Harbinger, Vol. 3: Harbinger Wars

Harbinger (2012)

by Joshua Dysart (Writer), Khari Evans (Artist), Trevor Hairsine (Penciller)

Before the Harbinger Foundation, before Project Rising Spirit, Toyo Harada spent decades circling the globe, recruiting empowered individuals to his cause through coercion, intimidation and influence. But how is one deal brokered in secret between Harada and Rising Sprit Securities forty years ago now wreaking havoc in the modern day? And when the past comes roaring back, how will Peter Stanchek and the rest of Harada's most wanted react to the revelation of Rising Spirit's secret mission and the Harbinger hunter known as Bloodshot?
Join New York Times bestselling writer Joshua Dysart (Unknown Soldier) and acclaimed artists Khari Evans (Carbon Grey), Trevor Hairsine (X-Men: Deadly Genesis), Mico Suayan (The Punisher), and Pere Pérez (Smallville, Season 11) for a complete, standalone tale of the dark foundations behind Valiant's first crossover event.

Collecting: Harbinger 11-14, 0

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

I write comic books, graphic novels and novels. I'm a three time Eisner nominee, two time Glyph award winner, New York Times bestseller, a recipient of The Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year award, and have been in competition twice at Angoulême.

I've worked on Hellboy, Swamp Thing, & Conan the Barbarian; I co-wrote a graphic novel with Neil Young; I helped restart Valiant Entertainment; and I've done on-the-ground research in Uganda (2007), Iraq (2014), & South Sudan (2016), writting graphic novels about war and famine in those regions.

Goodnight Paradise came out in 2018 with long time co-creator Alberto Ponticelli and is a murder mystery set in the houseless population of Venice Beach, Ca.

My first novel (novella - it's only 100 pages) has dropped. It combines my love of slasher horror, Agatha Christie fair-play mysteries, construction sites, and bugs. It's called BROOD X. Buy it wherever trash genre books are sold!

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Good stuff!
Peter and the gang mount a rescue for other kids like themselves, Bloodshot makes an appearance, and you find out more about Harda's origin story.



Ok, so this is my first introduction to these characters and I don't feel lost at all. I mean, I'm sure it would add another level of interesting to the story if I already knew something about them, but Valiant has done a marvelous job making this newbie feel welcome.



I know it seems like some sort of an X-men rip-off to some of you, but this story felt fresh as hell to me. Very cool spin on some old tropes, in my opinion.
Highly recommended!

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The X-Men are not in Kansas anymore

Actually, and I know this is an obscure reference, but I think one of the reasons I like this series so much is that it makes me think of the 1981 Blue Oyster Cult song “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”.

“You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars
I've been living on the edge so long
Where the winds of limbo roar
And I'm young enough to look at
And far too old to see
All the scars are on the inside
I'm not sure that there's anything left to me

Don't let these shakes go on
It's time we had a break from it
It's time we had some leave
We've been living in the flames
We've been eating up our brains
Oh please don't let these shakes go on”

This song BTW which was a part of the Heavy Metal soundtrack was co-penned by none other than Fantasy Mastermind Michael Moorcock.

Anyway, another very cool entry in the Valiant Entertainment cannon. Something else cool is the inclusion of Bloodshot in this GN. One of the noteworthy aspects of the Valiant universe is the penchant for crossover appearances.

“Oh but Marvel and DC do crossovers too”, you say. True, but Valiant seems to make this a standard in their story arcs, and I always like it.

This edition is named Harbinger Wars and we have our heroes going mano y mano with Toyo and his henchman, there are some other kid psyiots who are in the middle, some flashbacks of a 50 years old battle in the swamps and lost of action.

On to the next issue!

[Ozan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started The big Valiant event called ''The Harbinger Wars'' with this volume. It was lots of fun to read. Gave you the back ground of The one of the main villains Toyo Harada and showed how much of a good little boy he was and how he became a capitalist business man, the owner of Harada Internatinal to ''save'' the world. (after all there is no other way than becoming a capitalist business man to save the world...-roles eyes-)the book showed you how The Harada Internatinal and Rising Spirit company rivalery game began. Don't get your hopes up kids btw, Harada was saving nothing... he lost his way and became a capitalist business man and as we all know, Capitalist Business Men are evil... They even sell their own borthers to protect their own wealth, so don't expect any ''saving'' the world from him. lol

