The Harbinger #5 Review

 

The Harbinger #5 Cover B by Isaac Goodhart

Much of The Harbinger #5 finds Peter Stanchek scrambling to clean up The Renegade's mess. Remember how Peter and his gang traveled around the country during Valiant Entertainment's first Harbinger series, trying to raise psiot-powered resistance to Toyo Harada's goal of world domination? Now the man who shares his brain--The Renegade--has been traveling around Chicago's Psiot City, activating any latent psiot he meets.

The centerpiece battle of The Harbinger #5 concerns Peter's battle with one particular psiot. You may find the panel below particularly interesting, with this giant monster ravaging an art museum. Note how artist Robbi Rodriguez has cast the bystanders in silhouette, and given the statue a 3D photographic look.

The new psiots' transformations are comparable to how people changed into Inhumans after the Terrigen bomb exploded in the Marvel Universe. This kaiju-like monster in The Harbinger #5 reminds me how the Valiant character Animalia manifested her power in Harbinger Wars, Generation Zero, and other series.

 

Check out the way Peter finds a nonviolent means of pacifying the raging monster in the smooth panel sequence below. The citizens of Psiot City, influenced by The Renegade, are not all rage-fueled villains. Most are good people, suddenly imbued with overwhelming power. 

Much like Peter himself.

Young Ago seemed like a shout-first-think-later type in The Harbinger #2. I like how he seems to have matured into an effective partner for Peter.

Their friend, the latent psiot Cici, wans to support Peter, and talk him through his dilemma. She also wins the award for more hair color changes by one character in a Valiant series. I get the sense that some time has passed since the last issue, judging by how her bangs have grown.

At the Knowhere Games & Comics signing for The Harbinger #1, writer Collin Kelly told me that Valiant Entertainment had not yet contracted with them beyond the first four issues. Perhaps this explains why artist writer Robbi Rodriguez's artwork sometimes looks less sharp and detailed than in previous issues.

Still, it's great to see Faith back in action. And fair warning: she's not exactly the happy, easy-going Faith we're used to.

Lastly, Peter may have destroyed The Warning's headquarters in The Harbinger #3, but that doesn't mean all its members have fled Psiot City. In The Harbinger #5, we learn more about one character's past, as well as his future plans.

According to my informal poll, nine out of ten psiots enjoyed reading The Harbinger #5. As for this non-psiot reviewer, I appreciate the continuity of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing ongoing monthly story, rather than having to wait months between story arcs. While a part of me yearns for a return to the standardized, almost photorealistic look of earlier Harbinger titles, I love Robbi Rodriguez's distinctive Manga-style art, Rico Renzi's wild coloring, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou innovative lettering.

 

The Harbinger #5 continues to weave Peter's past into his present, while invigorating the franchise with fun new characters. Events force him to constantly evaluate who he is, and how his actions impact others. While tackling difficult moral issues in a mature fashion, Peter and his friends don't sink into a morass of self-pity or self-loathing. Nor do our heroes get so lost that they start to resemble villains. 

Keep Peter Stanchek's new adventures coming, Valiant Entertainment, and I'll keep reading The Harbinger!

Dragon Dave