With The Renegade and his Psiot army on the loose in Psiot City, can The Harbinger recover in time to protect the city? If Faith and the others fall, what will become of Chicago and The Harbinger’s legacy? And if that’s not enough, wait until you get to the shocker at the end of The Harbinger #7!

When issue seven left us with The Harbinger being shot in the head, I was really curious about how writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing would continue the story from that point; would there be a reunification of the two Peter Stancheks, would the bullet have actually bounced off a hastily erected mind shield, or was it just a glancing blow? The answer to the last two is quickly given as The Harbinger is shown with his mind spreading out on the in an ever widening redness.

The Harbinger #7’s primary conflict comes in the form of Faith taking down the psiot who shot the Harbinger whilst the good Stanchek’s friends do their damndest to pick him up from the edge of death to fight again. It’s a tense book, and the art style of Robbie Rodriguez and Rico Renzi (artist and colourist respectively) and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou only enhances this. Granted, there are times when the visuals aren’t super clear in depicting what’s occurring on the page, but this is actually works in the book’s favour in adding to the panicked moments as the Harbinger’s brain slowly leaves his skull. It’s oddly rewarding to have to decipher the pages at times, spending that extra second to understand and then appreciate the visual design (and I’m saying it this way, “visual design”, because Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering is an integral part of how this book looks, and I want to recognize that specifically).

Kelly, Lanzing et al are certainly consistent issue to issue, and because of that you can always expect at the very least a good comic. The series has had its moments of brilliance, but when it’s not delivering those it’s still a damn fine read. The visual design may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s certainly a style I’m enjoying. The Harbinger may not be my favourite Valiant book on the racks right now, but it’s a step above some of the offerings we’ve had from the publisher over the last year.

Story: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing Art: Robbie Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.7 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW

The high flying Faith Herbert confronts her past face to face with the Harbinger himself, Peter Stanchek, as the war for Chicago begins and none other than Psiot City is first in the line of fire! Peter now must learn from the past that had been stolen from him and stand alongside his friends put a stop to The Renegade and Blam. But as the battle just begins with Psiots everywhere being targeted, is it already too late to save the day? 

The Harbinger #6 picks up from where the previous issue left off, with Peter Stanchek being knocked to the floor by Faith, as if there wasn’t a beat missed (when you read this is trade, you’re gonna have a hard time delineating where the issues begin and end, but that’s not relevant here). Co-writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing take some time to reacquaint readers with Faith, with Stanchek remembering her love of all things geek culture in his narration boxes. The comic is actually fairly text heavy, which slows the speed a little but oddly give me a nostalgic feeling as the amount of reading in the issue is reminiscent of comics from thirty odd years ago; back when we used to walk to school uphill both ways in a blizzard in the middle of May, comics had a lot more story to them than they typically do today. The Harbinger #6 evokes those nostalgic feels because it is text heavy without it overwhelming the art work.

Robbie Rodriguez and Rico Renzi (artist and colourist respectively) and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou have a very distinct look for the comic, and personally I’m a fan. I enjoy the line work and the detail in the character’s faces and hair; there’s nothing overly complicated about the artwork, but it’s elegant in the scratchiness. With The Harbinger #6. once again the writers make this comic feel interconnected with the rest of the Valiant Universe, giving the book a very uniting sense both in and out of the story as Peter Stanchek tries to pull together Psiot City despite the best efforts of those opposed to him.

Ultimately this is another really solid entry to the series, and while it won’t set the world on fire, it’s checking every box of a good comic.

Story: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing Art: Robbie Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.7 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW

Peter Stanchek’s mission to “Be Better” as The Harbinger has emboldened him to become the hero he never thought he could be, but he’s attracted even more attention to his actions as a result. Both good and bad! As a monstrous behemoth tears through the city demanding Peter’s attention and testing his strength like never before, a certain high flying hero is furiously rushing in that will shock Peter to his core! The Harbinger #5 is one fans don’t want to miss!