The Peter and gang had it pretty rough... Bloodshot really messed them up. I liked the gang but Faith Character was so wholesome, she was the ''real'' goody two shoes super hero 'couse she was a comic book nerd and as we all know, if the comic book nerds had super powers, they would all use their power for the good 'couse we are all so wholesome and good persons... lol give me a break... lol just know that it is a good thing that i don't have super powers lol

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more on the 3.5 scale but going to go with 3 because felt the later half wasn't as strong as the first half. I haven't read Harbinger for I believe over a year but was pretty easy getting right back in to it. The group is easy to like and this volume mainly focuses on Toyo. This man has been hunting our main group of Renegades (Their name they made up) and you get to see his past. This also ties in with Valient's crossover Harbinger Wars so it has Bloodshot in it (Whom I not read yet) so there's that.

What I liked: Loved Toyo backstory. You really get to learn why he became such a prick but it makes total sense. His background is screwed up but insanely interesting IMO and I loved the end result of what happened to make him the business man he is today. Learn and grow. I also still enjoy the banter and characters of the main group. Peter is beginning to grow quite nice. From the first volume of being a complete ass to a man who can run his team is nice to see.

What I didn't like: Showing off bloodshot was...boring? I was expecting way more. Very underwhelming. Also the whole ending felt like they lost but not really lost much. I dunno the end result wasn't as exciting as I expected.

Overall this is still a real solid volume. A few negatives hold it back but damn I loved Toyo background. I hear the next few volumes really pick up so lets do it! A 3.5/5.

[L. McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I originally gave this 5-stars because I read the whole Harbinger Wars event in a certain order. One issue of Bloodshot’s tie-in, one issue of Harbinger and one issue of Harbinger Wars. Re-reading just this arc of Harbinger, I noticed a few problems.

What’s it about?
CROSSOVER WITH BLOODSHOT!
Peter and his team decide to help some kids who are in danger. Unfortunately that’s all I can say without spoilers. Oh, yeah, there’s also an origin story for Harada.

Pros:
The story is pretty interesting. This is a story of teenaged superheroes on the run and this kind of story can either end up being really good or really bad: Harbinger is one of the really good ones.
The artwork is fantastic! Valiant seems to always have amazing artists which is possibly one of the reasons why I consider Valiant to be my favorite shared superhero universe, the art here is SOOO good!
This team of heroes is interesting. I like how they sound like actual teens, they’re dialogue isn’t too much like an old guy trying to sound like a modern teenager. I also like how certain things about them can be relatable. For example: Faith’s love for nerdy stuff or how Torque’s a metalhead (and not the douchey stereotype).
There’s a lot of great action in this volume. I mean, it involves a crossover between Bloodshot and Harbinger! Of course we are going to get some great Valiant superhero action!
There’s a bit of comic relief that’s pretty good.
This story has more suspense than many superhero tales which I like.
Harada’s origin story is interesting.

Cons:
If there’s one thing to take away from my review it’s read some Bloodshot before reading this volume of Harbinger. Most Valiant fans will know that Bloodshot is a violent anti-hero character but fans who don’t know Bloodshot may mistake him for a villain because the characters in this mistake him for a villain so they’ll be confused.
There’s a group that the main characters help, they seem to be terrorists. I know that they’re not trying to be evil and they are trying to help the kids but I still think that what they were doing is shitty.
I didn’t care for the ending.

Overall:
Good comic though yeah, now I realize that there are some problems. If you enjoy superheroes Harbinger is a must-read though this volume is not as good as the previous 2 despite the Bloodshot crossover. Of course, like I said, read some Bloodshot before reading this. Well, off to re-read the Bloodshot stuff because Bloodshot is awesome!

4/5

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to interview the writer, Joshua Dysart, for our youtube channel. Check it out here! https://youtu.be/NVSJLjQqEz8 Be sure to subscribe.

Better than the Bloodshot tie in for Harbinger Wars, but still very tie-inish [sic].

I love the Toyo Harada backstory parts. He’s a fascinating character and it was nice to see this villain fleshed out more.

It adds a lot of context to Harbinger Wars, even if it doesn’t stand up great on it’s own.

Also, I LOVE FAITH.

[The Lion's Share · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 3rd volume lost its way a little and become a little confusing, jumping back into the past and the present day.

