The H.A.R.D. Corps #17 and #18 (Classic Valiant)

Covert government organization the Armorines are assigned to take down the paramilitary group HARD Corps, who are mistakenly believed to be terrorists by Armorine leader General Kendall. The team suit up to eliminate the Corps with the use of their advanced armour, but the Corps are a powerful adversary to make...

The HARD Corps is a fantastic series, but it has a few missteps, specifically with its crossovers. None of this isn't the fault of the series, but rather the guest writers who mess things up with their mediocre-to-bad storytelling.

This two-parter is written by Bernard Chang and Jorge Gonzalez, and it's obvious which writers are writing which parts. You see, Bernard Chang is a good writer! He clearly gets the series, while I assume Gonzalez focused mainly on the Armorines sections, hence why he has solo writing duties for Issue #18, where they're the plot's main focus. Because of this, the story's quality nosedives from HARD Corps material to mediocre very quickly! While Bernard Chang understands the series, Gonzalez probably didn't read a single damn issue! Take for example how Gunny is so shocked to see that Charlie and Virgil, two old war comrades, are alive, which is impossible in his eyes as they all died in a plane crash in the '70's. This would indeed sound shady, if not for the fact that Charlie and Virgil's survival is open information! They were never reported as dead! They were in a prison camp for years, and in a long coma afterwards! 'Mysterious circumstances' my ass! I'll give this the benefit of the doubt though and assume Gonzalez is simply incapable of writing competent characters. An even worse error comes when Gonzalez's writing shows that he doesn't know Toyo Harada is in a coma! This is even more egregious a problem, as Chang mentioned this event at the start of Issue #17! In fact, it was a very important moment! A real game-changer!

The plot here amounts to very little, and is just a poor excuse to have the Armorines fight the HARD Corps. Come the end, nothing has been accomplished, nor has the cast been advanced or developed in any way.

The characters here are mixed. The HARD Corps personnel have their characters come across very well in the sections written by Bernard Chang, while Gonzalez  has no such talent. His Armorines are boring, and he does nothing with the story's main characters.

The other Armorines are have nothing to them, while Gunny gets the most focus. He's a dickhead, as usual. Once again, he constantly, constantly gives his Armorine compatriot Sirot crap for supposedly being rude and disrespectful, which is never seen! What's especially annoying is that this issue marks what must be the seventh time Gunny has said something along the lines of "I'm getting sick and tired of your whining and mouthing off!". This would be incredibly annoying even if Sirot did act that way.

Gunny acts like such a high and mighty 'upstanding' soldier, yet given the way he acts, he's surprised Sirot doesn't like him?! Why should he respect or trust Gunny when the man directly disobeys orders by forcing the whole team to suddenly abort the mission while they were about to take the targets into custody, and he refused to explain his actions?!

This story does have one genuinely surprising moment-Gunny actually talks civilly to Major Lane! A scene where he nearly maintains a whole conversation without insulting or ignoring her for being a woman?! Colour me surprised! But not too much, because the scene still ends with Gunny insulting the Major.

Finally, Gunny constantly whines about how old he is, and the other characters frequently mention it too, here, and in their own series. The reason this is so annoying is that Gunny is 38 years old! Old?! He's not even middle-aged!

Another annoying scene regarding the Armorines is when they're painting distinctive symbols on their armour suits. It's not that they're doing this that's the proble, but rather that this scene is in The HARD Corps rather than the Armorines own series, ensuring that your only way of telling which identical armoured protagonist is which is out the window with this required reading! However, this doesn't pose such a big problem in the long run, as you can't even see said insignias on the Armorines in most shots in their own series, so there's just plum no way of telling who's who besides coming across dialogue naming the characters.

The art here is decent, but the covers are bland, and lack backgrounds.

This two-parter is a load of mediocre crap, and you can feel free to avoid it when getting the whole series, because aside from the brief portions written by Bernard Chang in Issue #17, this isn't real HARD Corps material...

The H.A.R.D. Corps #16 (Classic Valiant)

Terrorist organization Webnet is after defector Mr. Dubrovsky, who is under the proection of the HARD Corps, a superpowered paramilitary group. They have to escort Dubrovsky to a secure safehouse, but to to this involves going through an enemy-filled amusement park...

This is possibly my favourite issue of HARD Corps. The story itself is basic, but its other qualities give it weight. This comic balances a bleak plot and backstory not only with comedy, but with a strong message and powerful ending. Whether or not the humour works here is up to the tastes of whoever's reading, but the rest is great stuff! As for my opinion, I think that the comedy works.