The Harbinger #5 begins a new era for the new Peter Stanchek as he attempts to use his fresh start, free of his old memories, to embrace becoming a bonafide super hero by the name of the Harbinger. The comic opens up with a montage of people affected by his evil doppelgänger, the Renegade (my understanding is that the Harbinger and the Renegade are two sides of the same coin – literally) as he activates new Psiots and lets them run loose only for the Harbinger to do his superhero thing. Co-writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing spend the first dozen or so pages highlighting how the Peter Stanchek underneath the Harbinger’s mask is very different than who we’ve seen before, but there are similarities there; the need and desire for solace and solitude drove the old Stanchek to live in space at one point, although now he just wants to be in his apartment alone.

Robbie Rodriguez and Rico Renzi (artist and colourist respectively) and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou continue to give a relatively unique aesthetic to the comic, piling on a ton of detail and pulling the text into panels that deliver mini snippets of story for the psiots featured. We also see the Harbinger continue to try to avoid conflict, which But it’s the introduction of Faith that had me grinning from ear to ear when Faith, reacting poorly to somebody pretending to be Peter Stanchek, starts to throw the Harbinger around with casual ease. The casual narration throughout the scene didn’t match what was happening on the page, as the creative team show for perhaps the first time just how tough Faith can be. It was a fun twist to see a character known for her geeky side becoming a proverbial beast.

The Harbinger #5 keeps the series chugging along at a consistent quality – but what gives it the extra little steam whistle is that Kelly and Lanzing keep referring back to previous events which serves to remind readers that the Valiant Universe is all interconnected. This is something that Valiant’s books have been missing of late, and so it’s refreshing to see familiar faces and be reminded of events I read years ago, which makes this book another check in the win column.

Story: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing Art: Robbie Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.7 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW

Peter Stanchek has stepped up for Psiot City and protected those in need as the Harbinger, but now it’s time to face down an enemy of his own making…The Renegade. After his clash against the state sanctioned oppressors known as The Warning, Peter must come to terms with his own past and take on a dangerous fight that will push him to finally understand what it means to become a superhero in The Harbinger #4, the epic final chapter of the “be better” story.

The title of the first arc of The Harbinger is Be Better. One could make a cynical joke correlating the title to the quality of the book if one were so inclined, but for my money that wouldn’t be an accurate or fair statement. The Harbinger #4 caps off the first arc with a confrontation between the Harbinger and the Renegade – both men claiming to be Peter Stanchek. Writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing use this confrontation to really delve into the man that Stanchek was before the events of this series, and aren’t afraid to look at the character with a frank honesty. The result this introspection leaves isn’t entirely comfortable as we remember (or find out if you’re just starting the story with The Harbinger) what Stanchek has done in the past. Kelly and Lanzing reveal a lot through the Harbinger’s internal narration, and the struggle between that character and the Renegade.

This issue is a bit more cerebral in its content than the previous issues, but that doesn’t mean that Robbie Rodriguez and Rico Renzi (artist and colourist respectively) are bereft of exciting imagery to delight your eyes, because the nature of Peter Stanchek’s powers enable you to create a brightly diverse mindscape as a backdrop to the action as the story comes to its conclusion. Because of the nature of the dual narrators, letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou uses some interesting speech bubble styles in the comic, differentiating between the disembodied voices with muted colours that feel like they’re about to be so much brighter.

The Harbinger #4 answers more questions than it asks, and while there are still lingering threads that Kelly and Lanzing are able to pull at for the rest of the series, the Be Better arc comes to a strong character driven conclusion that positions the book to be one of the rare “traditional” superhero comics from Valiant.

Story: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing Art: Robbie Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.8 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW

Peter Stanchek is one of the most powerful psiots on the planet and one of the most feared as well, but now he’s lost his memories. As he confronts the only message left behind when he first awoke, demanding him to “BE BETTER”, Peter begins to understand the people of Psiot City need more than who he was. They need a superhero. With a new group of state sanctioned oppressors called The Warning bearing down on them, an all-new psiot raises his voice and spurs on a confrontation that only Peter Stanchek can hope to face.

