Valiant Comics and Alien Books continue the reboot of the Valiant Universe with Valiant Beyond: All-New Harbinger #1, written by Fred Van Lente with art by Erik Tamayo, scheduled for release on September 10th. This issue is a perfect “let’s get the team together” story, spotlighting each individual member of the team then ending with a climax where they come together to face the “Big Bad”.
The team has a good mix of power sets and personalities, including Alloy, a housewife who has the Metamorpho-like power to change her body into any element. She keeps her crime fighting a secret from her husband and kids. Flamingo is another member of the team. She’s a superstar singer akin to Taylor Swift, with the power to wield fire. Another member of the team is a battle-hardened veteran and another is a new recruit, which will definitely cause some added tension when the team’s in battle.
The team’s diverse mix of powers, social classes and personalities reminded me of the legendary X-Men squad that debuted way back in Giant-Size X-Men #1, though the challenge facing Harbinger isn’t quite as epic as battling a living island. Black Sheep and her army are the villains of the book and they’re not interested in conquering or stealing money, their aims are far more anarchic. They want to bring the Foundation, the corporation that runs Foundation City, to its knees. In a way, she’s continuing the work of The Renegades (a previous Valiant Comics team of which, interestingly enough, Flamingo was a member), who fought against the Foundation, deeming it a corrupt organization.
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Black Sheep has one of the best character designs I’ve seen in ages. Her costume is retro and simple, like a cross between a Blackhawk’s outfit and DC’s Golden Age character Phantom Lady, and when she’s not ranting, she’s raining down violence on everyone around her. She’s kind of like a more intelligent and less humorous version of The Joker, with a few Terminator-style robots and drones at her side.
Another visually stunning character in the book is Livewire, Harbinger’s field coordinator. Floating in what looks like the Bacta tanks from the Star Wars films, with tendrils of wire and cable extending Medusa-like from her head, she’s linked to a neural net that allows her to instantly get information on anything and everyone and relay that information to the team. She looks much different than her previous Valiant incarnation, but still seems to have the ability to manipulate computers and machinery with her mind. She now seems to serve a function much like DC’s Oracle does for the Birds of Prey.
It looks like one of the main themes of the book will be who’s really the bad guy. I suspect we’re going to find that there are no true good guys here and that the Foundation hasn’t changed for the better. I’m all for that. There’s nothing like a bit of existential angst amidst the superhero action and this looks like it’s going to be a fun (and complex) series, another gem in the Valiant Comics universe reboot.
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