had the chromium version I'd so be reading it there now...

[grendeljd]

Really, really enjoyed this. While I had glanced through preview pages, i did not read any dialogue in them - so this felt like a full regular read for me.

Very brutal opening sequence, Quartz' assault in particular was very bloody and gruesome. Loved the digitizing effect of Helix' weaponry (reminds me of good old classic Captain Power when the Bio-Dreads would 'digitize' hapless humans ).

Also liked the jaded, worn-down feeling of Primary - he hasn't even got the patience to try and get the armour reasonably.

'Resistance Package Level One'?!

Bugsy, you might be right, the others may have to turn on him, he does seem to have lost his way a little, although at this point the one called Lilt seems to be the only one in a mood to question him. The great thing about Primary is that I can almost empathize with his point of view, just from the hints he drops about the things they've seen.

Could with what we read in XO 25, I love the overall idea that these hunters are from a dead galactic organization, the final dregs of a once-large operation. I love the idea that there are so many other worlds in the Valiant universe being suggested by this storyline, I hope we get to see more of it in the future.

An all-around great kick-off issue.

[grendeljd]

Also noticed Primary refers to the armors being treated as a boon by the planet's inhabitants...cue conspiracy nut Greg...

Nice catch!

...

[jmatt]

Also noticed Primary refers to the armors being treated as a boon by the planet's inhabitants...cue conspiracy nut Greg...

Yeah, the second I read that I got a big ol' grin on my face.

Good opening salvo, wonderful art and color. It read quick for me too, I couldn't believe it when I got to the end -- but no matter. Skipped the Bloodshot preview because the AH preview (which I uncharaceristically read) stole the first few pages from me.

Very glad they dropped the original logo, which I found a bit goofy.

I'm very excited for the summer books!

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Great setup. Going to be interesting to see MERO's response to all of this, and when they decide to turn on Aric…?
Are the Hunters here just for the armor? or are they going to destroy the whole planet regardless?
My favorite part of the book wasn't in the main story. It was the Armor Hunters: Harbinger preview. The last page of it when you see Faith and Torque show up That's what made me realize, holy cow, we're going to see an entire line crossover event here. And I was excited, not disappointed!

[bygranddesign]

Very good opening issue.

Loved the art by Braithwaite. Really beautiful work.


I think VDitti did a great job ... Although I always feel like he is a bit too understated. This is a big time event and I think it called for a little more intensity. But overall, great job.

I'm really excited about Bloodshot and Harbinger tie-ins next month. The previews look amazing.

Also noticed Primary refers to the armors being treated as a boon by the planet's inhabitants...cue conspiracy nut Greg...

Yeah, the second I read that I got a big ol' grin on my face.

Yep. Same here.

[ilzuccone]

Must... resist... buying... from Comixology!

i wouldn't wait.

Valiant hasn't got me this giddy over a book since 2012. I'm currently reading marvel and DC's event books. This issue blew those out of the water.

the way Vditti is setting everything up is flawless. usually set up feels so forced or heavy handed IMO.

Braithwaite's story telling is so cinematic i swear to god i could hear the sound effects. I was real iffy on the design of the hunters but he sold me on it completely.

Martin's colors are right there where the need to be. a realistic color approach helped ground the outlandish story.

[dornwolf]

I felt it was quite strong of an event. Thanks to the X-O books heading in there was some nice layer work to help build the world up. I'll agree showing the damage the world is experiencing with the other characters does give it a nice connected feel. Looking forward to catching the rest.

[QUARTZ]

I read it by my pool and it reminded me of summers past, reading generation one Valiant comics in my treehouse as a kid.

I liked how brutal and unyielding the Hunters are in their mission; it definitely raises the ante and the urgency of dealing with them. The ends certainly justifies the means with Primary, but like another poster mentioned you can almost sympathize with his plight based on the comments he made about what he's seen the armor do and the tragedy it has wrought throughout the galaxy. I wonder if we will see any of that or any flashbacks to the fallen members of the group.

Great start; it has the pace and ambitious feel of a summer blockbuster.

[ilzuccone]

I wonder if we will see any of that or any flashbacks to the fallen members of the group.

this.

someone else mentioned visiting the other worlds in the universe. Vditti is really opening up the valiant U!

[Baramos]

My review is up.

---

The following is a review of Armor Hunters #1, a comic book published by Valiant Entertainment on June 11, 2014.



It seems safe to describe Armor Hunters #1 as the first attempt by the new Valiant to do a line-wide event, as the arrival of an interstellar task force hellbent on destroying the X-O Manowar armor by any means necessary touches on the separate series X-O Manowar, Unity, Bloodshot, and Harbinger, each of which will be beginning their own Armor Hunters-themed miniseries this summer to coincide with the launch of this new series.


The reason is that this team of seemingly unstoppable alien creatures possesses power that threatens the entire planet.


