This is a prefect jumping on point for new readers as issue #14 of Bloodshot & the H.A.R.D. Corps launches a whole new story arc and direction for Bloodshot but how will this affect the Valiant Universe after the end of the Harbinger Wars?

Official description from VALIANT:
Out of the ashes of Harbinger Wars, Bloodshot is about to join the weaponized men and women of the HARBINGER ACTIVE RESISTANCE DIVISION — the black budget, technologically-augmented strike force where the powers are dangerously unstable and every mission is a one-way ticket into the meat grinder. With a reluctant leader calling the shots and a new crop of untested rookies manning the frontline, Bloodshot is about to take H.A.R.D. Corps behind enemy lines.

This is an all new direction for the title, once called simply Bloodshot, and now has attached the H.A.R.D. Corps into the mix. When we last left Bloodshot he was captured by Toyo Harada and sent to his science division for study. Now you know with Harada it won’t be a painless process and while he shows a moment of compassion it is soon stamped down in lieu of medical necessity. Toyo begins to rip Bloodshot’s nanites from his blood in the most brutal of ways.

What’s most interesting here is that the H.A.R.D. Corps, after being wiped out in Vegas, are now regrouping with new recruits. We all know that Project Rising Spirit has as much bad baggage as the Harada Foundation but bringing them in to rescue Bloodshot seems like an oil and water mixture.

Writer Christos Gage does a nice job here focusing on Major Charles Palmer and how he must reluctantly rejoin and lead the H.A.R.D. Corps or they’ll wind up getting themselves killed and Palmer’s conscience won’t let that happen. The new recruits are driven by several factors, sense of duty and desperation lead the way and Palmer knows they need a real leader. One of the most interesting of the new recruits is “Granite” a single mom who desperately needs this project to make things better for her family and children. We get a more expansive origin of her and she may end up being the best of the bunch. Gage does a great job making the reader care for her which minimizes the dark side of Project Rising Spirit.

I can’t tell you how much I love the art from Emanuela Lupacchino. I’ve liked her style since I first saw her work first came to my attention in an Archer & Armstrong run. She is a top notch comic book artist and I hope she stays on this Bloodshot run for quite sometime. She has a classic comic style with clean lines and highly detailed work. She also has a great sense of dynamics and flow which is great for action and heroic splashes. I’m thrilled she’s on this title and she’s a most definite strength of this book.

If you are looking to get started in the Valiant universe then Bloodshot & the H.A.R.D. Corps is a prefect title to get started. Bloodshot has always been a favorite of mine and the new direction they are taking by adding the H.A.R.D. Corps is a welcome one. This is a quality title that just keeps getting stronger. Be sure to add this to your pull-list, you won’t be disappointed.

4/5