The introduction of bloodshot was underwhelming and I'm unsure if the plot moving forward after this one, still very much on board though.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title has gotten a bit crowded. The best part of this book were more focused on Toyo and Peter instead of this whole Harbinger team. Hopefully this title tightens up because its quickly going off the rails from a very promising start.

[Geekritique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find this and many other reviews at Geekritique!

Review of Harbinger, Vol. 1: Omega Rising
Review of Harbinger, Vol. 2: Renegades

The adventures of Peter Stanchek, now known by his new title as Sting, and the other Renegades continues into the events of the huge crossover event, Harbinger Wars. Volume 3 of Harbinger serves, not only to continue their story and beef up their personal viewpoint, but also to introduce the parallel storytelling of the first Harbinger War in 1969. Collected in Harbinger, Vol. 3 are issues #11-14, as well as a #0 issue used solely to set the stage for said parallel storyline, with Toyo Harada at the helm.

The #0 issue is a gripping tale of how Harada's powers manifested themselves to him during the bombing of Hiroshima in WWII, and how they grew throughout its aftermath. It itself parallels the 'now', which appears to be a period of time just before the Harbinger Foundation reaches out to Peter Stanchek. This is perhaps one of the best #0 issues I've ever read, and it flows extremely well into the events of Harbinger Wars.

We start where we left off with the characters at the end of Vol. 2 (or issue #10). They're on the run, being rebellious, living it up, starting bar fights, robbing banks and getting away with it via telepathy. Faith, resident idealistwith the ability to fly, just about has enough with the Renegades at this point. She freaks out on them, encouraging them to do something better. Just prior, Peter has a vision from the powerful and unreadable Bleeding Monk in which he must save a group of psiot children on the run from the P.R.S. (Project Rising Spirit). So, the team chooses to go and help them out in Las Vegas. Several other parties, either introduced in Harbinger Wars, or in the Bloodshot crossover, also head to Las Vegas for their own reasons. A large scale fight between 5 opposing teams begins.

Project Rising Spirit has been giving Toyo Harada and his company trouble for a very long time. Much of Harbinger, Vol. 3 is dedicated to telling Harada's back story, and how he and P.R.S. have fought in a Harbinger War in the past. Harada's backstory is truly one of interest to me, but at the same time the creators of the comic went out of their way here to make this as gruesome as can be. That wasn't cool. Several times it was too far. But as a historical background for the series, it grounds itself well into the canon.

This is pretty much the first time The Renegades have fought together as a team. And as such, it's the best volume yet. Although it often retread what the banner series, Harbinger Wars, was doing, it spun it in their own perspective, ofetn adding far more content than we knew we needed. If one were a fan of just Harbinger and not Bloodshot, you could easily read this and feel as though you've consumed a full story, despite only being a portion of it. The writers do an excellent job of making this a stand-alone piece. But you will get more out of it if you also read the other series.

Grab this in Paperback

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Dysart's characters are so wonderful, and I have become endlessly fond of each and every one of them. The standout issue here is #0, wherein Toyo Harada's activation and youth is explored more deeply, creating a portrait of not only an incredibly deep and sympathetic villain, but probably my favorite character in the new Valiant U. The Harbinger Wars issues are bound together by another narrative of Harada's past, his first large-scale conflict with Project Rising Spirit. The resulting tie-in with Bloodshot is impressive, and expertly crafted. The core story is bittersweet and even frustrating, but the displays of humanity create some wonderfully believable interactions, even when the heroes don't exactly win. Khari Evans also really shines in this volume. His pencils bring the Harbinger world to life for me, with every character's carefully placed emotions bleeding out of the pages. This volume was awesome, and full of ambitious character growth.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume ties into the Harbinger Wars crossover event. The event itself is quite good, but this volume felt a little disjointed. It shifts between the past and present. The past focuses on the early days of the Harbinger Foundation and Toyo Harada's struggle against the group that would become Project Rising Spirit. This complements the Harbinger Wars event nicely by filling in some gaps about the history of these organizations. The present portion of the story details the Renegades' part of the Harbinger Wars story. If I wasn't familiar with the overall event, I think I might have felt a little lost during this part of the story.

The art is great. It helps give a sense of the time when Harada was starting out and shows what these characters are capable of. I love that there are some very character driven illustrations amidst these significant events that could have been all about the action. It gives a nice balance to the arc. While this one felt a little less cohesive than the previous arcs, I still enjoyed it and will definitely continue reading this story.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review covers Harbinger Wars, as well as the two tie-in volumes for Bloodshot and Harbinger.