X-O Manowar #22 and #23 showed the arrival to Earth of the extraterrestrial character Malgam, a strange humanoid creature seemingly half-made of the same substance Shanhara, the sentient X-O Manowar armor, is made of. Every time Malgam was wounded by Aric in his attempt to forcefully pacify the insane creature, Malgam’s wounds were not replaced by human flesh-and-bone (as Aric’s hand was after he stole Shanhara from the Vine’s mothership), but instead more armor. It would appear the armor is malfunctioning in some fashion and slowly taking over Malgam’s body (obviously, the character’s name is a play on “Amalgam”—he has become an amalgam of man and machine).

In truth, perhaps this is an accurate way to describe Aric now—while his arm appears to be human seemingly down to its very structure, some seemingly indefinable element of the armor has become inextricably intertwined with it. This link has allowed him to summon the armor to him even when separated from it by hundreds of miles. And a similar link was created with the psiot Livewire during the first arc of Unity—when she stole the armor from Aric, its AI become inextricably intertwined with her own consciousness, allowing her to control machines and computer code in a way she never had been able to before. And Unity #7 has shown that the armor has altered her own body chemistry—she is immune to a virus that can affect any human, but has no effect on Vine. We know she isn’t Vine, but presumably any extraterrestrial being would be similarly unaffected—which shows her DNA has been modified in some way by her contact with Shanhara.




Its unclear how Bloodshot and Harbinger will be drawn into this event (although the world threat that it heralds provides enough motive), but with this connection to both Aric and Livewire, we can see why these two will be the primary targets of the Armor Hunters.

So, about those Armor Hunters—while it’s somewhat inaccurate to say that a hero is only as good as his villains (Valiant’s heroes seem deeply entertaining simply interacting with each other), I think it’s safe to say that by that measure at least, Armor Hunters #1 blows it out of the park. It’s been a while since I’ve seen originality in the creation of characters like this. Valiant is known for being able to spin out some pretty interesting secondary characters (just look at the slew of psiots introduced in Harbinger Wars).

Suffice it to say I will be spoiling a few things in the following paragraphs by inventorying the Armor Hunters, though I’ll try to keep it spoilers to a minimum.

We are first introduced to two of the Armor Hunters storming a Russian military base in search of the armor. All they find are power armor suits made in an attempt to replicate the X-O Manowar armor (as we’ve seen in both Unity and X-O Manowar, the world’s superpowers, the U.S., China, and Russia, have been scouring the destroyed Vine invasion fleet in orbit around the earth, and at the bottom of the ocean, for Vine tech).



Quartz, the heavy, is a humanoid seemingly composed of rocks and minerals—he may possibly be related to the rock-humanoid slaves that Aric worked with to overthrow the Vine on their homeworld Loam. While he may be a bit slow of speech, he seems quite intelligent, and is certainly formidable, his rocky exterior making him immune to bullets and his incredible strength allowing him to rend steel and smash Spetsnaz operatives into fleshy bits with his mace.

Helix, on the other hand, is a strange being seemingly composed entirely of energy. Helix’s outward appearance is that of a female, though who knows the exact anatomy Helix’s race possesses. Her weaponry seems to vaporize humans instantly, but as they are destroyed they begin to speak in binary code. This strange effect seems to extend into Helix’s power set, which allows her to hack computers remotely, similar to Livewire. An explanation will probably be forthcoming exactly as to the exact nature of what is happening to her victims (are they being transmogrified into pure data?), but in any case, her blank mask, seemingly devoid of humanity with an inhumanness belied solely by the red-and-blue-colored 3D glasses she wears, is terrifying enough as it is in its soulless-ness.

The two update the command center of the Armor Hunters with failure, though a quick scan of the central database of the Russian military confirms the location of their real targets: Aric of Dacia and Livewire. It is here we are introduced to the remaining Armor Hunters.



Lilt, a strange insectoid and reptilian being who handles communications, seems to be the right-hand man to the commander of the Armor Hunters, “Primary”, and cautions him to follow protocol in hunting the armor. We find out the Primary’s real name is Reebo, but as Primary, his function is to search the galaxy for remaining members of the X-O Manowar class of armor and destroy them with his strike team, by any means necessary. The team travels inside probably the most fun member of the Armor Hunters: GIN-GR (presumably pronounced Ginger, based on the teaser at the end of X-O Manowar #23), a giant robot.

Yes, they travel inside a giant, interstellar robot. I see great things ahead.

Things play out somewhat predictably: the Armor Hunters contact Major Capshaw, head of MERO (Military Extraterrestrial Reconaissance Outpost) and Aric of Dacia’s handler since the first arc of Unity, and demand she turn over the armor and Aric to them.

"I’m someone who has seen the armor bring entire systems to ruin. I know you think you can control it. Every world does. But it’ll turn. They always turn.”

Capshaw, as a United States military officer (and a particularly stubborn one at that), refuses. Primary Reebo, tired of the seemingly pointless protocols he has followed over the past several years in his ceaseless hunting of the armors across systems, his patience dwindling like the members of the team he has led on this quest, is through playing games with systems he encounters.

The Armor Hunters then demonstrate the seeming futility of opposing them with the full unflinching power at their disposal, setting this line-wide event into motion with a bang.