Not only is the location this issue is set in great, and very varied, but it's also a layer of subtle humour in how this violent series of confrontations all through this amusement park, while everyone in attendance assumes it's just some performance art.

The characters here are decent, with Hammerhead getting the most development this time round. Guest character Mr. Dubrovsky is a great addition, with some very well-written scenes. When it comes to the villains, they're nothing but faceless ninjas, but that's ok-While their presence as villains is important to the plot, their identities aren't.

The art here is good, but there are some oddly drawn moments, as well as strange flashes of purple in others.

This issues of The HARD Corps is fantastic, and I can't recommend it enough!...

The H.A.R.D. Corps #14 and #15 (Classic Valiant)

Following the devastating events of last issue, the HARD Corps, a superpowered paramilitary team, have a bit of downtime before they're flung into their next mission, where they have to investigate Star Step, a scientific R&D department of the malevolent Harbinger Foundation. Unfortunately, waiting for them is young technological genius Earl Simkus, who's developed a way of blocking the HARD Corps' powers, which proves dangerous when the Star Squad attacks the team...

This two-parter of The HARD Corps is decent, and has not only some neat new villains, but an extremely dangerous new threat against the team.

The plot here is well-written, and we get some character development in a few places. One part of the story doesn't make much sense though, and that's why Flatline is concerned about the group killing the Star Squad, as the HARD Corps kill bad guys in combat/self-defense all the time, Flatline included!

This story introduces Earl Simkus. He's not likeable, but certainly readable. He's an unlikeable dick who you enjoy reading, and he has some depth to him too, though a couple of his lines are a bit clumsily written, such as one at the end of his first scene.

One last thing to note about the story is an important subplot concerning Heydrich. I won't say what it is, because of spoilers. Let's just say that it concerns the events of Issue #13, and blackmail. It's a very intriguing subplot, but after a few scenes of setup, it's never followed up on ever again! What happened was this subplot's conclusion was made a part of the crappy Secrets of the Valiant Universe comic, which showcased less secrets and more things we already knew, and in the case of HARD Corps, it actually removed an extremely important ongoing plot thread from the series just to stick in in another comic! Making this worse is not only the abrupt conclusion given to the story in Secrets, despite the major ramifications it should have in the series, but also the crappy artwork, which doubly insures that you're not gonna bother reading this 'supplemental material' when reading through the series.

The art here is quite decent. The covers aren't very good though. Issue #14's is ok, but the lack of background is annoying. The foreground stuff of #15's cover is good, but I wish the background was detailed. It wouldn't even take much work, as all that's needed is a jail cell wall! That fact makes the cover's lack of background seem even lazier!

This is another highly enjoyable story of The HARD Corps, and introduces an important new character into the mix...

The H.A.R.D. Corps #13 (Classic Valiant)

Flatline, a member of superpowered paramilitary The HARD Corps, has been captured while investigating a suspicious factory, and it's up to the rest of the team to rescue him, and put a stop to this installation before its workers can brainwash hundreds...

This is one of the best, and most important issues of The HARD Corps, but for reasons I'll skirt around explaining, because of spoilers.

The story here is very good! The Harbinger Foundation's plan is a neat one (and one that hilariously screws with the continuity of future issues of Harbinger), and while it isn't quite used to the full effect it could have been, it's still very good.

There is one small plot hole in this story-Why doesn't Safeguard automatically put Flatline on Invulnerability once he was knocked out and captured? What's even worse is that the writers could have given this an explanation that would effectively foreshadow what was to come.

The characters here are very good, especially Superstar, who gets one of his best moments here.

The events here are genuinely devastating, and have real impact. It's not just a pointless shock moment to boost sales and never be mentioned again (like Harbinger was wont to do), but rather the series has been leading up to this for several issues, and this is a perfect payoff. Not only that, but more story is built from this development in a few different ways!

The art here is very good, but the cover is mixed. On one hand, it's quite stylish and symbolic. On the other hand, fucking SPOILERS! Although to be fair, the bleeding insignia could suggest anything...unlike the advertising for this issue, which blatantly spelled it out!

Other Valiant series Harbinger frequently tried to do what this issue did, and always failed, while The HARD Corps still stands as strong reading today...

