The choices of the Harbinger Renegades continue to plague them. After releasing the names of all the potential psiots, many teenagers have died. But that’s not the worst of it. The carnage that has ensued has caused these heroes to place their own lives in danger on a multitude of levels. Peter had to go off the planet just to pull himself together. The psiot who can activate anyone with potential becomes emotionally damaged and broken. He can no longer drown out the voices. Kris feels the most guilt. She believes her actions brought all this destruction, endangered most of her friends and caused the life of one. Yes, she went to prison, but in comparison to what others have suffered it doesn’t even feel like a minimal sacrifice.
Writer Rafer Roberts is dealing with characters who are real. When Peter is in space in deep meditation he’s the comic book figure. Well drawn you are far removed from him. But in the second issue, we see Peter as a man, someone who’s dealing with a mental illness that he just can’t get a handle on. His behavior before he runs off the earth is what so many people who are battling with mental disorders are experiencing. Between the hallucinations and the ability to hear everyone’s thoughts, he can’t medicate himself enough to dull the pain. Life in and of itself is completely overwhelming. What makes this more than just a comic is that regardless of their super-abilities you get the sense that these people would have found another way to foul up their lives. Together they are a toxic explosion, but they are the only ones who can clean the mess they’ve made.
Even more layered within this drama is the character, Alexander Solomon. Once a trusted associate of Toyo Harada, he has the psiot ability of probability. Think of Domino from the Marvel universe only Solomon has more accuracy. He goes against Harada and is behind the murders of these potential psiots. He appears to be in control, however, this is the Valiant universe. If you think you’re the boss chances are there’s a larger figure whose making you think that, while all the time you’re doing their grunt work. While there are all these conspiracy theories are going on there’s a young man whose life has been directly impacted by what the Renegades did. By releasing a list of potential psiots to the world now Solomon’s people and the government are after him. But he won’t run. Jay Tucker is not going to spend his life fleeing from shadow governments of potential despots. Instead, he’s going to have to figure out why all of the sudden he’s so special.
Being well-adjusted is a rare thing, still with all the upheaval occurring Roberts does one amazing thing. He throws in Faith Herbert to ground this narrative. She’s one of the few heroes who knows and understands the weight of her purpose. Being a hero means standing your ground and fighting when you can. It also means waiting for the right time to face your enemies. And Jay needs that amongst the self-loathing of this team.
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