Like the other anniversary editions, Harbinger #25 is a collection of short stories rather than a single book. It ranges in tone from the serious “Wake, Part II,” which directly addresses the after effects of the Renegades attack on Harada, to the goofy “Fan Fiction” in which Peter is confronted with the nature of slash fiction.
The strongest story in here, the one which takes up the bulk of the issue, is “Wake II” which directly follows up on the destruction of Harada’s empire and show what happens when Harada is unmasked. Just a hint: He doesn’t give up on his ambitions to rule the world. Meanwhile, The Renegades, having accomplished their purpose and lost both Flamingo (to death) and Peter (to departure) are left rudderless, with no real reason to stick together, and the question of “What next?” hanging over them. Dysart continues to show that, even now, Harada’s organization does not consist of Pure Evil. He is ruthless and moving into open dictatorship, but there are reasons people follow him. The Renegade side of things, meanwhile, is a melancholy time. They really are lost. LaRosa captures the emotional strength of the tale. Faith’s body language and expression as she fights for some meaning in the events is particularly strong. The tale is a strong finish for the current Harada v. Renegades conflict, leaving room for everyone to be distracted by the Armor Hunters.
There is one noteworthy absence here: The Bleeding Monk, having made his dramatic appearance in Harbinger #24 has again disappeared into the woodwork. Since the last issue appeared to be setting him up as a major player, his absence is something of a surprise—I would have expected at least a single panel of him watching the news break.
“Into Memory,” “Fan Fiction,” “Cold Brains,” and “A Hero’s Mission” are snapshots of the Renegades at different points. “Into Memory” is a quiet tale told in the past by one of Peter’s friends, one that could be read either as heart-warming or chilling, depending on how one interprets the last line of the story and how one sees its relation to “Cold Brains,” a look into Peter’s past. Both are drawn soberly by Tiwary, LaRosa, and Henry, kept in quiet coloring by Reber, Lanphear, and Pasalaqua to reflect the setting in memory. “Fan Fiction” is a purely goofy story about the Harbingers discovering that there is fan fiction about them illustrated in a loose, cartoony style; it’s rather odd to have it positioned between the sober pair formed by “Into Memory” and “Cold Brains.” “A Hero’s Mission” is a quick, amusing joke between fans.
“The Wake II” continues with the tradition of a tense and inventive tale of contrasting ambitions and tangled teamwork. The other stories, like those in previous anniversary issues, provide varying views of the subject.
Contents:
“The Origin of Harbinger” by Joshua Dysart, Lewis LaRosa, and Romula Farjado
“Wake, Part II” by Joshua Dysart, Khari Evans, and Brian Reber
“Into Memory” by Vivek Tiwary, Lewis LaRosa, Brian Reber, and Dave Lanphear
“Fan Fiction” by Justin Jordan and Rafer Roberts
“Cold Brains” by Dan Goldaman, Clayton Henry, and Allen Pasalaqua
“A Hero’s Mission” by Lucy Knisley
Harbinger Pin-Up by Barry Kitson
Letters by Dave Sharpe
Maybe Stronghold will be a new member of the resistance once Omegas is done. That’d make sense, given it’s lost two members.
Oh, and by the way, I just remembered something bad about the original XO Manowar series. When the #0 issue came along many many months after #1, and actually bothered explaining Aric’s origin, it’s revealed that Aric finds the armoury containing Shanhara because Elvis Presley gives him the map! I wish I was joking!
Elvis Presley provides the map?!
I’d say Valiant has made some significant changes to the title this time around.
I’m so glad that this isn’t just two tiny random stories with a couple of pinups, like XO Man-O-Wars 25th issue! In my opinoin, a 25th anniversary issue should have some meat on its bones.
What I really hope for this series is that Stronghold eventually realizes Harada’s evil, and joins the good guys. That way, he won’t go beyond the moral event horizon, and/or get horribly killed. And that’s what happened in Classic Valiant. He and LIvewire were the leads (technically) in series Secret Weapons. Unfortunately Secret Weapons was kind-of shit, so I’m really hoping that this tries to do the character more justice than those writers did.
Interesting–I didn’t know about Stronghold’s previous series. He and Ingrid do seem to be decent; I’m not sure there’s enough of Harada’s humanity left for them to appeal to. It’ll be interesting to see how he evolves now.
I’m glad they took the space to finish off the story arc; it would have been terribly awkward to leave it dangling all through Armor Hunters.