After what seems like a very long time, BRZRKR has returned with a new one-shot in the form of BRZRKR: The Bleeding Tide #1. True to its title, The Bleeding Tide finds the immortal warrior B literally stuffed into a metal box and dropped at the bottom of the sea. A pirate captain soon discovers him, and he joins her crew, soon displaying his gift for inflicting immense violence upon anyone foolish enough to cross his path. B soon learns that the Captain has her own secrets, and has taken to the high seas for a very surprising reason.
I mentioned in my review of BRZRKR: A Faceful of Bullets #1 that the best elements of the BRZRKR saga involve its concept of B being immortal, which lends itself to a variety of stories, and the fact that Keanu Reeves has joined forces with some of the comic book industry’s best artists and creators to bring this saga to life. Both elements are on full display throughout The Bleeding Tide #1, especially with the creative team of Marjorie Liu and Garry Brown. Liu and Brown are no strangers to the mystical or the macabre; Liu’s Monstress was tackling the supernatural long before BRZRKR exploded onto the scene, and Brown’s illustrated sea-based horror with The Massive and historically accurate violence with Falling in Love on the Path to Hell.
Where The Bleeding Tide #1 separates itself from those projects is in the connection that B forms with the Captain. It’s not a romantic connection as one might expect, but rather the connection between two people who share something that no other person can understand. Liu puts it best during one particularly violent confrontation; killers have their own form of communication, and it takes place in the violence they inflict. As I mentioned earlier, the Captain is hiding a secret about herself, and it comes pretty quickly to the forefront. Yet it feels natural in the world of BRZRKR. After all, this is the same comic about an immortal man empowered by the gods who also fought Cthulhu once.
BOOM!
The violence in this comic leans into the usual BRZRKR style of overkill, with Brown adding his own special flourish. Heads are literally punched off, bodies are ripped in half, and the Captain puts her special weapon – a massive axe – to extremely good use, cleaving through flesh like a knife through butter. If that wasn’t gnarly enough, the first time B is introduced, all that readers will be able to see is his head and the bloody mass of flesh that used to be his body.
Like the rest of the BRZRKR specials, The Bleeding Tide #1 ends on a note that might leave some readers frustrated and others intrigued. Yet I enjoyed the tale that Liu and Brown crafted for us, as it fits perfectly into the world of BRZRKR while also offering creators other avenues to expand beyond B. BRZRKR: The Bleeding Tide #1 lives up to its name by delivering a combination of badassery, blood, and brooding, and it’ll make you want the next installment in the BRZRKR saga immediately.
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