Bloodshot #9 Discussion

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Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Keith »

.......... <pop>

That's the sound of my mind being blown after reading Bloodshot #9 (and A&A #8, but that will be for another post).

Major spoilers follow...

Amazing. Hats off to Valiant, and what a finish to The Rise and Fall story arc. The amount of action in this one is off the charts!!! Bloodshot proves himself a true hero as he valiantly gets his tookus kicked by Gamma to save the Harbinger children. Saddened to see Pulse sacrifice herself to save Bloodshot, but ultimately she provides him the impetus to protect the children going into the Harbinger Wars. Be curious to find out what role, if any, Kara plays in what's to come... and where did Simon Orech go? Hmmmm...

The big reveal of who Kuretich has been working for fits so well into the whole story. Not that is is a huge surprise after reading the previews, but to learn Harada has been masterminding the whole thing from the start... awesome!! When you take into consideration that he had also infiltrated PRS (from the last ish of Harbinger), well, as Armstrong puts it "His is a clever strain of scumbaggery." Flashing back to issue 1, it now makes sense where that one lone Harbinger who took out the drone came from... direct from the Harbinger Foundation!

My love of Valiant comics is at near record levels after today and climbing... bring on The Harbinger Wars!!!
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Dr. Solar »

Whoa! Did not see that coming!
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by BugsySig »

Yeah, as obvious as it may have seemed, I was sure another party would be backing Kuretich.

Sorry to see Pulse go, but BS needed the impetus to watch over some of the kids. I assume that will also lead him to track down the others and bring him into contact with Harada.

Harada backing Kuretich in order to free the kids also squashes the theory that Harada was using PRS to house the "Troublemakers" he didn't want at the foundation. I'm still not sure if he was who the kids were taken from in the first place, but it fits. Still trying to piece it all together... :hm:
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Keith »

BugsySig wrote:Yeah, as obvious as it may have seemed, I was sure another party would be backing Kuretich.

Sorry to see Pulse go, but BS needed the impetus to watch over some of the kids. I assume that will also lead him to track down the others and bring him into contact with Harada.

Harada backing Kuretich in order to free the kids also squashes the theory that Harada was using PRS to house the "Troublemakers" he didn't want at the foundation. I'm still not sure if he was who the kids were taken from in the first place, but it fits. Still trying to piece it all together... :hm:
Agreed... I'm not sure if BS was stealing the kids from Harada in the first place, but if it wasn't from Harbinger then who had the children to begin with? And that question as to how they were activated still lingers.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by grendeljd »

Keith wrote:
BugsySig wrote:Yeah, as obvious as it may have seemed, I was sure another party would be backing Kuretich.

Sorry to see Pulse go, but BS needed the impetus to watch over some of the kids. I assume that will also lead him to track down the others and bring him into contact with Harada.

Harada backing Kuretich in order to free the kids also squashes the theory that Harada was using PRS to house the "Troublemakers" he didn't want at the foundation. I'm still not sure if he was who the kids were taken from in the first place, but it fits. Still trying to piece it all together... :hm:
Agreed... I'm not sure if BS was stealing the kids from Harada in the first place, but if it wasn't from Harbinger then who had the children to begin with? And that question as to how they were activated still lingers.
Maybe thats where the HARD Corps will come in... as a completely separate entity that had some Psiots, and maybe the tech [or other means] to activate them. :hm:

Fantastic, action-packed issue - Gamma is such a cool character! Loved the reveal of who Kuretich is actually working for, I was definitely thinking he was with whoever the HARD Corps are affiliated with.

Really sad to see Pulse go, and I can't believe they killed her off, either - another great character. I hope they stick to their guns and don't bring her back though.

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by SJS4 »

First reaction after finishing the story is...


NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Can't believe they killed Pulse! I really liked her. Such a shame! It worked though, because i was really sad went she died. Glad to see Kara made it through though, and will be interesting to see BS interact with the kids that stuck around. Can't wait for Harbinger Wars to start!
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by pixierosa »

My stars, this was an excellent book! Gamma had a disgusting end, but if anyone deserved it, that predator did.

I almost cried out a "No!" when Melissa's head went "krnch". I was cursing Gamma. I haven't had such a violent reaction to a character since Gwendolyn in Saga (f'ing Gwendolyn!)

I'm not surprised to see Harada pulling the strings, but since that seemed too obvious, thought it might have been another entity backing Kuretich. Like everyone else, I'm still wondering who those kidnapped psiots were taken from originally.

So two groups of psiots left the facility. One on their own, whom I assume Pete will learn about and try to reach, and the other with Bloodshot. Harada is coming after them, probably using two separate teams. I wonder if Harada will be involved initially. I can see him running interference for the group of eggbreakers/collection team that deals with Bloodshot, but he might not deem that necessary for the group of children on their own. Where does HARD Corps fit into this? I'm assuming that they work in opposition to Harada. And what about the rest of PRS?

That's a lot of factions.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Bl00dsh0t »

Loved this issue - to be honest, all the issues Swierczynski has written have been exceptional, I hope he stays on Bloodshot FOREVER!

Really set the scene for Harbinger Wars - I can't wait for this next month!

Loved the Gamma/Bloodshot confrontation, after battling it out with Chainsaw, Bloodshot sure has been through some pain but this is only the beginning you'd expect. Fantastic stuff.

Pulse was one of my fav characters and I was sad to see her go. At least we'll always have those earlier Bloodshot issues to go back to :-)

As new Valiant fan, I'm not sure what happened previously but I'd love to see some one-shot issues focusing on some of the 'lesser' characters. I'd drool over a Gamma Spotlight stand alone issue, same deal with Pulse, Doc (Shadowman) etc. Reckon that'll ever happen?