This story has been percolating for the first year of the Valiant titles, with Bloodshot volume 2 acting as a direct prelude. When two groups of psiot children escape from Project Rising Spirit, Las Vegas becomes a battleground that pits Bloodshot, the Harbinger Foundation, the Renegades, and Project Rising Spirit against each other in one massive throwdown.

The story set-up is pretty straight forward, but there's a lot to like here. The different factions all have solid reasoning behind what they're trying to do, and some miscommunication causes the rift between our two heroic sides, Bloodshot and the Renegades. It's fun to see all these psychic powers on full display, and especially good to see the Renegades kicking loose for the first time.

The main book is where most of the action is, whilst the tie-ins are able to delve more into the character motivations and history. You can read them all separately and get three full stories, but they all enhance each other when read together - exactly how tie-ins are meant to work for an event. Valiant have hit the nail on the head with this and pull it off very well.

Bloodshot's story introduces the HARD Corps, the previous incarnation of the Bloodshot program who have implants in their brains that can have single super-powers uploaded one at a time. These guys are going to play a role in the series going forward, it seems. Bloodshot's book also gives us some more background on the psiots that escaped from Project Rising Spirit, which fleshes out their plight quite well.

Meanwhile, the Harbinger tie-in focuses on the Renegades and the psiots that are already in Las Vegas, whilst also flashing back to Toyo Harada's previous dealings with Project Rising Spirit in 1969. This is the strongest of the three books in my opinion, balancing the character and action beats very well. Harada has been something of an enigma so far too, so seeing him take centre stage in the flashbacks is a good idea.

The best part of the crossover is the ending, since it's definitely not what you expect when this many characters clash, but I won't spoil that, it's too much fun.

Artistically, there's a cavalcade of talent on display, with Valiant's usual 'different artists for flashbacks' approach helping to balance everything out. Across the three books you have the likes of Clayton Henry, Pere Perez, Clayton Crain, Khari Evans, Barry Kitson, and Trevor Hairsine. They may not be the blockbuster names you might expect, but they're definitely a solid group of artists, without a weak link between them.

Valiant's first crossover event goes off without a hitch. There's a little bit too much overlapping between the main book and the tie-ins at times, but the tie-ins function very well, and the main event is solid superhero fun. Valiant prove once again that they're the publisher to watch at the moment.

[Ritinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Faith é um must, com a breca!

Também esta trade foi lida pela ordem cronológica, interligada com Bloodshot e Harbinger Wars. E sim, os filmes com os quais pretendem adaptar tudo isto ao cinema são bem capazes de sair ruins até aos quarks. Será triste e embaraçoso ver tão boa narrativa, servida por arte tão impecavelmente fiel, manchada por uma deprimência que nem filme de TV deveria ser.
A trade é uma boa trade, não havia necessidade.

Viva a Valiant.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

While my favorite Valiant character is Bloodshot, the Harbingers are right up there. The Harbinger Wars came down to Bloodshot vs Harbingers and this Volume played a key part in the storyline.

[Lionel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more about Harada than Peter... and really, an origin story of the bad guy in the middle of the crossover wasn't necessary

[ISMOTU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harbinger Wars is here, but in addition to tying-in with the first major Valiant event this volume manages to show Toyo Harada's past encounters with Project Rising Spirit and gives an extra layer of context and meaning to the big messy Psiot brawl in the pages of Harbinger Wars. The interweaving of this title with the others in the crossover was expertly handled in a way that actually impressed me. Harbinger as a title was only of middling interest to me before but this story showed me more of the potential.

[Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously cannot put this series down! I am so impressed with this take on superpowers and mutants. The same old song and dance definitely feels fresh while reading this. Again, the background info and flashbacks aren't boring in this volume. They are integrated into the story nicely. A lot more is revealed in this volume in terms of Harada, his background, and his affiliations and plans. We get to meet more psions and I am really liking the variety of powers that we are seeing. Overall, I am jazzed with this series and I am quickly devouring each volume.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the other books in this crossover, there is way too much going on. Harada continues to be the most interesting character in the book. The look back into his past was great. Faith is also so much fun to read. The story could have been elongated and fleshed out but I understand why it wasn't. The art by Evans and Hairsine was spectacular. The book, by itself, just has too much to process. The overall crossover is better than the sum of its parts.

