Bloodshot Reborn #16 (Comic) Review

Bloodshot Reborn 16 is a harsh departure from the other Valiant reviews we have this week. The story picks up on the main character, Ray Garrison, after a twisting and turning series of events leave him apparently confused. The rest of the story in this book is a rip roaring piece of an adventure that needs to be read to be seen.

Strong pacing leads to a worthy plot

Something that a lot of books with between 20 and 30 pages do, seemingly, is try to slow down the pace to only tell enough for something in the next installment of between 20 and 30 pages, or try to cram a major event into the book’s pages. Reading through Bloodshot Reborn 16 was nice because, unlike these other books, the pacing was consistent and strong throughout the book.

It was clear that the book was not going slowly in an effort to make the next installment more exciting. Just as clear, events weren’t being torn through to make this issue of the book exciting. The book picks up at an exciting spot, and when the book ends, I knew as the reader that something crazy was about to happen.

For me, this is the ideal pacing. Fans of a given series will always come back if they know the characters. This affords the creators to slow the plot down and establish canonical ideas and events. Books that don’t rely on pre-established fan bases, though, will do well to keep pacing and exciting events constant.

i would love to learn more about this world, and want to see where it goes.

Competent writing is intrinsic to Bloodshot

I don’t have a huge understanding of the Bloodshot universe. But if the writing in issue 16 is indicative of the writing in the rest of the series, there isn’t much to complain about.

The dialogue between and inside of characters’ own heads makes sense. Not only that, it’s simple enough to be read quickly enough to keep up with the action. I am glad to see throughout my time with the book that there is nothing shoehorned into it. That could have easily happened to try to appeal to a larger audience. I found no popular culture references, no characters speaking above or below their apparent level of importance.

One touch that I really enjoyed throughout the book is the way a non-human character communicates with others. This felt, in a funny way, real enough to work well. The dialogue works just as well throughout the rest of the book, and I could not be happier with it.

The gritty art style fits the presented narrative

The art style for Bloodshot is much darker and more realistic than many of the other comics presented in a similar manner. I find that similar subject matter could look cartoony if the creators really wanted it to look cartoony. So I’m glad that they took a darker and more realistic approach.

I also need to mention that the artwork passes my personal test of everything remaining clear throughout the book. This is true, as I was not confused about any actions that took place in the book. I am very glad that the book has the art style and artists that it has, otherwise, it would not work as well, I fear.