Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

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grendeljd
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Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue [& X-O Manowar [2017] #22, & Livewire #1], please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr190/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in :thumb:
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

This issue was a boat load of garbage.

I seriously can’t think of a single thing worth reading from this issue.

I really like clever sci-fi in my comics, but this was just tons of useless techno-babble & time spent on a few characters that weren’t important or worth caring about.. for what? We find out *why* the nanites made Bloodshot crave steak for proteins?! Seriously, WTF. There is nothing new happening in this comic, it’s just a really bad rehash of what we’ve already seen in earlier VEI issues.
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by jxm640 »

I read this and...

Is it too early to say that this series is worse than Dead Drop?

The story is a mess. Continuity within the first two issues is wrong. I have no sense of character motivation from any character.

I hope that with Robert Meyers, this series either dies or gets some actual editorial direction.
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by nonplayer »

I tried to like this issue. The art was ok ish. The story started off good but it just rambled on. There is on panel I think its at the beginning. They are talking and somethung blows up. I had to look 3 times and still didnt understan what happened.
I wrote this on fb
One thing that got me was the two guys who were dipicted to be on some sort of break through to just have them killed. What was the point of two or three pages of their banter to have them die. Was it important if the idea died with them.
I could have wrote that whole part in three panels.
1.5 outnof 5
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by otomo »

I feel like this is a rehash of the original Bloodshot relaunch but ignoring the continuity and what happened there unless this is all gonna be "just a dream" he wakes up from in issue 4-5 in which case.... EDITORIAL TELL THE WRITER NO.

5/10 .
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

There's a few things I found interesting.

1) With all the histories of the other Bloodshots, have they not learned anything up until now? This wasn't ground-breaking, as they had done it many times before. Now, the nanites feeding off of protein I found interesting. I know the other Bloodshots needed their nanite bath to recharge, and so did Bloodshot. Although they techno-bablled their way through the explanation, I felt this added to the history of Bloodshot. Did it need to be as indepth as they made it? NO, no where close. It does show the jump though, and for what it's worth, it's valuable.

2) I must have missed something, but it seemed to me like Bloodshot was stolen from someone else. I know I will need to re-read this book, but it just came across that way. Was that another so called dream?

3) The pre-order book insert stories, I am enjoying those. One picture, and entries like a journal. It does tend to take this book deeper, and it needs all the help it can get
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

TheeBaldMoose wrote:There's a few things I found interesting.

1) With all the histories of the other Bloodshots, have they not learned anything up until now? This wasn't ground-breaking, as they had done it many times before. Now, the nanites feeding off of protein I found interesting. I know the other Bloodshots needed their nanite bath to recharge, and so did Bloodshot. Although they techno-bablled their way through the explanation, I felt this added to the history of Bloodshot. Did it need to be as indepth as they made it? NO, no where close. It does show the jump though, and for what it's worth, it's valuable.

2) I must have missed something, but it seemed to me like Bloodshot was stolen from someone else. I know I will need to re-read this book, but it just came across that way. Was that another so called dream?

3) The pre-order book insert stories, I am enjoying those. One picture, and entries like a journal. It does tend to take this book deeper, and it needs all the help it can get
1] I do agree that it’s somewhat interesting that they had a specific reasoning for the nanites requiring protein to do what they do, but what a ham-fisted, sloppy-dialogue-driven way to mention it. And making that seem like a central focal point and stunning revelation this issue is absurd. It’s an interesting footnote at best.

2] I could be wrong, but feel fairly certain that the whole story of him being stolen by someone else was yet another false memory implant.
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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by jmatt »

grendeljd wrote:This issue was a boat load of garbage.
I have to agree. Utterly and completely. Techno-babble garbage. And the panel where they riddled him with what must have been Propecia tipped bullets... facepalm

I have no idea where we are with this character. Are they throwing prior canon down the memory hole? I'm thinking maybe Bloodshot isn't the only one who can't affix memories.