I’m a sucker for a good redemption story. I’ve never made a secret of that, and so given the direction that writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing have taken with this story, it seems like it’s going to be a no-brainer for me to enjoy it. There’s not “but” coming, because I’ve really enjoyed the two issues I’ve read so far. Being able to say that comes as something of a relief given the pedigree of the Harbinger name and the weighty expectations I had as a result.

Robbie Rodriguez artwork is once again fantastic. The artist has a quality to his work that pulls you in and then throws you around. The comic looks like it is barely controlled chaos at times, reflecting what’s occurring in the story as Stanchek struggles to hold himself together. Colourist Rico Renzi enhances everything about the chaos, whilst also being able to soften the art as the story’s pacing slows down. The Harbinger #2 is a visually stimulating journey from beginning to end, and while there may be the odd page where you’re trying to make out what’s going on that really only adds to the book’s story. It’s strange to say that, because usually that’d be something I’m not a fan of, but here we are.

Stanchek’s superhero origin story continues, edging toward the inevitability of a new costume and mask emphasized by the reaction people within the story are having to his name alone (though how he’ll hide his identity with his powerset remains to be seen, so I’m curious just how much I’ll need to suspend my disbelief). So far, however, the story has been solid, and the new memory-free Stanchek means there’s a blank slate for the writers to create a new version of the Psiot without necessarily needing to keep to previous characterization.

The Harbinger as a series has delivered two really good issues so far, which is giving me a lot of excitement for to see how the creative team (rounded out by letterist extraordinaire Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou) continue Peter Stanchek’s journey. As I said, I’m a sucker for a redemption story, and so far this is delivering in every way.

Story: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing Art: Robbie Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 9 Art: 8.8 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW

Can you make the world better if you can’t be better? A telepath with no memory. A city of superpowered teenagers suppressed. Redemption. Destruction. Rebirth. A new era of HARBINGER begins here.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Harbinger is one of Valiant’s flagship titles dating back to the original iteration of Valiant from the 90’s. Joshua Dysart’s 2012 reboot Barbinger and the follow ups Imperium and Life And Death of Toyo Harada are widely heralded as one of the best runs that has come from the modern era of Valiant comics, so it’s no understatement to say that there are some fairly high expectations for this comic purely because of what’s come before.

The Harbinger #1 acts as both a continuation of Peter Stanchek’s story after the events of Harbinger Wars 2, and also as an entirely new entry point to the world of psiots and the Harbinger corporation. Writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing bridge the gap between the old and new by introducing Peter as an amnesiac who knows his name but little else; while this serves as a way to introduce new readers to a character with a mysteriously dark past to atone for, readers will (presumably) be as in the dark as to exactly what that involves as Peter himself until they’re comfortably in the series. Older readers will also benefit from the approach because they’ve either forgotten details of Peter’s life (guilty) or are waiting for the realization to dawn on him just how much of a mess he’d made of things.

Kelly and Lanzing frame the story as the beginning of a redemption arc, and perhaps even a superhero origin story, and for me it works. The writers don’t ignore anything that has happened before, nor do they spend a page an a half specifically repeating why people are afraid of Peter; it’s very much a case showing and not telling in a fairly frantically paced comic book.

Robbie Rodriguez artwork is revelatory; there’s a sketchiness to the style that’s used and, coupled with Rico Renzi‘s colouring work, it fits the narrative perfectly. The panels, colours and feel of the comic lends a sense of speed to a book that touches on atoning for past sins (even if you don’t remember them). At its heart, The Harbinger #1 is about whether a person can change without first acknowledging past wrongs; I’ve always been a sucker for redemption arcs, and this is no different.

Time will tell if The Harbinger will live up to expectations, but the creative team (rounded out by letterist extraordinaire Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou) are off to a cracking start.

Writers: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing Art: Robbie Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 9 Art: 8.8 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW