The Bloodshot movie starring Vin Diesel had an underwhelming release in 2020. It was supposed to be the giant launch of a new superhero movie universe by Valiant Comics, but the pandemic had other plans. Despite this, there's a sequel in the works. Valiant is one of my favorite underrated comic book companies so I'm still holding out hope this might be the next big thing. If you watched the movie and want to read up on Bloodshot it might be difficult figuring out exactly where to start. Valiant is notorious for their two company-wide reboots resulting in three completely separate continuities, each belonging to their own era. I'm here to help you cut through the confusion and begin reading this incredibly fun character.
A Brief Overview of Bloodshot
Bloodshot was created by the team of Kevin VanHook & Don Perlin & Bob Layton, first appearing in the 1992 comic Eternal Warrior #4. There have been three different versions of the character across several Valiant reboots, and they all have their differences, but the core details remain the same. Bloodshot is an amnesiac super-soldier designed to be the perfect living weapon using experimental nanites in his bloodstream. They give him superhuman strength and agility, the ability to communicate with machines, and even accelerated healing. In theory, the memory loss makes him easy to manipulate... although this usually works out poorly for those who try it.
The first question people usually have when they look at Bloodshot is, what's with the white skin and big red dot in his chest? Some comics have explained it as a byproduct of his transformation, but the real answer is that he's a derivative of another character. One of Valiant's most popular characters at the time was Rai, superhero protector of Japan in the 41st century, who was designed to look like the Japanese flag. Bloodshot was created to be a modern-day counterpart of Rai, an ancestor through their shared nanite technology, and the visual connection just kind of stuck.
It is easy to look at Bloodshot and judge him harshly on first sight. He looks like the kind of grimdark kill-em-all antihero that was annoyingly everywhere in 90's comics, and I love his book but that is fair criticism. In his defense though, Bloodshot has evolved a lot since then. Modern writers have reinvented Bloodshot as a self-aware walking action movie cliche. The secret military organization that programmed his mind had to invent a new personality, and unfortunately that personality was written by the kind of nerds you'd expect. He's not just an action movie cliche, he is an unstoppable killing machine incapable of thinking in terms other than action movie cliches.
Recommended Reading
* Bloodshot: Setting the World on Fire - The previous versions of Bloodshot are enjoyable comics, but the 2012 reboot is really the place to start. Reinventing the character for a new era, writer Duane Swierczynski puts a greater focus on the psychology of Bloodshot. Tormented by false memories of a family who never really existed, Bloodshot sets out to find the truth of his past by any means necessary.
* The Valiant - If you ask people what's the best place to get into Bloodshot they'll usually say Jeff Lemire's critically acclaimed 2015 run beginning with Bloodshot Reborn. Those people are not wrong, but Lemire's four-issue event book The Valiant is an important lead-in. The book is a larger story that acts as a good introduction to many Valiant characters, but Bloodshot's struggle to protect an unlikely friend is at the center. This series also provides important emotional context for where he is at the beginning of Reborn.
* Bloodshot by Tim Seeley - This twelve-issue 2019 comic by writer Tim Seeley is a "back to basics" approach, a self-contained story that doesn't require previous context. It is designed as a jumping-on point for new readers, coinciding with the release of the Bloodshot movie.
I hope you enjoy these, Bloodshot is really one of my favorite characters and I feel like he doesn't get enough love because people just think he looks stupid. He does look stupid, but that is a huge part of what makes him fun. Please let me know if you read any of these and enjoy them, or if you're a Bloodshot fan and want to tell how you got into the comics. Thanks for reading!
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