Bloodshot #24 Discussion

[grendeljd]

Anyone else read this one yet?

[grendeljd]

I thought this was an excellent issue, far surpassing my expectations for what could have just been a fill-in story.

I really liked the creepy sci-fi/horror tone of the story, the sleeper agents were fascinatingly ruthless as subjects of an old outdated communist regime experiment re-activating. B Clay Moore showed a solid grasp of Bloodshots abilities & the nature of the plot served as a clever way to explore his character in a story set years before the events of Bloodshot #1.

Really cool stuff here, I liked the echoed twists in the final revelations as to who/what was behind the events, and as I said - much more than a fill-in tale since seeds were planted at the end to suggest we haven't seen the last of this threat.

Will Rosados artwork alongside Allen Passalaqua's colouring was also perfect in capturing the dark mood of the story.

[dornwolf]

Little on the nose for the whole Crimiea thing

[Donovan]

I really loved this issue as well!

My only beef was some confusion about when it was taking place.

As a matter of fact, I'm STILL not sure when it took place...

[nonplayer]

This was a great read. The #1 thing I liked best was that it is a fully contained story from start to finish. I miss fully contained stories.

[bribri]

I really loved this issue as well!

My only beef was some confusion about when it was taking place.

As a matter of fact, I'm STILL not sure when it took place...

The first panel says, "Kiev, Ukraine. 2000 A.D."

This was a great read. The #1 thing I liked best was that it is a fully contained story from start to finish. I miss fully contained stories.

Agreed. This issue/mission reminded me of a VH1 Bloodshot issue.

[Donovan]

I really loved this issue as well!

My only beef was some confusion about when it was taking place.

As a matter of fact, I'm STILL not sure when it took place...

The first panel says, "Kiev, Ukraine. 2000 A.D."

Saw that. For some reason, I just wasn't 100% sure the entire story was in the year 2000.

[Captain Craig]

This was a great read. The #1 thing I liked best was that it is a fully contained story from start to finish. I miss fully contained stories.

Agreed. This happens so rarely now. Although the launches of Black Widow and Moon Knight did it as well but I digress.

This was an excellent issue where past is prologue. The setting as the year 2000 I thought served it well. It's just far enough removed and yet close to the fall of the Russian Soviet empire AND it could play on the whole Y2K thing(not that it was mentioned by name) but the mention of 'out dated tech' vs new in Bloodshot himself served as a nice duality. These advanced sleeper cells are clearly going to come into play again, and soon I'd wager. Plus, it's all just so very on the nose regarding current events as well.

Playing up the angle of "Who was I before" was also brilliant as one of the last major teases from the "&HARD Corps" run was him getting the file alleging to reveal just that info.

VEI didn't call this a jumping on point but imo it could easily serve as one. Welcome back to solo status Bloodshot, glad you're back!!!

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Haven't had a chance to read yet, but flipped through. Not sure if I'm feeling that art... seems a little indie, and not superhero at all. But, others seem to have liked the book, maybe with the writing, the art will connect more to me?

[jmatt]

The #1 thing I liked best was that it is a fully contained story from start to finish. I miss fully contained stories.

It was a nice change of pace. Still kinda digesting how I feel about it. The art seemed a tad simplistic; glad I didn't spring for the 1:20.

[pixierosa]

It was a enjoyable stand-alone. I'm actually a fan of decompression, but this mission-style is perfect to be contained in one book. At the same time, it also gave readers insight into Bloodshot's controllers as well as his own burgeoning self-awareness, which are over-arcing themes for the series - serving as a good foot-in-the-door for readers who might not be as well versed in his history.

[dornwolf]

Haven't had a chance to read yet, but flipped through. Not sure if I'm feeling that art... seems a little indie, and not superhero at all. But, others seem to have liked the book, maybe with the writing, the art will connect more to me?

Isn't that the aim with these those, Valiant isn't aiming for superheroie

[Dallow Spicer1]

This was the first BS I've picked up since #19 (apart from AH Bloodshot which was decent) and I was a little let down by it. Self contained story was so-so, reading about communism, soviets etc seemed a bit dated. Also the writers method of communicating what the story was through the characters dialogue seemed unnatural and old fashioned too. Art was acceptable.

