Valiant Comics continues with Day 4 of the Summer of Valiant promotion by releasing an awesome image of Bloodshot:

Every mission is a suicide mission

This confirms that Bloodshot will be released in July, the third book in Valiant’s relaunch starting in May with X-O Manowar, and continuing in June with Harbinger.

What an exciting image! Here are some initial thoughts on some of the details.

First, and dear to my heart, Bloodshot has lines in his hair, reminiscent of the lightning bolts in the original version of Bloodshot. It doesn’t look like these are lightning bolts, they appear to just be lines, but they are part of what gives Bloodshot his distinct look. I’m glad they are there.

The red circle is still there on his chest. I don’t think you can quite do Bloodshot without it, since it is one of his defining visual characteristics, but there it is. Further, the muscles and blood vessels under the circle seem to be flexed and agitated more than anywhere else on his body. Is this where the nanites in his blood are stored? Do they act more aggressively in this region? In the original version of Bloodshot, the red circle was a scar from the Project: Rising Sun procedure, the red circle may act as more than just a scar in this new version.

The red circle scar is bleeding, down into an image of the American Flag. The image reminds me of the cover to Bloodshot #40, (one of the coolest covers of the first Bloodshot run). Is Bloodshot an American agent? Or are American agents his primary target? It seems to imply to me that this Bloodshot is an American project (rather than a Japanese corporate project), and is created to be an agent of some sort for the USA. Also, the image of the American flag is reminiscent of the flag draped over coffins. Brutal.

It appears to me that Bloodshot is packing twin Berettas. The finger rest on the front of the trigger guard and the loop at the bottom of the grip are standard on a Beretta. Berettas are the standard sidearm of the US Armed Forces, but not of most other government agencies, like homeland security. Is Bloodshot a military agent? Also, he isn’t packing the Desert Eagle that he often packed in the first version of Bloodshot. I guess 9mm is enough for this one.

Last of all, the tagline: “Every mission is a suicide mission”. Does this mean that Bloodshot is not expected to survive the missions he is sent on? Seems like the waste of a good nanite-infused super soldier. Maybe he is sent on missions that nobody could expect to survive. Or maybe, he has gone rogue, and feels like he has no reason to live other than revenge against the agency that created or controlled him?

As I read through the original Valiant comics, Bloodshot became one of my favorite characters, I’m looking forward to July, when we will find out more!