Review: Armor Hunters #2 by Robert Venditti, Doug Braithwaite, and Laura Martin

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AH_002_COVER_BRAITHWAITE

Armor Hunters #2

“Part II: Hunt”

Published by Valiant Entertainment

Written by Robert Venditti

Art by Doug Braithwaite

Coloured by Laura Martin

The Plot

The story begins immediately after the destruction of Mexico City with the Hunters allowing a little bit of time to pass so Capshaw, etc. can assess their situation.  Meanwhile over at M.E.R.O. Aric and company are still shocked at what transpired.  Capshaw gets called away to debrief Secretary Allister and they discuss their course of action.  Aric and Primary are speaking with each other through the screen and Aric continues to become more frustrated as people die for him.  Primary wants to pursue a direct assault, but Quartz and Helix convince him otherwise.  It is decided that Lilt will go to release the hounds.  Back on Earth, Bloodshot and Livewire are going to M.E.R.O. to assist with the fight.  They see Malgam who provides information on what the armor is capable of, which disturbs Livewire.  This also provides Aric with an interesting revelation about himself.  The Hunters target eight areas and Aric immediately recognizes one of them.  He then races off to save his people in Nebraska .  Other areas are showing the effects of each attack and one of them just happens to be in London where the Eternal Warrior and Ninjak are.  The attacks are brutal and Aric arrives to fight off the hounds that are attacking his people.  They want to take the survivors to M.E.R.O. unaware that it’s also under attack.  It is getting destroyed, but Bloodshot is ready for a fight.

The Breakdown

I like the pacing of this series.  I’m really starting to like the idea of an event having four issues.  There has been a lot happening and we haven’t even seen Aric face off against the Armor Hunters yet.  Seeing Primary in this issue was interesting because we can compare him to Reebo (his old name) that was seen over in X-O Manowar #26.  A lot has happened to him between these issues and he seems so tired yet driven.  His motives are simple and they are also relatable.  Capshaw and the Secretary had some interesting insights about the Armor Hunters as well and their argument was pretty valid.  It was also good to see some emotion out of Capshaw after the attack on New Mexico.  She usually makes a lot of sarcastic remarks, but this one got to her.  I’m kind of hoping that what they’re doing with Malgam returns to bite them in the arse.  The fight scene between Aric and the hounds made me chuckle a bit.  His facial expression was funny and the dialogue was too.  I’m looking forward to seeing Ninjak, the Eternal Warrior, and Bloodshot fight in the next issue.  The armor does seem to have a dark side to it and its reach may be very severe as alluded to by the Hunters.  I also liked how Saana wasn’t the damsel in distress.  She saw the danger and insisted on fighting it head on.  The art was well done in this issue and I like the subtle effects such as how Primary looks slightly different when he is on the screen.  Just little things like that make comics more enjoyable for me.  Braithwaite is also able to tell a good story in this issue.  He keeps everything flowing and nothing looks static.  Martin’s colours looked great and really helped this title feel even more like an event.  Good stuff this month.

BUT…

I hope we get a better feel for a couple of the Armor Hunter’s characters next month.  However, this could be covered in one of the other titles as it was with Primary.  The benefit of a four issue event is that the story isn’t decompressed and there isn’t a bunch of filler.  The possible downside is that some characters may not get enough screen time.  It’s a fair trade off though as I’ve had enough of 8 issue series that could’ve been 5-6 issues long.

Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?

Buy It.  Valiant is showing that they know how to do events.  There are a lot of moments to look forward to and it’s been a very solid read so far.  A lot happened in this issue, but it’s still setting up the next two issues.  The upcoming issues will be wall to wall action and filled with revelations that will impact the Valiant Universe.  I know I’m expecting a lot, but I don’t feel like I’m going to be disappointed by it.  It’s nice to have that kind of confidence in an event again rather than just hoping I’m not going to be disappointed by the conclusion.

I have been both an avid and casual comic reader over the years (depending on the quality of books). I have been reading Comics Nexus even prior to it becoming Comics Nexus and am glad to be a columnist. In addition, feel free to leave comments whether you agree or disagree because it always leads to discussions.