After digitally reading the first issue of Valiant’s Bloodshot series, set in their Ultimate/Absolute-style rebooted, alternate universe, I didn’t read any more.

You see, the writer (I won’t mention his name here, I’m not going to give him the publicity) inserted a thinly, if at all, veiled transphobic rant into the story. Though the reimagined Bloodshot was an interesting concept, this overshadowed the whole thing, made worse when fans did a little digging and found clear transphobic social media posts by the writer. The first three issue arc of Bloodshot wrapped up quietly and publisher, Alien Books, delayed the follow up arcs as the fallout continued. Then it was announced that Dan Abnett was writing the one-off special, and just like that I was back in.

This special is a neat prequel, focusing on Bloodshot’s training leading up to his first mission. It does a great job of playing with the disjointed nature of time and memories, caused by the constant wiping and rebooting the nanite-enhanced Bloodshot candidates go through.

It’s filled with gory, bloody action and yet still manages to thread an intriguing narrative beyond the main story, with a clever and compelling final reveal to boot.

It’s certainly streets ahead of the main series, and has the massive added bonus of lacking in any sort of transphobia at all! Sadly, Alien Books have not stopped working with their original Valiant Beyond: Bloodshot writer, and he’s still writing at least the next story arc in the series. I won’t be picking that up, but this Special proves that there’s life in the character, and potential for the series if Alien were to hand the reins over to decent (in more than one sense of the word) writers.

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