The brave comic and alien book continues the brave universe reboot with Valiant Beyond: The all-new Harbinger #1, written by Erik Tamayo, written by Fred van Lente. The issue is a perfect “let’s put together a team” story, ending with a spotlight on individual members of the team and gathering together to face a “big bad” at the climax.
The team has a good combination of power sets and personality, such as Aloi, a housewife who has the perverted power to turn his body into all elements. She fights her crimes secretly from her husband and children. Flamingo is another member of the team. She is a superstar singer similar to Taylor Swift and has the power to set fire. Another member of the team is a veteran struggling in the fight, while another member is a new recruit. This definitely causes some tension in the team during combat.
The diverse mix of team’s power, social classes and personality reminded me of the legendary X-Men team that debuted back in the huge size X-Men #1, but the challenges Harbinger faces are less epic than fighting a living island. The Black Sheep and her army are the villains of the book, they are not interested in conquering or stealing money, their aim is much more disordered. They want the foundation, the company that runs the foundation city, to their knees. In a way, she continues her job as a rebel (the previous brave comics team, interestingly, Flamingo was a member), and she considers it a corrupt organization fighting the foundation.
Brave
Black Sheep has one of the best character designs I’ve seen over the years. Her outfit is retro and simple, like the intersection of Black Hawk costumes and DC’s Golden Age character Phantom Lady, when she’s not ranting, she’s raining violence on everyone around her. She’s like a more intelligent and humorous version of the Joker, with some Terminator-style robots and drones.
Another visually stunning character in the book is Livewire, Harbinger’s field coordinator. It floats in what looks like a bacta tank from a Star Wars movie, with wires and cable tie and cables appearing to extend from the head. She looks very different from her previous brave incarnations, but she still appears to have the ability to operate computers and machines in her mind. She now appears to be working as DC’s oracle does for birds of prey.
One of the main themes of the book is who is supposed to be a really bad guy. I think you will notice that there are no real good people here, and that the foundation hasn’t changed for the better. I’m everything for that. There’s nothing like a bit of existential anxiety in the superhero action. This appears to be a fun (and complicated) series, another gem of the brave comic universe reboot.
“Valiant Beyond: A completely new Harbinger” #1 review
Valiant Beyond: A completely new Harbinger #1 review
The new Harbinger team has a fantastic mix of power and personality that is reminiscent of the classic, huge-sized X-Men version of the X-Men. A great addition to Valiant’s rebooted universe.
The Black Sheep is a great villain and her character design is amazing.
The book moves at a big pace and gives each member of Havinger a moment to shine before the teams unite.
