Divinity III: Heroes of the Glorious Stalinverse

Divinity

by Jeff Lemire, Joe Harris, Scott Bryan Wilson

Not a dream… Not an alternate reality… This is the Valiant Universe of today…

The world has gone red and Valiant's leading legends – Bloodshot, X-O Manowar and Shadowman – now stand at the forefront of the global Soviet war machine! Meanwhile, the conspiracy-smashing duo of Archer & Armstrong find themselves condemned as enemies of the state and sentenced to life in the deadliest prison known to man.

Torn from the pages of DIVINITY STALINVERSE, come four essential tales chronicling the history that has reordered the Valiant Universe as we know it, from acclaimed writers Jeff Lemire, Joe Harris, Scott Bryan Wilson and Eliot Rahal and all-star artists Clayton Crain, CAFU, Robert Gill and Francis Portela.

Collecting DIVINITY KOMANDAR BLOODSHOT #1, DIVINITY ARIC, SON OF THE REVOLUTION #1, DIVINITY SHADOWMAN AND THE BATTLE FOR NEW STALINGRAD #1, and DIVINITY ESCAPE FROM GULAG 396 #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2017

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories set in the Stalinverse featuring the Valiant heroes we all know and love twisted into Russian versions. Plus, backup stories detailing the origins of the members of the Red Brigade.

The best stories were the one about Bloodshot and the one for Archer and Armstrong. The ones for XO-Manowar and Shadowman were all about the Deadside. I find the current iteration of the Deadside extremely boring. Shadowman (along with the Deadside) were done much better in the original Valiant universe.

[Judah Radd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhhhh it was ok. I liked the Bloodshot and X-O stories. The Shadowman one didn’t sufficiently explain why he’s working for Russia and the Archer & Armstrong story was straight up shit. It was like… evangelical? Like… that’s not the message of A&A. It was out of character. The origin snippets ranged between neat and meh. Overall, this could have been way better, even if the art was consistently awesome.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world has changed, and the Valiant heroes you know and love are now warped by the Stalinverse!

Like the Book Of Death and 4001AD companion collections, Heroes Of The Glorious Stalinverse collects four one-shots focusing on characters who have been changed by the main event but aren't necessarily the focus.

We start with Komander Bloodshot, which is the only one written by the usual series writer, which makes this easily the best one. Jeff Lemire and Clayton Crain bring in all of Bloodshot's supporting cast as he attempts to squash some familiar Resistance fighters, and while it doesn't really explain why Bloodshot is how he is as part of the Stalinverse, it's a great little story that shows how love can transcend anything.

Aric, Son of the Revolution by Joe Harris and CAFU isn't a bad story exactly, but it does a lot of setting up without sticking the landing - we never really learn why Aric is working with the Soviets, since the explanation given feels kind of weak, given how the character acts outside of this series. The colour change on the armour is a good touch though.

Shadowman And The Battle Of Stalingrad is one of the better Shadowman stories I've read from Valiant, although it's also a bit scattershot in its approach. Aside from a big fight scene and some waxing poetic about values, it's all flash and no substance from Scott Bryan Wilson and Robert Gill.

Finally, Escape From Gulag 396 is an Archer & Armstrong story, which relies too much on a final reveal that it spends a bit too long getting to. Eliot Rahal reduces Armstrong to a crying mess while Archer is mostly bland, and Francis Portela's dead eyes make the visuals more than a little creepy.

Each issue also has a short 6 page story focusing on one of the Red Brigade, some new characters that fight alongside Myshka in the main Divinity III series. They're written by Matt Kindt with art by Juan Jose Ryp, and he manages to lay enough groundwork in so few pages that I really hope we get to see some of these characters again.

So, mixed bag, as usual.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects four one shot stories connected to the events of Divinity III. Each one features a different Valiant hero within an alternate history (ish) where the Soviet Union became the leading superpower during the 20th century. There are also four separate, smaller stories that provide the origins of some new characters introduced in Divinity III.

