Bloodshot Salvation Writer Drops White Supremacy Angle to Explore Faith, Revenge and Parenthood

Exploring the next phase of Bloodshot's life.

By Joshua Yehl

During today’s third annual Valiant Summit, the upcoming comic series Bloodshot Salvation by writer Jeff Lemire and artists Lewis Larosa and Mico Suayan received the spotlight, and one topic of note was how the comic originally set out to tackle the issues of the alt-right and white supremacy but Lemire decided to change course and go in a different direction.

“The more I worked on the book, the more the political aspects I had planned just started to feel obvious and forced,” Lemire told IGN. “So, Bloodshot will not longer be going up against the alt-right or any white supremacists in this series. That stuff was feeling very heavy-handed. And I also felt that including the white supremacist/alt-right angle was just distracting from the story I really wanted to tell with Salvation. So I have removed many of those elements from the series altogether. That's the joy of working really far ahead, it allows me to get a sense of the series as a whole and shift things.

“I know, personally, I get enough politics on a day-to-day basis and know that it's the last thing I want to read about in my comics. And if I wasn't feeling it, I knew the reader wouldn't either. So instead I've adapted and adjusted things and focused more on the aspects of the story that excited me. Salvation will be a series that explores faith, revenge and parenthood, which is what I originally wanted to focus on anyway.”

(Click through the slideshow below for an exclusive first look at some uncolored pages from Bloodshot Salvation #1.)

This new series has a dual timeline structure where one story follows Bloodshot in the present and the other follows his eight year-old daughter in the future just as she inherits her father’s powers.

“There is a lot of mystery around the character and that mystery will be a major driving force for the story, so I don’t want too spoil much,” Lemire teased about Bloodshot’s daughter. “I can say that her name is Jessie, she is the daughter of Ray/Bloodshot and Magic, and she is a ton of fun to write. She will play a major role in the series and in Bloodshot's mythology moving forward.”

Lemire first started writing Bloodshot when he did a soft-reboot of the character with Bloodshot Reborn. With that comic ending in March, it paves the way for the next chapter of the character’s journey.

“[Bloodshot Salvation] picks up right where Bloodshot USA and Bloodshot Reborn #0 left off. But it also marks a big shift for Bloodshot. He is now a parent, and his mission and focus shifts to protecting Jessie from all the various factions hunting her. Salvation will build off of everything I did in Reborn, but it will not retread the same themes or events. It breaks new ground and takes the character on a whole new journey," Lemire said.

Here’s the full solicitation information for the first issue of the series.

BLOODSHOT SALVATION #1

Written by JEFF LEMIRE

Art by LEWIS LAROSA & MICO SUAYAN

Cover by RYAN BODENHEIM

A BLOCKBUSTER NEW ONGOING SERIES! From New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (Bloodshot Reborn, Moon Knight) and extraordinary artists Lewis LaRosa (Bloodshot Reborn) & Mico Suayan (Bloodshot Reborn), a bloody and vengeful new era for Bloodshot begins this September as Ray Garrison escapes his violent past to build the one thing he never thought he’d earn: a family. But when a hateful secret from his true love’s past threatens their fragile peace, Bloodshot will be forced to run headlong into a barrage of blood, bullets, and broken bones for a revenge-fueled assault that will have crushing consequences for those he holds most dear…

Now: In the arms of his beloved girlfriend Magic, Bloodshot has finally found hope for the future…in the form the couple’s unborn child. But when Magic’s estranged family – a cruel and sadistic clan of homegrown criminals – re-emerge to lay claim to their lost daughter, Bloodshot will be pushed back to the brink of madness, mayhem, and warfare…

Soon: Eight years from today, Bloodshot’s daughter has inherited her father’s incredible abilities. Hunted by a high-tech kill squad called Omen, Jessie must hone her powers…and learn how to survive before the world is swallowed whole by the darkness that now pervades America…

ONGOING SERIES | BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 2017

Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

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