Harbinger Renegade Volume 2: Massacre (HARBINGER RENEGADE TP) Paperback – January 23, 2018

“Massacre” is a solid collection of comics but I’m not sure that it’s a good collection of “Harbinger Renegade” comics. One of the reason that Valiant’s “Harbinger” comics proved so memorable was the terrific cast of characters who composed the Renegades. They are mostly missing here, appearing in only two of the five comics in the collection. The major foe from the first volume of “Harbinger Renegade” is also mostly off the stage as the likes of Generation Zero, Hard CORPS and even a crusading knight from the end of the 11th century claim the spotlight. It seems a little odd that the namesake heroes of this comic get so little attention here. Despite that, Rafer Roberts does a fine enough job in telling interesting stories, offering a great battle scene, and even providing the deaths of a few major characters from other parts of the Valiant Universe. The art team, usually led by Darick Robertson, mostly excels here. It’s a fine enough book and clearly Roberts is building up to something big. I just wish the protagonists got more attention instead of showing up for less than half of the book. I’d give this book 3.5 stars if possible which rounds up my rating.

As a HUGE fan of Johsua Dysart’s “Harbinger” run, I was as reluctant as anyone when it was first announced that Rafer Roberts would be picking up from where Dysart’s “Imperium” left off and taking the characters of Peter Stanchek, Kris Hathaway, John “Torque” Torkelson, and Faith Herbert in a new, non-Dysart-approved direction. Thankfully, however, Volume 1 left me pleasantly surprised; though not as deep or as complex as the previous series, Roberts’ take on these characters showed more care and thought that I had expected, telling a story that felt more like a continuation of what came before than a hard reset. That care and thought continues in Volume 2, which – while perhaps not quite as fresh or surprising as Volume 1 – still does more than enough cool things with the gang (and takes the story in enough genuinely unexpected directions) to make up for it.