Eternal Warrior #5 (December 1992)

This week, I thought it would be neat to do something a little different: review a comic book from a non-Big Two company. In this case, Valiant Comics. It's not something I do often, but hey. Variety is the spice of life. 

Valiant Comics was formed in 1989 by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and lawyer/businessman Steven J. Massarsky. Shooter had been unhappy with the state of Marvel at the time he was ousted, mainly due to excessive delegation. He and Massarky had actually attempted to outright buy Marvel Comics but got outbid by Ron Perelman. The two would instead found Voyager Communications, the original parent company of Valiant.

The original Valiant Comics universe would be graced by veteran talents like Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith thanks to Shooter's time at Marvel. Also, Shooter's vision of the Valiant Universe drew from the intentions of Marvel's New Universe a few years earlier: a more "realistic" take on a superhero universe, less of the more fantastical elements that you'd see in the Marvel and DC Universe. Characters that died tended to stay dead, and superpowered characters tended to eschew colorful costumes and identities. There were stronger links between titles, and less usage of the "floating timeline" concept. The Valiant Universe was also a mix of original characters and characters licensed from Western Publishing's Gold Key Comics (mainly the likes of Magnus, Robot Fighter, Turok, and Dr. Solar). In fact, the first issue of Valiant's Magnus, Robot Fighter comic was the first comic the company released in 1991. Valiant would also be an innovator in the industry. "Zero issues" that told origin tales? Chromium covers? Those were all born in the Valiant Universe.

The comic we're looking at here is one of Valiant's home-grown heroes: The Eternal Warrior. First appearing in Solar: Man of the Atom #10 (June 1992), and created by Jim Shooter and Don Perlin, the Eternal Warrior was born Gilad Anni-Padda in Anatolia in 3268 BC (yeah, our man's the first Turkish superhuman to grace this blog). He discovered in his childhood that he was immortal, and that he was stronger, faster, tougher than ordinary men. He also could shrug off wounds that would cripple or kill other men. He would often travel and get guidance from the various Geomancers of the Valiant Universe (Geomancers are quasi-sorcerous beings chosen by the Earth itself to defend it). And he was not the only immortal in his family. His brothers Ivar and Aram would become known as respectively the Timewalker and Armstrong from sister Valiant title Archer and Armstrong. When the Valiant Universe was rebooted in 2012, these three immortal brothers were given an evil sister, the just-as immortal Vexana the War-Monger. His first series would last 50 issues from 1992 to 1996.

Since Valiant is a shared universe, it'd make sense that he'd encounter other characters from said universe. Let's look at his first meeting with another Valiant Original in Eternal Warrior #5!

The cover is a Joe St. Pierre, Paul Autio, and John Dixon piece. It's pretty cool. We see our titular Warrior and Bloodshot fighting some anonymous goons together, promising that these two Valiant Originals will be teaming up for an adventure. Doesn't quite work out that way, though. It's still a cool cover, though.

"The Blood is the Life"
Writer: Kevin VanHook
Penciler: John Dixon
Inker: John Dixon
Colorist: Paul Autio, Knob Row
Letterer: Jade Moede
Editor: Don Perlin
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Layton

The story begins not the then-modern 1990s, but 1497. The Spanish Inquisition is at its height, which was something nobody expected. But then again, the Inquisition itself was not expected.

Sadly, our man isn't being annoyed by three English men in red robes. Instead, he's chained in a castle. Drugged by alchemists, his brain is a bit confuzzled at the moment. He's being dragged out to be burned alive. It's been discovered that he is a superhuman, and as such, he's believed to have sold his soul to Satan for his power. The Inquisitors try to burn him, but the immortal Turk has shaken off the alchemists' drugging. The fire helped him sweat the potions out of his system. Gilad breaks free of his bonds.

"I want my MONEY, Seb!"

He easily strangles Father Sebastian and fights his way through the Inquisitors. He laments that he had only wished to be left alone. He had no issue with them, but they hungered for his immortality. And it only got them killed. Such a waste. And rather ironic.

Well, can't feel too bad for those guys. They were Inquisitors, after all. We then go to the then-present. The date? July 1, 1992. The time? 6:34 PM. The place: Los Angeles, California. The Eternal Warrior is in his apartment, and he as a guest.

"I got a shiny new gun, and I can't wait to demonstrate it."

Meet Bloodshot. Like Gilad, he is another one of Valiant's original characters. This version of him was once a hitman named Angelo Mortalli (ha ha), who ended up a test subject for a clandestine operation called Project Rising Spirit. The Project's goal was to create superhuman weapons. He was injected with nanites that give him superhuman abilities, most notably a powerful healing factor and technopathy. It also erased his memories of his past life. Having centuries of experience in combat, Gilad realizes Bloodshot could have "killed" him before he stepped into the room. 

It turns out that Bloodshot wants to give him a warning: Project Rising Spirit is after him as well. They know he's an immortal, and that's got their interest. As the two head into a car and leave, Gilad thinks he'll have to find and warn Aram. Logically, if they know about Gilad, they may likely know about Aram too. Presumably Ivar is on their radar as well, but considering his power, he'd be pretty hard to track, much less find. Another car with gunmen inside ambushes them, so Bloodshot decides to borrow a move from an action movie.

"Oh, man! Jerry just made his last payment on this car! He's going to kill me, Bloodshot!"

