Geekscape Comics: ‘Harbinger #1’ Review

Valiant comics is back and with them they brought the return of one of my favorite titles from the 90’s ‘Harbinger’. To say I was excited about this would be an understatement.

Read minds. Bend steel. Break all the rules. Teenager Pete Stanchek is out of work, on the skids, and – unbeknownst to him – a psionic-powered “harbinger” with the potential to reshape the course of human history. Toyo Harada is a wealthy business magnate, a respected philanthropist and the most powerful harbinger of all – or so he thought. As they forge an uneasy alliance, will Harada offer Pete a chance for redemption ­– or attempt to induct him into a secret network of conspiracy, subversion and control? Pete is about to discover that he’s not alone in the world and, soon, the generation who has nothing will take on the man who has everything.

If you know nothing about the return of Valiant comics… i’ll fill you in just a little. Valiant was one of the major comic companies of the 90’s and early 2000’s but disappeared and returned this year with a couple of titles. These titles are reboots and to be honest this is the only one I picked up or cared about.

I’m not going to go into plot details on this issue. I’m not going to spoil anything. I’m just going to tell you why you should be on your way to shop to pick this issue up after you’re done reading here.

I felt like a ten year old kid again reading this issue. The familiar faces I knew were back (well, not all being that it is the first issue) with an updated feel to them. And before anyone says it…yes I do realize that Peter is wearing an outfit similar to Cole MacGrath from the ‘Infamous’ games. Why? I have no idea. But that’s not important here.

Joshua Dysart’s writing here is great. It is no slow start and we get right into the story from the beginning with bits of back story being slowly introduced throughout the issue. Artist Khari Evans also does a great job of capturing the story that Dysart is telling. The only issue some people may have is if they read it too fast they may think they are missing something but trust me… if it is anything like the 90’s storyline… all will make sense soon enough. It’s a story that will slowly build from the past and the present into something great.

And i’m definitely not one of the “must buy every variant ever” people but the multiple covers for this issue had me walking back and forth decided between which ones I wanted. I was especially happy seeing this variant that was definitely a throwback to the original issue #1. Bravo Valiant on this one.

If you’re looking to pick up something new and different this week… I would definitely recommend the first issue of ‘Harbinger’ which is on stands now.