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| The Harbinger #1 Cover A by Cris Delara |
In The Harbinger #1, penciler and inker Robbi Rodriguez awakens us to the rebirth of Valiant's beloved Harbinger franchise. Right from the first, we see psiot Peter Stanchek taking in his surroundings. The way his pupils peer into the darkened building, and his mouth is pursed, reveal his bewilderment.
The way Peter's covered in grime, and perhaps scratched in a few places, suggests that...well, something has happened before. But what?
Even though long-term readers of the Harbinger comics know that Peter has endured great trauma in his short life, we see little in the way of wrinkles. This, along with the disheveled hair style, underlines that Peter is still a young man.
As he sits up, we see he is as naked as when he first came into the world. Dirt and grim cover not just his face, but his entire body. The white areas around him almost resemble suds from an overflowing bathtub or washing machine.
Peter walks through the building. He peers around him like a child. Everything seems new to him.
Behind him, he leaves footprints. Could the floor be caked in a layer of ash? Is his skin blotted with soot?
Fire is another symbolic form of cleansing, and rebirth.
Finally, he sees the gorgeous city laid out around him. We also get a sense of how damaged this building is. The way the floors below seem relatively undamaged, while the immediate area in which Peter stands looks plowed in, reminds us of another traumatic event forever burned into our collective consciousness: the way terrorists plowed commercial airplanes into the World Trade Towers of New York City on September 11, 2001.
At the same time, it also reminds me of the tremendous damage wreaked by Peter and Toyo Harada, in the rooftop fight that would give birth to Peter's team of Harbinger Renegades.
Robbi Rodriguez shows Peter leaping off the building, exhilarated by the certainty that he can fly.
The way he's flies across the moon seems triumphant.
The motion lines that blur his surroundings tell us how fast he's falling. The way he's turned around to look back the way he came suggests the same sense of freedom or release experienced by a scuba diver underwater. Peter is clearly reveling in this discovery of his superhuman abilities.
When you learn something new about yourself, or discover an ability you never knew you had, isn't that another form of rebirth?
In The Harbinger #1, penciler and inker Robbi Rodriguez helps us experience the maelstrom of thoughts, feelings, and revelations Peter Stancheck undergoes in the first few pages. In so doing, he welcomes us inside the comic, and helps us journey alongside Peter, into this bold new era of The Harbinger.
Dragon Dave
P.S. Make sure you don't miss out on Peter's new journey by pre-ordering your copy of The Harbinger by Monday, October 4. (That's today, people!)
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