The H.A.R.D. Corps #11 and #12 (Classic Valiant)

The superpowered paramilitary team The HARD Corps are once again performing a training simulation on a weapon and obstacle filled street mockup, but this time round, a mysterious man made of ectoplasm is manipulating the streets controls, nearly killing the team. Later, in an effort to find this man, the team goes to an Omen Enterprises (the HARD Corps' bosses) information facility where they believe he's been to before and will appear at again...

These two issues aren't so much a two-parter, but two separate stories connected by a recurring villain. While the first focuses on the protagonists as they struggle to get through the HARD Corps training street as the Otherman takes control of its weapons and obstacles, the second issue develops the villain more, as the team takes the fight to him.

Issue #11 successfully builds up some mystery on the villain, and we find out what his deal is at the end of #12. Unfortunately. this story feels like it should have been a trilogy, as #12 really only feels like the continuation of this story, not the conclusion. It's because of this that I don't take much issue with the fact that it doesn't flesh out the proceedings enough, but since there was never a real end to this story, it's still a bit irksome.

The writing throughout these two issues is good, although there's a confusing scene involving Gunslinger at the start of Issue #12. At first, I thought it was the Otherman, especially since it looked like a bomb had been planted in the Palmer letterbox, but this scene is never brought up again until a later issue, where it's still vague and confusing, and folowing that, it's literally never mentioned again. It's something to do with Charlie's...wife? Ex-wife? Daughter? No idea!

Another annoyance with the writing is that this story is when the word 'Psi-borg' starts getting used as a descriptor for the HARD Corps, which bugs me as I find it to be a stupid name, as well as ill-fitting, since they're not robots!

The characters here are likeable as usual, though none get much development, save for Superstar. As for the villain, he's pretty intriguing, and has an interesting power set! One problem tied to the character is that it's completely different to his later portrayal in other Valiant series The Second Life of Doctor Mirage, to the point where these two Otherman's are basically completely different characters who just so happen to share the same powers, and name.

The art in these issues is very good, minus odd angles, and moments where characters look a little fish-eyed. Issue #11's cover would be very good if it had a background, but unfortunately the blank gradient orange detracts from the decent action. As for #12's, its' better, and nicely dynamic!

This is an entertaining, albeit incomplete story of The HARD Corps, and once again I recommend it...

The H.A.R.D. Corps #10 (Classic Valiant)

Virgil 'Hammerhead' Peeves, member of the superpowered paramilitary group the HARD Corps, is stuck powerless in the wilderness against malevolent talking dinosaurs, but is help helped out by Native American Indian warrior Turok. Soon enough, the majority of the Corps arrive as backup, and head for the source of the dinosaurs, to stop what their planning...

This issue of The HARD Corps is the last one I own physically as of now, and it's well worthy of that honour! This is a highly entertaining issue, full of action! The plot isn't anything too complex, but it gets the job done, is nice and simple, and ends just right.

Turok had a cameo last issue, while this issue is a proper crossover. It's a well-handled one, as the character and his motivations are presented in a way so you don't have to read a plethora of other material to understand the character.

The characters this issue are written well, with believable conflict between Gunslinger and Turok. No-one gets much development this time round, but they're all still likeable. As for the Bionisaurs, they make for pretty good villains, and don't come across as silly as they could have, what with being evil talking dinosaurs. The dinosaur/human hybrid (yes, I know he's a spider alien, but I frikkin' hate them, so I'll believe what I like) who can't kill due to a genetic mistake is a pretty neat antagonist too!

The art here is very good, and the cover features a nice and dynamic group shot, threatening opponents, and a decent background.

This is yet another very good issue of The HARD Corps!...

The H.A.R.D. Corps #9 (Classic Valiant)

The superpowered paramilitary group the HARD Corps are having some downtime, and Sam 'Flatline' Kim uses this opportunity to reconnect with his wife, who thinks Sam died in the LA Riots some months back. Unfortunately, not only is Sam too late, but any hopes he had of reaching his wife before she boards a plane to Korea are shot to hell when he and his comrade Superstar are the only hope of stopping a nearby hostage situation...

This issue is a very good entry in The HARD Corps. It has plenty of plot going on, not only regarding Sam trying to find his wife (who thinks he's dead), as well as the hostage situation he and Superstar get involved in, but we also get moments between Hammerhead and his daughter, as well as one good moment with the HARD Corps Rookies.

The writing here is good, as are the characters. Flatline gets the most development here, with this issue closing the book on an ongoing arc.

The artwork here is very good. The cover's a bit cluttered, but still pretty good, showing decent, albeit slightly apocryphal, action from the story.

Issue #9 of The HARD Corps is yet another great addition to this series!...