I can’t wait to read the rest of this miniseries, and indeed, those connecting with it this Summer. It looks like it’s going to be a real blast.

---

I think my realization about Livewire is the most significant thing here--after reading Unity #7 a lot of people said she must be Vine. I think it's clear that she isn't (why wouldn't she know it? All Vine can access all other Vine's consciousnesses from birth), but it's also clear she isn't "human" anymore--contact with Shanhara has altered her in such a way that she no longer "human" and so isn't effected by Dr. Silk's virus.

We see now that the X-O Manowar armors are presumed to inevitably take over the very being of the organic creatures they come into contact with, spreading like infection--and so presumably both Aric and Livewire will be the targets of the Armor Hunters.

[jmatt]

Nice review!

[QUARTZ]

Nice review!

+1

Good stuff!

[String]

Well, this event is off to a cracking good start.

Questions abound though:

- Primary's comments over 'it will turn, they will turn'. If the armor(s) are parasitic to a degree, then what is their ultimate goal? What catastrophe spurred the creation of these hunters?

- Did I misunderstand Lilt's comment in that they have no prior knowledge of the Vine?

- If these armors are spores of some kind, where is the original? Is Shanhara the original or a spore?

- Will Aric and Livewire's influence be enough to keep Shanhara from 'turning' as Primary suggests?

- If the Hunters are going after aspects of the armor's tech worldwide, would they eventually target Harada's Harbinger Foundation considering he had acquired the armor for a bit?

- Am I the only one who now wants a GIN-GR toy robot so he can fight alongside my Transformers?

[ilzuccone]

Well, this event is off to a cracking good start.

Questions abound though:

- Primary's comments over 'it will turn, they will turn'. If the armor(s) are parasitic to a degree, then what is their ultimate goal? What catastrophe spurred the creation of these hunters?

- Did I misunderstand Lilt's comment in that they have no prior knowledge of the Vine?

- If these armors are spores of some kind, where is the original? Is Shanhara the original or a spore?

- Will Aric and Livewire's influence be enough to keep Shanhara from 'turning' as Primary suggests?

- If the Hunters are going after aspects of the armor's tech worldwide, would they eventually target Harada's Harbinger Foundation considering he had acquired the armor for a bit?

- Am I the only one who now wants a GIN-GR toy robot so he can fight alongside my Transformers?

These questions are all why i'm loving this first book. all really fun questions. Vditti is setting up some great stuff.

and Gin-Gr is bad asssss

[kjjohanson]

Did anyone else think that the line about treating each of the armors as if it's the last might be a little change of plan on Valiant's part, to instead keep the possibility of other armors open, if originally the plan was for Shanhara to be the last?

[Baramos]

Well, this event is off to a cracking good start.

Questions abound though:

- Primary's comments over 'it will turn, they will turn'. If the armor(s) are parasitic to a degree, then what is their ultimate goal? What catastrophe spurred the creation of these hunters?

It would seem either the X-O Manowar class armors either "malfunction" and begin replicating their "cells" at too high a degree, and take over the body of the wearer, like a cancer, OR, if they are retaining their sentience and willingly doing this, perhaps becoming self-aware to the degree that they have some ulterior motive, like spreading and becoming a new race of beings. Shanhara so far doesn't seem to have motives like this, though. But since it too is technically supposed to be a sentient being, it seems like its a possibility that the Armor Hunters presumably don't take chances on.

- Did I misunderstand Lilt's comment in that they have no prior knowledge of the Vine?

It's actually Helix, and yes, she says, "Culture of origination: Vine. Culture not known." I.e. the computer says it's from a race called "Vine", but Helix and the rest don't know what this culture is. What this points to is perhaps that Shanhara is different in some fashion from the armors they've been hunting--perhaps "Shanhara" is the originator or perfect version of these imperfect armors or something that have spread throughout the galaxy.

- If these armors are spores of some kind, where is the original? Is Shanhara the original or a spore?

I'm guessing Shanhara is either the original or these "faulty" armors are not technically of the same origination as Shanhara but maybe based on the Shanhara armors, but something went wrong in their creation.

- Will Aric and Livewire's influence be enough to keep Shanhara from 'turning' as Primary suggests?

Maybe. It depends on if Shanhara and these armors actually are the same "race" of beings. After all, even the false prototype armors that the Russians built gave them a falsely positive alert to go to Earth and had to be inspected closely to see they were replicas (they must have been based on armors they salvaged from the Vine ship). And Malgam's arrival on Earth is actually the presence of these dangerous armors.

- If the Hunters are going after aspects of the armor's tech worldwide, would they eventually target Harada's Harbinger Foundation considering he had acquired the armor for a bit?

I don't know if the Harbinger characters will be drawn into it simply because of the threat that the Armor Hunters pose, but yes, this also seems like a plot-based reason that Harada will be drawn into it. Good thinking.

- Am I the only one who now wants a GIN-GR toy robot so he can fight alongside my Transformers?

Who doesn't want a GIN-GR replica, is the real question.

[Chiclo]

... and so it begins.

The Third Age of Mankind?