Divinity #0 Discussion

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Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by Keith »

Loved this issue as an epilogue to Stalinverse. Honestly, this should have been called Divinity III: Stalinverse: Aftermath much like Bloodshot Reborn #0 could have been called Bloodshot USA: Aftermath.

Great to see more of the Red Brigade. Each one appears to be charting a unique story of their own... super interesting that their existence is described as hallucinations made real that refuse to go away, and that their Stalinverse evils/villains have become manifest as a result, as well.

Bloodshot, Harada, Ninjak... cool to see the interation with Divinity... but I thought the really interesting part was Divinity being surprised to find Aric on Gorin.

All in all, no complaints. Great story, great art!
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

I believe that I can honestly say that when I finished this book, I realized that I had been holding my breath through most of it.

It wasn't drama or mystery or terror... I was just holding my breath because of how much information and visuals were being thrown at my face. :lol:

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by agent_graves »

Great issue, not in the traditional sense of a #0 issue, but a really good epilogue to Stalinverse... :thumb:

I'm not a big fan of the painted art, (Unless its Alex Ross or Dell'Otto) but it came out well, overall...
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

agent_graves wrote:Great issue, not in the traditional sense of a #0 issue, but a really good epilogue to Stalinverse... :thumb:

I'm not a big fan of the painted art, (Unless its Alex Ross or Dell'Otto) but it came out well, overall...
That's interesting because I loved the painted art. It made me feel like we're "seeing" the way Divinity "sees"... things are a blur... happening in parallel... flashbacks that "look like" they're not happening now. I also think this style would work for Bleeding Monk.

I really like Alex Ross and Dell'Otto, too, but they wouldn't have had the same "feeling" in Divinity #0. :thumb:

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

Did everyone catch the reference to Harbinger Renegade #6? :clap:

The Pioneer of the Red Brigade said, "I am the keeper of the ancient evil that must never be released."

Interesting that the Red Brigade are allowed to continue post-Stalinverse... because they each have a modern/future purpose? :hm:

Divinity says that she protects the Earth from a threat that didn't exist until she did.

:o

CRAZY THEORY TIME: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by Keith »

greg wrote:Did everyone catch the reference to Harbinger Renegade #6? :clap:

The Pioneer of the Red Brigade said, "I am the keeper of the ancient evil that must never be released."

Interesting that the Red Brigade are allowed to continue post-Stalinverse... because they each have a modern/future purpose? :hm:

Divinity says that she protects the Earth from a threat that didn't exist until she did.

:o

CRAZY THEORY TIME: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Interesting. My mind went to the Eternal Warrior scene in The Fall of Ninjak. Triangles and pyramids.
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by Thegreatmagnet »

Here is the VCR episode for your listening pleasure:

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr129/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by jeremycoe »

Great issue. I have to say that the ending truly surprised me. I didn't see that reveal coming.
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by slack »

Here's a big question...

Why did Divinity have NO interest in the Anni Padda family?

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by jeremycoe »

slack wrote:Here's a big question...

Why did Divinity have NO interest in the Anni Padda family?
Or Dr. Mirage, or Quantum & Woody, or Faith? I think he probably had interest and checked on all of them, you just can't show every detail on the page.
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

jeremycoe wrote:
slack wrote:Here's a big question...

Why did Divinity have NO interest in the Anni Padda family?
Or Dr. Mirage, or Quantum & Woody, or Faith? I think he probably had interest and checked on all of them, you just can't show every detail on the page.
I think he was checking on the ones being most heavily manipulated to do Kazmir's bidding.

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by jmatt »

What a fantastic, gorgeous issue! :clap: :clap: :clap:

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

jmatt wrote:What a fantastic, gorgeous issue! :clap: :clap: :clap:
And such a great cliff hanger, although one you'd almost expect.

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

Beautiful painted artwork in this issue. I absolutely love seeing non-traditional art styles used in sequential art.

It had to have been a beast of a work load to execute that much painting, but it deserves the highest praise for being done, and done so well.

I was a little 'meh' on the story though - only with regards to feeling like I didn't need another tour of the valiant universe status quo (ala the recent RAI oneshot). Don't get me wrong here, I don't think this was anywhere near the walking advert that issue was.

The most interesting moments in this issue for me were the revelation that something is not right with why & how Aric is on Goran, and the deft handling of Abram's internal phylosophical debate about what to do with his power.
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

Love the theories circulating about The Pioneer and what she is guarding... could it be Alpha?
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by agent_graves »

greg wrote:
agent_graves wrote:Great issue, not in the traditional sense of a #0 issue, but a really good epilogue to Stalinverse... :thumb:

I'm not a big fan of the painted art, (Unless its Alex Ross or Dell'Otto) but it came out well, overall...
That's interesting because I loved the painted art. It made me feel like we're "seeing" the way Divinity "sees"... things are a blur... happening in parallel... flashbacks that "look like" they're not happening now. I also think this style would work for Bleeding Monk.

