Jeff Lemire is on a roll. In Descender, he's given comic fans a vast sci-fi epic that, when combined with art from Dustin Nguyen, makes for essential reading. His work on Valiant's Bloodshot: Reborn is equally essential, but for a much different reason.
Issue #6, on stands now, is a great example of how Lemire has adapted to the Valiant universe.
Bloodshot and his new traveling companion Magic are on the road, looking for the four remaining people infused with the insanity-inducing nanites. After seemingly eliminating the hallucinations of his dead girlfriend and annoying miniature version of himself known as Bloodsquirt, Bloodshot finally seems to have his head on straight. Meanwhile, investigators Festival and Hoyt are having trouble following the trail of death Bloodshot has left in his wake.
This is a more quiet issue than what fans may be accustomed to. There are no shootouts, no brutal fights. It's mostly Bloodshot rationalizing to himself his past deeds and acknowledging what he needs to do to make amends. Along the way, he allows himself to feel and care again, something he hasn't done in a long time.
It's the idea of diving deep into Bloodshot's psyche that makes Lemire's work on this series stand out. Here, Lemire takes a character that has long been a man of few words; one that has always been a shoot first, ask questions later anti-hero, and gives him real depth. One can also project some interesting commentary onto Lemire's run for what it says about gun violence in America. With so many public shooting tragedies still fresh in the minds of the American public, Bloodshot's internal battle over the violence of his actions, and whether or not meeting violence with violence is the only way, hits home for an America in which many believe the only way to combat deranged gunmen is by giving out more guns. Though Bloodshot has thus far prevented more tragedy by taking the life of men driven mad by the nanites in their bodies, he continually struggles to find some way in which they didn't have to die.
Despite the story wearing its commentary on its sleeve, it never feels like Lemire is ramming it down readers' throats. At its core, this is a story about a man who has committed terrible deeds looking to atone for his sins the only way he knows how, and that means plenty more people are going to die along the way.
Artist Butch Guice joins the team for this new arc and does some stellar work. His style works well within the gritty world of old motels and country diners in which Bloodshot finds himself.
In terms of moving the story forward, this issue sets up the major conflict of the next arc. It's revealed that Bloodshot isn't the only nanite-hungry character roaming the streets. After issue #5, some fans may be wondering what revelations would come out of Bloodshot's military file. He has been to afraid to learn about his forgotten past, so instead, he tasks Magic to read the file for him. Turns out Bloodshot isn't too interested (at least for the moment) in learning what the file contained, which is a little frustrating since Lemire has made the folder a major plot point for the past five issues. No doubt, the revelations will come, but fans will have to wait a bit longer to read them.
The story also takes a rather bizarre turn when it comes to the relationship between agents Hoyt and Festival. It's a rather funny scene that I won't spoil here, but it seems like a sudden development given the interactions between these two characters in previous issues, especially since it's rationalized in a rather odd way. It's almost as if Lemire simply wanted the scene and needed to invent a way for it to make more sense, inventing a reason on the spot.
That point aside, Lemire continues to deconstruct Valiant's premiere action-hero in all the right ways. It's funny, dark and real in way that a book about nanite-infused boogeymen shouldn't be, but that's just a testament to the book's quality. If you have yet to read Bloodshot Reborn, you are truly missing out.
Story
★★★★☆
Art
★★★★☆
Overall
★★★★☆
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