But thenJeff Lemiretook over.
Starting with the 2014 event miniseriesThe Valiant, Lemire took away Bloodshot’s all-powerful nanites.
This September will see the launch ofBloodshot Salvation, the latest chapter in Lemire’s Bloodshot saga.
Valiant Entertainment
Like Lemire’s previous Bloodshot series,Bloodshot Salvationwill be illustrated by artists Lewis Larosa and Mico Suayan.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’ve been writing Bloodshot for a while now.
How does this fit into that greater story, and how approachable is it for interested new readers?
Valiant Entertainment
JEFF LEMIRE: It’s interesting, the evolution of the series.
That storyline was pretty much what I did fromThe ValiantthroughBloodshot U.S.A.
In my mind, that was going to be the end of my run with the character.
Valiant Entertainment
Then a few months went by, and I kept getting new story ideas.
The first thing you did with Bloodshot was take away his nanites.
How else do you approach the challenge of making such an indestructible character feel vulnerable?
Valiant Entertainment
That’s the challenge of writing any superhero.
These characters are all so powerful, you have to find ways to make them human.
He felt like a two-dimensional ultraviolent antihero, and that didn’t appeal to me in any way.
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I tried to find the human side of the machine by stripping him down and building him back again.
In the new series, he takes on a new role as a father/parent.
All this craziness and violence that surrounds him as Bloodshot is now a threat to them.
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I love how Magic and Bloodshot seemed to connect so randomly.
You’ll really see Magic’s character change over the course of the series.
A lot of things are gonna happen.
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Together they worked, and I loved that.
It’s a kind of romantic idea, but I felt it worked with what I was doing.
Now we’re gonna see that relationship go to another level.
Valiant Entertainment
Now they’re gonna be parents and see how that changes them, as it always does.
Jessie is the daughter of Magic and Bloodshot.
She’s a huge part of the series.
Valiant Entertainment
She’s the central thing that ties everything together.
She’s not going anywhere; she’s gonna be a major part of the universe going forward.
She’s not just some gimmick.
How will you be playing with that archetype?
I’ve always enjoyed it.
It’s something I really latched onto and explored pretty extensively with my Vertigo seriesSweet Tooth.
I’ve always loved that emotional journey and arc.
That’s not to say that’s exactly what will happen inSalvation, though.
Bloodshot’s kind of on a different journey.
Violence has been a big theme in what I’ve been doing with Bloodshot from the beginning.
I’ve tried to play with that and have the book speak out against violence.
Bloodshot Salvationfeels similar to the contemporaneous relaunches for other major Valiant heroes likeXO-Manowarand Ninjak.
Can you talk about how this book will fit into the greater Valiant universe?
You’re not beholden to 50 years of history just to understand what characters are saying in a conversation.
This is a Bloodshot story at its heart, but we’ll see other elements.
Three characters from other books will play big roles and have a fun place in the story as well.
