Comics Korner: Bloodshot #3 Review

With this month’s issue of Bloodshot, writer Duane Swierczynski delivers yet another action-packed thrill ride topped off by a killer cliffhanger ending.

Life hasn’t been ideal for Bloodshot as of late.  Project Rising Spirit built him to be an unstoppable weapon and implanted false memories in his head to keep him motivated to carry out whatever mission he was saddled with.  Since rogue PRS scientist Dr. Kuretich opened his eyes to this in the debut issue, Bloodshot has been bent on uncovering his true identity and learning of his actual past.  After searching his fragmented memories for clues at the start of this book, he runs a facial recognition scan to find that the wife he was programmed to remember matches the profile of a woman living in New Mexico.  What he finds when he arrives at her residence isn’t quite what he was expecting.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Bloodshot, PRS operative Dodge is heading his way with a powerful weapon in tow — another super-powered creation by the name of Pulse, who can emit devastating EMP blasts at will.  Seeing as Bloodshot’s healing ability is directly linked to the microscopic machines in his nanite-rich blood, being caught in an EMP field could be bad news for our hero.  We also find Dr. Kuretich making progress with the information he extracted from Bloodshot’s mission logs as he stumbles onto a chilling, large-scale military cover-up buried in Nevada.

Swierczynski’s story continues to play out in a very calculating, deliberate fashion, often answering our questions by introducing several new ones; a well-crafted story that always keeps you hanging in anticipation of the next development.  It’s a fantastic monthly read filled with suspense, intrigue, and all the wanton violence you could hope for.  As always, Manuel Garcia’s beautiful artwork suits the dark, visceral narrative perfectly and is contrasted to great effect by Arturo Lozzi’s softer touch in Bloodshot’s memory sequences.

Look for Bloodshot #3 on sale this Wednesday, September 5th – and if you haven’t checked out the first couple issues yet, what are you waiting for?  Check out some preview pages from this month’s book below: