Publisher: Valiant
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Trevor Hairsine
Colourist: David Baron
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99
With Divinity III: Stalinverse #2 (of 4) Matt Kindt and Valant continue to boldly go where no comic book company has gone before.
Everyone pretty much thinks of superheroes as an American phenomenon, with the notable exception of Manga and the sporadic British efforts starting in the 1960’s and resurrected every now and then by Alan Moore and of course France has a long and noble history of comic books, but the essential superhero is US based and always has been. Until now.
Divinity III: Stalinverse #2 (of 4) presents a reality in which the Soviet Union and not America came to prominence as the main superhero nation, complete with an alternate history timeline, explaining how it came about. Valiant are at pain to point out that this is not an imaginary tale or an alternate universe, this is the now and forever the Valiant universe so get used to it. A bold move indeed with long lasting repercussions for the whole Valiant line.
Except, and here’s the fly in the ointment, Russian Intelligence Officer, Colin King, aka Ninjak, remembers when things were very different. Can he do anything about it? Well, as this is an event-level epic the answer is, probably not anything very soon. Everything hinges on three Russian cosmonauts, Myshka, Kazmir and Abram Adams, aka Divinity – who is currently drugged up to the eyeballs in an insane asylum – who went on a deep space mission and came back with cosmic level, reality bending powers. Whatever they did wiped out all records of “before” and the only vestige of that information resides in the brain of the nanite infused one-man war machine, Bloodshot.
Phew! This is getting complicated. Valiant is probably the most integrated publisher around at the moment. Not content with the occasional sales boosting guest star cross-over, their whole line in intended to be read as one overlapping continuous story. Whatever slight confusion this may cause is well worth it because Matt Kindt and company give us some of the most intelligent, cohesive and exciting material you are likely to find anywhere. Marvel and DC have had the monopoly on multi-part epics for far too long.
Now, It’s Valiant’s turn to step into the spotlight and Divinity III: Stalinverse #2 (of 4) is as good a jumping on point as any, but don’t leave it any longer or you’ll be forever trying to catch up. Go for it now and enjoy this ride.
Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker