Published on December 22nd, 2016 | by Kevin Given
Review: Bloodshot USA #3
Bloodshot, for those who don’t know, was an ordinary Joe. A subject brainwashed by the Government and given superpowers by nanite technology. He was sent on several missions by Project Rising Spirit. On a mission to stop the immortal enemy, he met Geomancer, who is really Kay McHenry. In the end, Kay lost her life to the immortal enemy. Her last act was to strip Bloodshot of his nanites. Bloodshot, who now calls himself Ray Garrison, became an ordinary Joe once again. I always enjoy comics that strip their hero of their super powers. This gives us a chance to see what they are really made of and makes the basis for a very interesting story.
The Creative Team:
Lemire wastes no time establishing what went on before, but he does it in a very interesting way. Kay and Bloodshot are staring at Kay’s body as they both try to figure out what’s going on. He tells Kay that she tried to kill him, but she protests; “Why would I try to kill you?” A great way to introduce an issue is to keep the reader guessing. Was Kay really trying to kill Bloodshot? How can they be staring at her dead body? Does this mean that they’re now in the spirit world? I enjoy the fact that we must keep turning pages to get to the bottom of the mystery. As soon as this is established an explosion rocks them to their senses. A great set-up for the strange goings on that are taking place throughout this issue.
Doug Braithwaite is a worthy artiste for this title. I loved what he did with The Punisher for Marvel. His panels move the story along as well as any of the best artists on the series. His two panel, two-page splash page is breath taking and I really loved his semi-splash page where the rest of the team is jumping into action while Bloodshot and Kay are incapacitated due to, well, I won’t reveal too much, other than to say “Honey, we shrunk into the kids.” An excellent creative team. I hope he stays with this title for a long time.
The Cover:
What can I say, I love it! This cover goes against the grain. It features the title character fending off what appear to be zombies, but instead of a dark, bleak background, we get a white, very bright background. There’s an angry, concerned look on our hero’s face as he’s facing insurmountable odds. He’s firing his weapon into one of the zombies. A young girl, presumably Kay is clinging to his back. The zombie is flinging his own weapon at Bloodshot. The Weapon…a woman’s shoe. Or is that simply Kay’s shoe falling off her foot? Either way it’s an interesting look at the story that unfolds in this issue.
In Conclusion:
Bloodshot and Kay appear to be dead. But their journey has just begun. It’s a strange adventure that will test Bloodshot and Kay’s resilience as well as their ability to cope with their surroundings. They are attacked by the enemy but escape into the woods and here’s where it gets down right weird. We’re then taken to Project Rising Spirit’s Penthouse in Manhattan where Kozol is looking down the barrel of a gun, but doesn’t seem to worried as he pontificates about world domination (as all comic book megalomaniac’s do, it’s in their blood, lol.) There’s even a swipe at President-elect Trump as he declares that we’re going to “make America strong (great) again.” All in all a very satisfying issue.
Bloodshot USA #3
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Art: Doug Braithwaite
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Dave Lanpheare
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Publication date: December 21, 2016