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by blujay »

Bl00dsh0t wrote:As new Valiant fan, I'm not sure what happened previously but I'd love to see some one-shot issues focusing on some of the 'lesser' characters. I'd drool over a Gamma Spotlight stand alone issue, same deal with Pulse, Doc (Shadowman) etc. Reckon that'll ever happen?
Since Gamma and Pulse are now dead (at least I'm assuming) I'm gonna say no, but Dox has a chance assuming they don't knock him off this arc.

This was a great issue, awesome reveal with Harada (How did I not see that coming? Am I just stupid or something?). Sad to see Pulse go so early, hopefully Kara will stick around longer.

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Blood of Heroes »

Telling her to scratch her brain was a very satisfying end to that horrible woman. She really made me uncomfortable.

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by CylonSteve »

Blood of Heroes wrote:Telling her to scratch her brain was a very satisfying end to that horrible woman. She really made me uncomfortable.
I yelled 'That's for killing Pulse!'
That is up there for best Valiant death next to X-O's handiwork.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Bl00dsh0t »

Blood of Heroes wrote:Telling her to scratch her brain was a very satisfying end to that horrible woman. She really made me uncomfortable.
I did like that...

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by lorddunlow »

I'm so upset about Melissa (Pulse). Seriously. I'm not right now. She was my favorite supporting character. Stupid Gamma. I keep hoping she's not dead somehow.

Awesome issue. Bloodshot just overtook X-O with this one.

I hate Gamma - I hope Bloodshot ate her.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by apainter »

Two minor quibbles for me:

1) I hated Gamma in the way I was supposed to, but I hated her weird powers even more. "Feeds off of fear"? When did fear become some kind of energy source? I could kind of understand if it's just psychological and she gets off on scaring kids, but it wasn't presented that way. It's too "comic bookish" (in a bad way) to me.

If I was a psiot in the V-universe, I'd want to be powered by silly jokes. My four-year old would give me a lifetime supply in just a few hours.

2) It was awfully nice that PRS used sugar glass in their complex. Seriously, Kara gets knocked through a window and shows up without a scratch!

Anyone remember that scene with Faith in the original Harbinger series? Yeah, that's what falling through glass would do to you.

I was sorry and a bit surprised to see Pulse go. She didn't get to do much during her last stand against Gamma. She just kind of stands there and gets hit.

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by kevinbastos »

I'm still not COMPLETELY certain that Pulse is dead. Yet.

Too much ambiguity at the end of the book for me. But excellent book.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by vaevictis »

To me, this issue also makes me believe even more strongly that Rai is imminent. Since Kuretich is working for Harada AND we know from Bloodshot #1 that he downloaded everything from Bloodshot, we can also assume that between the Blood of Heroes and the Bleeding Monk, Harada had everything he needed to create the first iteration of Rai. He likely wanted to use the technology to control Psiots like Pete.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Blood of Heroes »

vaevictis wrote:To me, this issue also makes me believe even more strongly that Rai is imminent. Since Kuretich is working for Harada AND we know from Bloodshot #1 that he downloaded everything from Bloodshot, we can also assume that between the Blood of Heroes and the Bleeding Monk, Harada had everything he needed to create the first iteration of Rai. He likely wanted to use the technology to control Psiots like Pete.
:hm:
lorddunlow wrote:I hate Gamma - I hope Bloodshot ate her.
:lol:

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by KXXX »

I'm a wee bit confused about what actually transpired with the psiots ganging up on Gamma.... should I be reading #7 again?

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by greg »

apainter wrote:1) I hated Gamma in the way I was supposed to, but I hated her weird powers even more. "Feeds off of fear"? When did fear become some kind of energy source? I could kind of understand if it's just psychological and she gets off on scaring kids, but it wasn't presented that way. It's too "comic bookish" (in a bad way) to me.
Maybe Gamma was wearing a yellow lantern ring. :lol:

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by BugsySig »

KXXX wrote:I'm a wee bit confused about what actually transpired with the psiots ganging up on Gamma.... should I be reading #7 again?
It was a combination of their powers. The young black girl seemed to project fear into Gamma (hence the vision of the monster and Clem hacked her brain and made her "scratch that itch".
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by manga4life »

Have yet to read it, but Pulse is dead?!?! NOOOOOOO! She was an awesome supporting character and I was hoping to see her stick around for a long time to come, I'm very saddened by her death.

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by iwantvaliant »

Great issue. Can't wait for the next one.

My wife was upset that Pulse died. To rub salt in her wounds I reminded her that "Valiant is where dead is dead." She quipped back "Except for Bloodshot."
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Blood of Heroes »

iwantvaliantcomics wrote:Great issue. Can't wait for the next one.

My wife was upset that Pulse died. To rub salt in her wounds I reminded her that "Valiant is where dead is dead." She quipped back "Except for Bloodshot."
How dare she! :mad:

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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by Xtianhardy »

The only thing I didn't like about Gamma is the fact that her eyes didn't seem to glow when she used her powers. I thought it was established in Harbinger that the psiots eyes glow yellow when they're using their powers?

Otherwise, this issue kicked serious *SQUEE*.
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Re: Bloodshot #9 Discussion

Post by greg »

Xtianhardy wrote:The only thing I didn't like about Gamma is the fact that her eyes didn't seem to glow when she used her powers. I thought it was established in Harbinger that the psiots eyes glow yellow when they're using their powers?
Do Archer's eyes glow? :hm:

Some people with abilities may not be psiots. :hm: :hm:


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