Bloodshot is back with a few new thrilling tricks up his sleeve in Bloodshot #1!

No amount of high-octane explosions can keep Bloodshot from completing his new mission. Who is the mysterious BLACK BAR, and what do they want with Bloodshot?

Bloodshot: Rising Spirit left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It wasn’t bad on the whole. A lot of the positives from that series writing comes from the contributions of Eliot Rahal. It stumbled artistically too in places. On the whole, was far from the quality of the previous Bloodshot series Reborn and Salvation.

Bloodshot #1 washes that taste entirely from my mouth.

Reading this comic the week of the real G7 Summit gives the comic a very timely feel. I particularly enjoyed the real world nod to the British Prime Minister’s first introduction to this level of the political sphere. It’s through his eyes that we are first (re)introduced to Bloodshot. Writer Tim Seeley, artist Brett Booth, inker Adelso Corona, colorist Andrew Dalhouse, and letterer Dave Sharpe make the bold, and much appreciated, choice not to retell the character’s origin.

Again.

Instead, for those who may be coming to this series because of the upcoming movie (release date of which is currently billed as February 2020) there is a brief recap of how the character came to be. It makes sense within the story and only needs just over a page and change. Most of that is dedicated to visual homages to previous series. That serves as a nice tip of the hat to longtime readers, and just looks awesome for newcomers (and everyone, really).

The comic’s story is, when you really look at it, pretty straight forward. There are no real surprises, though there’s nothing telegraphed either. Which is a strange sentence to write, but I’ll stick by it. Bloodshot #1 is a perfect (re)introduction to Bloodshot. It’s packed with exactly what you’d hope from with a character who is a walking army. It’s an extended fight sequence lovingly brought to life by the artistic team and some exposition along with explanation as to the general direction Seeley and the team will be taking Bloodshot over the next few issues.

It is, ultimately, a fairly straight forward and simple comic book story.

But the simplicity of the plot is actually one of the comic’s strengths and is the reason that you’ll be coming back. The simplicity is the hook. It pulls you in and you’re reminded that a comic doesn’t need to have anything more than the perfect balance of words and pictures to be a great piece of art.

Seeley doesn’t try to over complicate things, leaving plenty of room in the story for Booth, Corona and Dalhouse to flex their creative muscles. The art in this comic is right up my alley; clean lines, interesting panel usage and layouts, and some sharp and subtle colouring work. There’s a timelessness to this issue’s art; it looks as though it could have been published at any point in the last fifteen years whilst remaining fresh and exciting from cover to cover. Dalhouse utilizes a colouring method that feels far less digitally coloured than it probably is – his work adds a warmth to Booth and Corona’s black and white artwork.

As an issue, Bloodshot #1 is a comic with the final product being greater than the sum of its parts. I absolutely love it.

The list of comics I’ve read this week that are as good as Bloodshot #1 is depressingly small. This is just the ticket if you want an action-packed explosion of fun on your pull list.

Make no mistake, I will be buying this when it’s released next month.

Story: Tim Seeley Art: Brett Booth
Ink: Adelso Corona Color: Andrew Dalhouse Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Story: 8.9 Art: 9.1 Overall: 9.2 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review