Bloodshot Reborn #12
Publisher: Valiant
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Lewis Larosa
Colorist: Brian Reber
Cover: Ryan Bodenheim
With Magic murdered by the Shadowmen, Bloodshot cuts loose in this issue as he and Ninjak take on those responsible. Lemire has been dialing up the action since the first issue but things escalate to a crazy level here and it’s all out war. It’s not just the high level of action in this issue that makes it a great chapter but that Lemire still manages to reveal the heart in this story which is Magic herself. Bloodshot could easily just devolve into something as simple as a run and gun series of events but the sequences with Bloodshot and Magic add something extra. Lemire gives you small glimpses into their relationship that we weren’t privy to as we jumped ahead thirty years. They help frame their love for each other and the way he chose to show this was an interesting look into the mind of Bloodshot. These events are also paced throughout the story perfectly amid the action scenes and just round out a thrilling issue.
Lewis Larosa and Brian Reber have also made this one of the best looking comics that you should be reading with each issue. The action here just one big moment after the next and it’s not just the work in the panels but the varying panel illustrations themselves that assist in moving things along. The angles and non traditional arrangements intensify the action going on and really builds to a nice payoff where Bloodshot delivers a crushing blow. Larosa and Reber make that just one of the pages you can’t take your eyes off of. No pun intended. Just when you think you’ve had enough, they deliver that final fight as Bloodshot faces off this giant imposing man who takes up the majority of the page. What comes next is just brutal and given to you in a series of intense panels. Lemire must have told Larossa to just let everything Bloodshot had ever lost and all of his pain to come out in that sequence because that was one hell of a beating.
Lemire does leave us with a tease as the story wraps and now the hard part is waiting for the next issue to come out. This issue of Bloodshot Reborn delivers another chapter in the Analog Man story that is all parts action, heart, and deserves a perfect score! If you’re not reading this then you should rectify that immediately!
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