THE HARBINGER #1 – Review

THE HARBINGER #1, available from Valiant Entertainment on October 27h, 2021, resurrects Peter Stanchek, lost and confused without his memories, in a city that still fears him.

The Details

• Written By: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
• Art By: Robbi Rodriguez
• Colors By: Rico Renzi
• Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
• Cover Art By: Robbi Rodriguez (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: Ocotber 27, 2021

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Was It Good?

It was fine. The story and art aren’t mind-blowing, but neither are they bad in any way. It’s a solid, average return to a Valiant property that picks up where the last issue of Harbinger left off… almost.

Let’s break this down into three areas – the character, the story, and the art.

If you’re new to this title, Peter Stanchek (the main character) has a wild past and that’s putting it mildly. To keep things simple, he has so much psychic ability in numerous areas that he’s effectively a god. A god can be a very dangerous and frightening thing if unchecked and Peter was just that for the citizens of this city prior to his “resurrection” in this issue. Kelly and Lanzing do an excellent job of building the sense of confusion and disorientation he experiences after waking up. The disembodied conversation he has with another speaker you never see helps to bring readers along with what Peter is experiencing at any given moment.

The story is fairly solid. When Peter wakes up, his instincts guide him to use his powers to find his way out into the open air, to fly, to clothe himself, and to satisfy his basic survival needs until he can find a moment to take stock of his situation. Once he starts searching the city for a sympathetic ear and finds it in the character of Cici, the exposition kicks into overdrive. The exposition stops just shy of turning into a wall of text. It’s a lot but probably necessary to bring new readers up to speed, and thankfully, the exposition worked for the scene and didn’t appreciably slow the pacing.

Art is the weakest element of this relaunch. It’s not bad, but it didn’t pop as much as it should have, especially with some of the fantastical action scenes you get in this issue. The lack of pop largely comes from the very muted color palette, particularly with the oversaturated use of pinks and purples. Every panel, every single one, is colored with deep purple backgrounds or indigo walls or focuses on characters with pinkish skin. After a few pages, the visuals start to blur together and diffuse the energy of the action. It’s a creative choice you might like, but this reviewer felt the color palette hurt the visuals.

In all, THE HARBINGER #1 is a fine relaunch for a longtime Valiant property. The character work and the plot are both solid, and the art is serviceable.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Peter Stanchek wakes up in a damaged skyscraper high above the city streets with the words “Be Better” scrawled in the ceiling above his head. He has no memory of who he is, how he got here, or what happened to his clothes (he’s naked). Instinctively, Peter begins using miraculous powers to hear the minds of people on the street below, reshape the materials around him to make clothes, and to fly.

When Peter lands on the street below, crowds of people immediately panic as they recognize him for who he is and what he’s done. Police arrive in military-style helicopters to arrest Peter or kill him on the spot before he can do any damage. The city has spent time, money, and resources to prepare while Peter was “gone.”

Resisting the impulses to destroy, Peter flies away until he finds a section of the city with others like him – psiots with abilities similar to but less powerful than his own. He finds the mind of someone who isn’t afraid of the memory of him, a woman named Cici. When they meet, Cici recognizes who he is and offers to give him help and shelter while she fills him in on what’s happened since he was last seen.

As the story progresses, Peter learns a lot has changed in his absence, and some of those changes are very dangerous. We conclude the issue with one of those dangers interrupting a meal, Peter confirming to Cici he has an ability she didn’t know he had, and Peter learning a new definition of the word Renegade.

Final Thoughts

THE HARBINGER #1 is a rock-solid relaunch for the Valiant title with an interesting mystery about the main character’s “resurrection”. The story is fairly accessible for new readers to the title while still giving existing fans plenty to like. The discoveries around what’s happened to the city since Peter disappeared are relatively satisfying, and the art is serviceable.

Score: 7.5/10

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