Bloodshot Reborn De Jeff Lemire by Bubble

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Bloodshot Reborn de Jeff Lemire by Bubble

BD His story about Ray Garrison has now gained a certain aura thanks to a particularly effective development, giving more and more depth to the hero as his adventures unfold. From the great brute, puppet of a private military organization, acting on order and without the slightest free will, the character has become totally autonomous, sensitive and much more thoughtful. His transformation is not without difficulty, as he constantly reviews his past actions. The fact that he had no free will at the time, since he was piloted from a distance, is not enough to ease his conscience.

Attempting to redeem his conduct and cancel his debt, he is now careful to act with attention to the consequences of his actions. Bloodshot's new life begins in the pages of The Valiant, a crossover serving as a relaunch for the shared universe and written by Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire. In this short story, all the characters come to the aid of the Eternal Warrior who must protect the Geomancian from a terrible threat at all costs. Bloodshot finds himself teaming up with this powerful magician, who, in order to help him gain the freedom he so desperately needs, removes all of his nanites. This is where Bloodshot Reborn really begins.

But how can he find meaning in his life, when until then it had been dictated by these microscopic particles?

He finds a small job as a handyman in a seedy motel and gradually sinks into alcohol and drugs, hoping that this will help him to cope with his memories of a killing machine. The situation could have stayed like this for a long time, but a white- skinned man with a red circle on his chest is making a real killing in a movie theater. Aware of the danger, he comes to his senses and decides to find him to eliminate him, but the FBI is also on his heels and won't make his task any easier. Then begins a crazy adventure in which our man will be confronted with his old demons, love, the weight of responsibility for his actions, but above all the organization that created him.

Contrary to what one might think, the adventures of Bloodshot by Lemire don't stop at the end of the 4th volume of Bloodshot Reborn since they continue in the one shot Bloodshot USA (included in the complete Bloodshot Reborn) and then in the Bloodshot Salvation series. A well thought-out cut, with each narrative arc bringing a lot of renewal to the character. If we feel a slight breathlessness, especially in the second half of Salvation, the whole run presents a remarkable quality of writing and regularity. This one remains much more striking than Duane Swierczynski's, and probably even Tim Seeley's, who both lean much more towards pure action comics.

Jeff Lemire, for his part, takes the time to make his character talk and think a lot more. It then becomes easier for the reader to understand Ray, to become attached to him and to be touched by the many heartbreaking choices he has to make. Moreover, while the other versions are rather solitary and go more or less head down without taking into account the fallout, the Lemire version of Bloodshot is surrounded (even if he would generally prefer not to) by characters sensitive to the goodness hiding in him. His actions must be more thoughtful, because he won't be the only one to suffer the consequences. The character then becomes more responsible. In spite of a very open ending, the authors who succeeded him did not choose to prolong his ideas, even though they promised the character many more good hours. They preferred to come back to a much more basic Bloodshot, less developed on the human level.

This is the only big drawback of the series, and whose choice is not attributable to its author. In the drawing, as always with Valiant, we find a nice range of drawers and colorists more or less recurring on the stories of the universe, but always working around a common will, offering drawings and colorization of high quality. You will find in particular the features of Raul Allen, Mico Suayan, Paolo Rivera, Doug Braithwaite? To discover this creation from the Valiant universe, you'll have to start by reading The Valiant, continue with the complete Bloodshot Reborn (also including Bloodshot USA) and conclude with the two volumes of Bloodshot Salvation. That way, you'll have discovered the best of the character to date. It is also possible to read the complete Bloodshot by Duane Swierczynski before. The story predates The Valiant and shows the creation of the character, but the quality is much lower and most of what you need to know is offered at the beginning of Reborn. This volume will therefore be more for the completist.

By Thomas Jobert

Bloodshot by Jeff lemire at Bliss Éditions "Bubble click and collect"

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