Someone unfamiliar with the Valiant characters coming into this book would probably be unimpressed or maybe even put off by it. There seems to be an expectation that the reader will know about who these characters are and why they are important. That being said, this is a great collection of stories for someone that is interested in seeing some favorite characters in a different light.

Bloodshot's story is fantastic. It does a nice job of balancing the importance of the Soviet Union's power with Bloodshot's personal interests and history. This same sort of thing happens in the Archer & Armstrong story, but it focuses more on their relationship. It serves to highlight some of what makes them different and how that makes them work together so well.

The plot in the X-O Manowar story is okay, but the layout and the art more than make up for it. It retells Aric's return to Earth from X-O #1 in light of the Soviet domination. Not the most original story, but it is wonderfully put together. The laggard in this group for me was Shadowman. The role he plays in the overall concept is necessary, but the character seemed kind of flat, or at least less developed than the others.

I really enjoyed the volume as a whole. The art is good all around and the book serves as a nice deviation from the standard stories.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divinity III: Stalinverse Heroes. These hero one-offs that seem to have become de rigeur for Valiant's crossovers, and they're always the least bit of them. This is no exception. There's an Archer & Armstrong issue which is brilliant, because it really goes to the heart of Archer's character, and a Bloodshot issue that's good. The X-O and Shadowman stories helped to explain their places in the Stalinverse, but weren't notable otherwise. Each issue also has a short origin of one of the new Stalinverse characters, and they're interesting [4/5].

[Anchorpete · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the hell was this?

I was steadily following all of the Valiant books, until the collective libraries in my area ran out of new volumes. I had read Divinity one and two, but I have no idea where this one came from. Does the female Cosmonaut from the second divinity go back in time and alter history?
I am assuming that is what happens. Honestly, who cares what set this alternate earth up, this book is a fantastic collection of hopeless stories.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This companion volume to Divinity III highlights stories of the different characters in their "Soviet personas." X-O Manowar, Shadowman, Bloodshot and Archer and Armstrong. The new characters introduced are spotlighted as well. It's mainly just background stories but they do provide some background on the main story.

[Thomas Maluck · Rating 4 out of 5]

These character pieces, while strictly backstory surrounding the Divinity III main event, are all well-done and worth a look. Valiant has a great talent for these miniature spinoffs of their events that don't go on forever yet are interesting enough that I kind of want them to.

[Marcelo Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esto se sigue sintiendo como propaganda, pero admito que eso le da un gustito.
Mientras la historia no fue del todo placentera en el volumen tres de Divinity, es bastante más agradable ver las realidades alternativas de lo que deberían ser héroes. Y también sirve como publicidad para el resto del universo Valiant, hay un par de personajes por ahí que lograron interesarme.
Aunque no tiene mucho de historia, tiene bastante de personaje. Quien diría que un universo paralelo serviría tan bien como introducción a un universo,

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Archer and Armstrong story.

I really wish that Stalinverse was bigger than it was (yeah I said that about a crossover) as this volume shows how much room there is to play in this event...so much more room!

[Tomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have only one problem with Stalinverse... there is not enough books from the Stalinverse. I would read anything really.

And Clayton Crain should draw every single comic book there is. His art is amazing and instantly recognizable. Shame that not whole issue was drawn by him

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the Valiant universe. This is a companion piece to Divinity III. It gives background information about the characters found in Divinity III as they are new to the universe. I enjoyed the deep dive.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each member of the Red Brigade is featured in his or her story. These one-shots showcase their origins and loyalty to the party. At the same time, the oppressive soviet regime often shows how little it cares about people, its main focus being world conquest for the sake of it.

[Kaiulani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed these stories more than the main arc.

[David the Ñoldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed all of these, but I think Escape From Gulag 396 was my favourite out of all of them. Plus I enjoyed the mini-stories concluding each issue about the various members of the Red Brigade World Security Force.

[Culgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Te gustará si te llamaron la atención esas versiones comunistas de los heroes Valiant. Pero se queda en eso, un mero mini desarrollo del Stalinverso, curioso pero prescindible.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stalinverse from the perspectives of the (anti)heroes. Mixed art, decent stories.