Comic Info
Comic Name: Bloodshot Salvation
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Lewis LaRosa/Mico Suayan
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2018
Bloodshot Salvation #1 Variant
Reprints Bloodshot Salvation #1-5 (September 2017-January 2018). Project Rising Spirit is finished, and Ray and Magic are living happily ever after with their child Jessie…but things in Bloodshot’s life are never easy. When Bloodshot learns of Magic’s past and the cult seeking her out, Bloodshot’s out for revenge. Meanwhile, Project Rising Spirit’s leader is reforming the group as Project Omen which could mean deadly consequences for Ray. In the near future, Jessie and Magic find themselves hunted by a man called Rampage and discover that the rumors of Bloodshot’s death might be just that.
Written by Jeff Lemire, Bloodshot Salvation Volume 1: The Book of Revenge is a Valiant Comics superhero book. A follow-up to Bloodshot Reborn and Bloodshot U.S.A., the collection features art by Lewis LaRosa and Mico Suayan. The issues in the collection were also collected as part of Bloodshot Salvation—Deluxe Edition.
I was kind of bummed that Bloodshot Reborn ended. It was an interesting take on one of Valiant’s more interesting characters. With fears that Bloodshot Salvation would be a pale follow-up, I read the first volume…and found the drama and thrills might actually be just as good if not better.
Bloodshot Salvation #5
The story is told on multiple timelines in this collection. You have the past where the Scarred Man (Pete) and his brother Danny with mental disabilities took on their abusive father. You have present day with Jessie as a baby, and Ray seeking revenge on Daddy while Project Rising Spirit is reforming as Project Omen. You have the near future which features Magic and Jessie on the run from Rampage with the help of the other Bloodshots. You also have the hint of a future with Bloodshot trapped in the year 4002 AD and trying to get back…it sets up a potential for a ton of different stories than the previous Bloodshot Reborn series.
While the story is solid, the only problem I do have with it is that it seems like a reverse of the origin story of Preacher’s Jessie Custer. In Preacher, Custer escaped a redneck incestual cult…it feels a lot like the cult that Magic escaped. Both Jessie and Ray get their revenge on the cult but it feels like it could have developed different. I realize there a lot of cults, but it feels a bit too similar to Preacher in that sense (with a lot less of the gratuitous violence).
While this cult aspect is a tiny complaint, for the most part, I find the story rather fun and harrowing. I am looking forward to seeing where the book takes the characters and how Lemire will bring it all together. Bloodshot felt like a simple Punisher-esque rip-off in the 1990s, but has developed into his own over the last few series. I hope the ride continues to be a fun one. Bloodshot Salvation 1: The Book of Revenge is followed by Bloodshot Salvation 2: The Book of the Dead.
Related Links:
Bloodshot Reborn 3: The Analog Man
Bloodshot Reborn 4: Bloodshot Island
