Today's Valiant issue is the first I ever read of action series Bloodshot, and by amazing coincidence, this random issue I came across at a flea market happens to be the only great issue in the whole series!
Superpowered secret agent Bloodshot returns to New York for the Christmas season, planning on visiting his fried Gilad Abrams. Meanwhile, an estate belonging to an associate of mafia head Don Carboni is broken into, and a single file is stolen-One on the various nasty criminal deeds of deceased mobster Gino Canelli. At first, Carboni thinks Bloodshot is responsible, but soon realizes that the culprits are some angry mobster relations who intends to send the stolen file to Canelli's daughter Diana, hoping the revelations it contains devastate her. These perpetrators are untouchable to Carboni, so he employs Bloodshot's help, hoping he even remembers enough from his lost past to event want to help his ex-fiancee...
This issue is a great read! It's got a well-written plot that plays into Bloodshot's forgotten past as Angelo Mortalli, both in the world he's thrust back into, and in how he feels about the loved ones of his previous life, and how they've moved on. This story has heavy themes of family, which play into various facets of the plot, and never feels forced.
One could have a problem with the possibly anticlimactic way the story is resolved, but I like it. It adds a nice dimension to the story.
The pacing here is very good, and the issue manages to have a large amount of scenes within its 21 page limit, which is good, considering a problem with both the immediately preceding and succeeding issues of Bloodshot is that they feel only a couple of scenes long.
The artwork is good, despite a couple of white-out backgrounds, and a poor transition in one scene, where Bloodshot is nearly hit by a car. In one panel, he's walking on the sidewalk, while the car speeds up to him, then in the next panel, he's suddenly on the ground.
The cover is well-drawn, but a total non-sequitur. I love the christmas-y colouring of the logo though.
If you're gonna get any issue of Bloodshot, make it this one. It's a fantastic read, and that is something you'll never hear me say about this series ever again!...
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