In Livewire #8, wanted fugitive Livewire reveals that the Psiot Security & Education Program is the evil organization OMEN to the world!

Will Phoebe Daniels choose to defend OMEN or go with Livewire and fight?

Valiant‘s Livewire #8, written by Vita Ayala and featuring Kano‘s artistic talents, brings the second arc of the series to a close. Oh boy, what a close.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about this series is how Vita Ayala has yet to explicitly cast Livewire as a hero in her own book. Ayala has been able to explore the moral and ethical grey areas in what it means to be a hero; Livewire is determined to save a group of kids from a government sponsored program whether they want to be saved or not. With a comic so steeped in the question of choice and consequences, it’s refreshing to see Ayala step back from the traditional black and white, good and evil type of positioning in the comic and instead give us a story about fallible people trying to do what they think is right.

It allows the reader to form a much more intricate opinion free from the writer giving us a heavy handed hint about how we should feel, and the entire series has been stronger for the willingness to show both sides of the coin; that this is a tale about the redemption of Livewire (in her own eyes if not in the eyes of the world at large), but there’s also another layer to the redemptive aspect of the series. Just as this arc has also introduced Phoebe Daniels, showing her journey as she came of age as a young psiot in a world that wants to use kids like her as a weapon.

Livewire #8 is a great closing point for the current arc, while also serving as a starting point for the next four issues of the comic. Amanda McKee is a complicated character, and the way Ayala is writing this series brings that into stark focus as McKee has to deal with the conflict between her reputation and her ideologies. Which makes for a great between the lines tale as we read the action on the page.

Ayala’s talent shines through in how they handle this book, and the writer proves once again why this series should be considered one of Valiant’s best, and why you need to pay attention to the comics they write in the future.

And speaking of talent, Kano is yet again on top form here. There’s another fight scene between the same combatants as last issue, though somehow the artist extraordinaire has recaptured the brutally intense fight scene from last issue and turned it up again in the arc’s finale. It’s a highlight of the comic, as are the layouts; even on a review pdf they were incredible, so I can’t wait to see how they look in print when I get my copy tomorrow morning.

Livewire is one of Valiant’s stronger series, and it’s one that has been gaining momentum in the quality department as Ayala crafts a fantastic tale about a very grounded and human superhero which makes for some great comics.

Story: Vita Ayala Art: Kano
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Story: 9.1 Art: 9.2 Overall: 9.1 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review