Book of Death: The Fall of the Valiant Universe by Jeff Lemire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit to being an on and off Valiant fan, since the early days. I'll pick up a particular title for a while and maybe follow it through an arc or until the creative team changes. On the other hand, I do love the various characters and feel they have a lot of potential not often utilized, just to get out a monthly book.

This TPB collects the four issues focusing on different characters, that tie into the Valiant Universe 'event' Book of Death. That deals with the last Geomancer who travels back in time with a book revealing the ultimate fate of these characters and mankind.

We see the 'last days' of Bloodshot, Ninjak, X-O Manowar and the group Harbinger Renegades. We also witness the fate of Toyo Harada, first and most powerful of the psiots (the name Valiant uses for their super-powered characters). Four writers team with four artists to put this all together, each nicely crafting a story that honors of the past of the characters and completing some long-time story lines.

While I enjoyed all the stories, I found Jeff Lemire & Doug Braithwaite' Bloodshot tale the best of the bunch, but I'm a sucker for Lemire's writing anyway. I think fans of any of the characters will be happy with what was done.


View all my reviews