So far this arc is an enormous zero-burger.
Last edited by jmatt on Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:08:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by jmatt »

This needs to be said: We don't need another origin story for Bloodshot.

And the current crew is not the only guilty party. I have read every Valiant issue since 2012 and I'm pretty sure nobody down there knows what his origin is -- and heaping yet another layer of confusion onto this character won't help.

If I recall correctly, Van Lente had the nanite technology brought back from the Faraway courtesy of the gray-aliens. Then there's all the Unit-Y stuff, the other Bloodshots from the Deathmate arc, the Bloodshot origin laid out in Bloodshot #0, the "goldies" and all of the backstory told in the kickoff back in 2012, including the gray goo. And didn't he lose (kill?) a wife somewhere in there, too? And wasn't there a Doctor Silk angle in there at some point? How does any of this reconcile?

Now we've had two issues of him leaping off of various lab slabs shrieking "What am I?!!" and wiping out a variety of lab technicians and henchmen. And we've seen two names kicked around, Angelo Mortalli and Vernon Krieg. Ya know what name we haven't seen? The one we've known him as for a few years now, Ray Garrison.

What a mess. facepalm

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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by Dallow Spicer1 »

grendeljd wrote:This issue was a boat load of garbage.

I seriously can’t think of a single thing worth reading from this issue.

I really like clever sci-fi in my comics, but this was just tons of useless techno-babble & time spent on a few characters that weren’t important or worth caring about.. for what? We find out *why* the nanites made Bloodshot crave steak for proteins?! Seriously, WTF. There is nothing new happening in this comic, it’s just a really bad rehash of what we’ve already seen in earlier VEI issues.
Yep, this!

In addition, the art is B level at best. I can’t differentiate between many of the characters’ faces, could be because there’s so many characters coming in and getting wiped out :? where’s the blonde haired fella that appeared at the end of issue #1, he seemed significant.

2.75/5 - mediocre, very mediocre

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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by syzhang28 »

jxm640 wrote:I read this and...

Is it too early to say that this series is worse than Dead Drop?

The story is a mess. Continuity within the first two issues is wrong. I have no sense of character motivation from any character.

I hope that with Robert Meyers, this series either dies or gets some actual editorial direction.
Unfortunately, I think this may be a sign of things to come. Wasn't this the book the Robert Meyers spearheaded before Joe Illidge was hired but after Dinesh and Warren were gone...

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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by FormerReader »

Good god this series is bad. How did they go from what Lemire was doing to this?

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Re: Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #2 Discussion

Post by Shadowman99 »

I'm only posting now because I only caught up with this last night, but I read issues 1+2 back to back, and I'm not really liking it so far if I'm honest.

One: We've had Bloodshot and the Bloodshot Programes' origins explored enough now, we really don't need it done again.
Two: Reading this particular origin story for Bloodshot is kind of like reading the 2012 issues again.
Three: I say 'kind of' above, because I enjoyed the exploration of his potential origin in 2012. We've seen it now, and reading through a canned version of it now feels like a chore. Also, this feels like retconning to me, and nobody likes retconning.
Four: I have a hard time following what's happening in the comic and who the characters are, and it's because the panels, illustrations and dialogue are laid out badly: it's not me being an idiot. This does not add to the comic's enjoyment factor.
Five: I guess we've been spoiled by the amazing art that took us all through Reborn, and this new art style is very bog standard comic fayre. I'll take it if I get a sudden urge to read some drivel by Aspen, by not Valiant. They need to do better than this.

This particular issue, as someone mentioned above, has a lot of science words in that don't necessarily make sense if you understand what they're talking about, which is a problem because people that understand hard biology are sitting there going "it doesn't work like that/that's not possible", and those that don't simply don't understand what the Hell's going on because it's just jargon to them; so who is this succeeding in impressing?

I'm hoping things will start to make sense at some point plot-wise, and I'll be able to start enjoying the comic more, but somehow I'm unable to get my hopes up for that actually happening at this point in time :(
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