I really like Alex Ross and Dell'Otto, too, but they wouldn't have had the same "feeling" in Divinity #0. :thumb:
Re-reading with that in mind, it changes perspective a bit. I felt like the art was a little rough in the beginning, but much cleaner towards the end. But it could've been an in story reason for that, sort of like the one you mention... :thumb:
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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

agent_graves wrote:
greg wrote:
agent_graves wrote:Great issue, not in the traditional sense of a #0 issue, but a really good epilogue to Stalinverse... :thumb:

I'm not a big fan of the painted art, (Unless its Alex Ross or Dell'Otto) but it came out well, overall...
That's interesting because I loved the painted art. It made me feel like we're "seeing" the way Divinity "sees"... things are a blur... happening in parallel... flashbacks that "look like" they're not happening now. I also think this style would work for Bleeding Monk.

I really like Alex Ross and Dell'Otto, too, but they wouldn't have had the same "feeling" in Divinity #0. :thumb:
Re-reading with that in mind, it changes perspective a bit. I felt like the art was a little rough in the beginning, but much cleaner towards the end. But it could've been an in story reason for that, sort of like the one you mention... :thumb:
I like the reason that was mentioned on the VCR podcast (shout out!)... the images are like "sci-fi fiction cover art" where you could see each one used as a separate cover for one of those kinds of "sci-fi" magazines or novels of the 1930s-1950s. That's what young Abram is reading at the beginning of Divinity #0. :thumb:

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

I just re-read the issue again.

Any idea who/what Red Legend had to kill in the woods because it was a threat?

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by jmatt »

TheeBaldMoose wrote:
jmatt wrote:What a fantastic, gorgeous issue! :clap: :clap: :clap:
And such a great cliff hanger, although one you'd almost expect.

When Gods have children...
... if that child could also fold time, he could accelerate his growth to maturity. Could this be the spiky dude in Eternity? (not sure if Eternity is that character's name)

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by greg »

jmatt wrote:
TheeBaldMoose wrote:
jmatt wrote:What a fantastic, gorgeous issue! :clap: :clap: :clap:
And such a great cliff hanger, although one you'd almost expect.

When Gods have children...
... if that child could also fold time, he could accelerate his growth to maturity. Could this be the spiky dude in Eternity? (not sure if Eternity is that character's name)
My first thought was that god-baby from Solar #9 (1992). Valiant can't use Solar, they may or may not be able to use Erica, but that god-baby was absolutely an original Valiant creation.

Rethinking that concept for VEI could be interesting.

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by nonplayer »

Not prestige format :?
I Miss the good old days.

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by tell »

I thought Aric being out of place and that XO was going on in current Earth time was really interesting. I had considered before that what is going on in XO was somehow an unexpected consequence of Stalinverse messing with time and reality, but I didn't think there was any real reason to believe that until now. It would help to explain why he looks and acts so different. I guess he could have been thrown out of time and he has been on Gorin longer than it would seem while still being in current time.

I would have liked to see Harada feel some sort of camaraderie with Abram after all they went through. I'd be interested in some personal conversation between them.

Whatever Pioneer is guarding I don't think it's the Alpha. In her story in the Gulag backup it says her people guard some ancient thing from the Deadside. I'd think it more likely that whatever she guards would be tied into Rapture or the upcoming Shadowman.

I loved this issue. Beautiful art, I'd be happy to have more regular painted work from Guedes.

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by Bl00dsh0t »

I thought this was an excellent issue and a great bridge between Stalinverse and Eternity. I hope we see Harada and Divinity work together at some stage.

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Re: Divinity #0 Discussion

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

tell wrote:...Whatever Pioneer is guarding I don't think it's the Alpha. In her story in the Gulag backup it says her people guard some ancient thing from the Deadside. I'd think it more likely that whatever she guards would be tied into Rapture or the upcoming Shadowman...
Interesting, something I never picked up on! With that thought process, would Alpha be dead now? I guess a Psyot can extend their lives, Harada looks like he is still in his 40's, yet has to be in his late 80's. But would Alpha be able to extend his life a thousand years? If Alpha IS dead, maybe this idea still comes into play that Pioneer is guarding a door that only Alpha can get through? Dunno, just a simple brainstorm.
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