Bloodshot tells Gilad he'll lead them to the Factory District near Walnut Avenue. I wonder if this is a nod to Walnut Park in California. This story is set in Cali, after all.

Gilad leaps out of the car as Bloodshot drives away. Our immortal man calls for a taxi. However, Bloodshot's plan ended up not quite working. Either their gunmen saw it coming, or there was more of them than either of them thought. The taxi isn't faster than the gunmen's car, and it is turning said conveyance into Swiss cheese. The driver spots more on the overpass. Gilad realizes they're trying to pick him off from above. But he's got something for that.

Pictured: Gilad's design for a new Power Glove. No wonder Nintendo rejected it.

Gilad and his Spike Glove leap from the taxi and takes the men on. They're trying to graze his head, but they only manage to wound his shoulder as he beats them down.

 

One grumbles that Iwatsu doesn't pay them enough for this. "Iwatsu" is a reference to Hideyoshi Iwatsu, the head of Project: Rising Spirit. After the men are dealt with, Gilad asks the cabbie to take him to the nearest branch of the London Bank. He wants to pay for the damages to the cab. Presumably, after that little trip, Gilad goes to see an old friend of his. 

"Quick, Bobby! Play some Elton John!"

Meet Jessica Cranston. The two first met around ten years earlier in Grenada. I can assume that they met during the US-led invasion of the country in the early 1980s. She was a medic then, a music teacher now. Her medic skills come in handy as she helps get the bullet out of the immortal fighter's shoulder. She notes that it's been three years since they last hung out. She also notices that the round he got was a Glasier. Yeah, I'm assuming that's a brand of gun. 

Gilad tells her that someone figured out he was immortal. They're presumably after him to find out how that works. Jessica answers that finding a way to prolong life doesn't sound so bad. She'd likely benefit as sadly...she has terminal lymphoma. 

Gilad has outlived many people he considered friends. He's outlived many he's loved. Yet, something like this...he still never knows how to deal with it. I mean, it's not like the man can talk to a therapist about this. "I'm an immortal warrior who has seen so many people I love die and I still feel helpless about it." I mean, he'd get locked up in a funny farm if he tried!

But seriously, Gilad asks her if there's anything he can do for her. After all, being immortal, he likely has access to resources that can help her out. All Jessica wants is for Gilad to come by more often. After all, he'll never know if she'll still be around when he does. He makes her a deal: he'll come by next month, and she'll stick around them. It's a nice little moment.

The time? 8:35 PM. The place? Walnut Avenue. A taxi takes Gilad to said avenue. Our immortal man spots one of the cars that pursued him earlier today parked in front of a warehouse. He believes that Bloodshot may be waiting for the gunmen. True to Gilad's predication, the nanite-powered hitman is there, playing spider waiting in his web for some flies. 

"🎵Doo doo doo, loadin' my gun, doo doo doo...🎵"

Bloodshot is able to take care of two of the gunmen, but a green van drives through the front door, knocking him off-balance. One of the men in the van points a rocket launcher at Bloodshot, saying he's got orders to take the man back, even in pieces. Gilad smashes his way in through a window (avoiding getting glass in his eyes through awesomeness), takes the rocket launcher, and uses it to blow up the van...after warning Bloodshot to get clear, of course.

The exploding van seems to take out the remaining gunmen. Bloodshot arrives, and Gilad tells him he is, but he's getting too old for this. Heh heh. Bloodshot asks why Gilad came back. Well, it was his fight, too. After all, he's a target of Project: Rising Spirit. Gilad tells Bloodshot about his overhearing the name "Iwatsu". Bloodshot accepts it and walks away, as it's the only lead he's got to find who he is. The story ends with Gilad watching Bloodshot leave, wondering who he pities more: the man with no memory of his past...or the man who cannot forget it. 

I enjoyed this issue. I do wish that we did get to see more interaction between the Eternal Warrior and Bloodshot. After all, the two of them do have interesting commonalities and contrasts. They are both practically unkillable warriors. Gilad is an immortal who remembers his millennia of life, while Bloodshot is a hitman who doesn't remember his life before he gained his powers. That's ripe for exploration. Not to mention the cover promised a team-up.

I did enjoy the scene with Gilad and Jessica. It would be easy to show him as weary with the world, which is an understandable mentality to have. After all, Gilad is thousands of years old. Man has seen a lot of triumph and tragedy. I get the impression that the Eternal Warrior is a man with a great heart, despite all he's lost. He hasn't let himself completely harden, and that's nice.

John Dixon is a name that I don't hear when it comes to great artists, and honestly, that's a shame. I think he turns in some stellar solid work here.

So, what happened to Valiant? In 1994, Voyager Communications (Valiant's parent company) was bought by Acclaim Entertainment and renamed Acclaim Comics. The Valiant characters would appear in various video games until the company declared bankruptcy in 2004. In 2005, the rights to the Valiant characters (the home-grown ones, the licensed Gold Key ones are now owned by Universal), were obtained by a group of entrepreneurs that formed Valiant Entertainment. They would reprint the classic Valiant material until formally relaunching the universe in 2012. They're still going today. So yeah, Valiant never really went away, they just went dormant for a little bit.

If you want to read this for yourself, I found this reprinted in the 1994 trade paperback Valiant Comics: The Valiant Era Collection. It was a trade that reprinted six of what the cover claimed was the most "sought after" Valiant comic books. This comic was one of two issues reprinted in it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!