2.5/5 - average read, I'm still optimistic about #25 and looking forward to Lemire's Bloodshot next year!

[grendeljd]

This was the first BS I've picked up since #19 (apart from AH Bloodshot which was decent) and I was a little let down by it. Self contained story was so-so, reading about communism, soviets etc seemed a bit dated. Also the writers method of communicating what the story was through the characters dialogue seemed unnatural and old fashioned too. Art was acceptable.

2.5/5 - average read, I'm still optimistic about #25 and looking forward to Lemire's Bloodshot next year!

Funny that you read a story that was deliberately presenting a plot about an outdated concept, but interpreted it as an outdated read...

[erwinrafael]

This story actually reads like Warren Ellis lite.

[Dallow Spicer1]

This was the first BS I've picked up since #19 (apart from AH Bloodshot which was decent) and I was a little let down by it. Self contained story was so-so, reading about communism, soviets etc seemed a bit dated. Also the writers method of communicating what the story was through the characters dialogue seemed unnatural and old fashioned too. Art was acceptable.

2.5/5 - average read, I'm still optimistic about #25 and looking forward to Lemire's Bloodshot next year!

Funny that you read a story that was deliberately presenting a plot about an outdated concept, but interpreted it as an outdated read...

Yeah, I meant that the writers method is using the characters dialogue to explain what was happening in the story was outdated even though the characters in the frame presumably would already know that detail. To be fair though, that type of writing does sneak into other books, for example, Dr Silk explaining his whole evil plan to Livewire (a few issues of Unity ago) was very 'cliched' bad guy-esque (and that was from Matt Kindt!).

[jmatt]

Yeah, I meant that the writers method is using the characters dialogue to explain what was happening in the story was outdated even though the characters in the frame presumably would already know that detail. To be fair though, that type of writing does sneak into other books, for example, Dr Silk explaining his whole evil plan to Livewire (a few issues of Unity ago) was very 'cliched' bad guy-esque (and that was from Matt Kindt!).

Yeah, but what's the alternative if the writer chooses not to have the central character with a running monologue?

[erwinrafael]

Yeah, I meant that the writers method is using the characters dialogue to explain what was happening in the story was outdated even though the characters in the frame presumably would already know that detail. To be fair though, that type of writing does sneak into other books, for example, Dr Silk explaining his whole evil plan to Livewire (a few issues of Unity ago) was very 'cliched' bad guy-esque (and that was from Matt Kindt!).

Yeah, but what's the alternative if the writer chooses not to have the central character with a running monologue?

I think Dallow is referring more to the villain explaining their villainy out loud, not Bloodshot's monologue.

[Dallow Spicer1]

Correct!

[cray_ws]

Issue #24 was a letdown for me as I half expected some repercussions of the Armor Hunter storyline. However I do like how the dialogue moved the story along. The art was too cartoony mostly due to the colors were too plain. The black & white artwork of Will Rosado looks great, but the colorist Allen Passalaqua did a lazy job or was told to use plain muted colors.

As for self-contained issues, I don't mind them if they are part of a much larger plot. Which I hope that's the case, because this issue seem like a complete 180° to the previous issue.

[lorddunlow]

I really enjoyed this issue. I loved having a solo Bloodshot issue, even if it was a past story.

I really liked the allusion to Bloodshot gaining independence from PRS.

[QUARTZ]

I really enjoyed this issue. I loved having a solo Bloodshot issue, even if it was a past story.

I really liked the allusion to Bloodshot gaining independence from PRS.

Agreed both points. Bloodshot solo issues are rad, and I thought the art was quite fitting. This isn't a super hero title, it's about a military weapon with the heart and soul of a human. I always liked the way Valiant tried to keep certain things more "grounded" in the real world, this felt like one of those grounded stories that had pieces of the fantastic wrapped in real world politics and intrigue. And I love those visceral moments of bullet thumping violence. This was a great issue, can't wait for issue #25 this week.

[leonmallett]

Slightly mixed views on the issue, although mostly positive.

The good was: done-in-one - a pleasant change to do so; pretty well plotted; and a satisfying whole for me.

My only real problem with the issue was that I think there needed to be a stronger explanation for the Russian mind control super-tech than was given. It seemed too 'super-science' for Earth of 14 years ago given the state of technology in the VEI world.