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

BCDER: 48

I read Harbinger Wars first, so I felt like this was the same story just from another point of view. It's not done badly, it just seemed like I had to slog through it because I'd already read the storyline. The 1969 flashback was interesting and I enjoyed Cater's character and role in PRS.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm looking forward to more character and plot development like we saw in these issues. I like the look into Harada's background and getting more info on the two factions, Harada and PRS is interesting. As always the art isn't for me but I'm resigned to it. I'm excited to see how this whole story shakes out.

[Kavinay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What makes Harbinger so unique is that Harada is such an interesting figure for everything to revolve around. He's both Prof X. and Magneto in one and a lot more on top of that. What drives this book is as much Harada's combination of empathy and ruthlessness as anything the Renegades do.

[Jeff Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very little real development occurs. Feels like they're stretching the story like taffy... not really adding anything or going anywhere.

But hopefully it will resolve into something eventually. Still a compelling story/concept, well drawn.

[Kyle Pennekamp · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Toyo Harada stuff is great (as usual). The stuff with the kids... not so much.

[EM Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed getting to see the background of Harada in this one. Coukd have done with just a touch more Bloodshot for clarity, but I'm guessing that comes elsewhere.

[Anna Hepworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of back story that kind of explains where some of the threads from the previous two volumes have come from, but more angsty young man than I really want to read. Also some interesting contrasts between expectations and reality, and how people often don't think about the complexities of how a situation will play out, because they don't necessarily have enough information.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much better read than the Bloodshot crossover trade, this volume gives more backstory to the mysterious Toyo Harado, even if his actual plan is still unknown. Likewise, the different members of the Renegades (particularly Torque and Faith) shine a bit here as they try to help and fail miserably. A good continuation of the overall story.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent accompaniment to the main Harbinger Wars book, I would recommend reading it first. The main story, featuring the renegades (the team of rogue Harbingers we've been following since book one) trying to rescue young psiots in Las Vegas, is much more coherent and well-constructed than its companion story in Bloodshot, Volume 3: Harbinger Wars. But the best part of this book is getting a better understanding of Toyo Harada, the complex, sort of antagonist.

There's great action and storytelling here, and though it changes from third person to first person seemingly arbitrarily near the end, it doesn't interrupt the flow, and allows for a satisfying explanation for why Valiant Universe crossovers aren't going to be as decisive and Event-feeling as Marvel or DC crossovers.

Having started my Valiant Universe read with some 90s books, and then the underwhelming Shadowman books, I'm quite relived at how much I'm enjoying the Harbinger and Bloodshot components of the universe.

[Michael Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in conjunction with Harbinger Wars the mini series.

This book kind of blew. The backup stories about Harada and his past were pretty solid. They actually made more sense than the main story. It still bothers me that you can't tell where everyone's motivation comes from. These kids all have such extreme beliefs that they want to fight for, but they don't make sense. My biggest problem is that I still don't like these characters. Zephyr is the best of the bunch. I think she's a delight, but her motives are still unclear.

The art hasn't changed, so it still bothers me how shiny everyone looks. There's a different artist used for the Harada story and it looks so much better. I really hope the creative team on this gets updated soon. There's a lot of potential, which makes it all the more frustrating. I really may be dropping this title now until I hear that it turns around.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I would recommend Reading the trade paperbacks Harbinger Wars http://www.amazon.com/Harbinger-Wars-... and Bloodshot Volume 3 Harbinger Wars http://www.amazon.com/Bloodshot-3-Har... it will help you to get a better over all picture of what is happening in Las Vegas. I read the single issues in both of those volumes and it does add a lot more to the picture. As for the book itself once again Joshua Dysart does a great job of telling us the latest chapter of what is happening with Peter and his friends. It also gives us a good background on the hostilities between Harada and Rising Spirit.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3.5 stars if I could.

Continues the story of Peter Stanchek and his band of renegades, all with psychic powers and on the run from Toyo Harada, the man who wishes to use their powers to his own ends.

This volume acts as background to The Harbinger Wars, the first crossover for the re-formed Valiant Comics.

In 1969, Harada's company tries to make a deal with Project Rising Spirit, an organization that somehow knows his secrets.

It doesn't go well.

In the present, the renegades follow Peter to Vegas, where they meet more people with abilities and fight Bloodshot.

I'm enjoying this book. The art is always solid, and the story has a great "us against the world" vibe.

This is not a good starting point. It adds a lot of background to the story, and things aren't explained for new readers much.