Project Rising Spirit has had a long reach. During the time they were testing their latest weapon on the old model Bloodshots each resurrected soldier from different eras in history would wake up, run for their lives, die horribly only to have the next day start the same way. That occurred until Ray Garrison, the most recent Bloodshot arrived on the island. He brought what the others had long abandoned – hope. As of now he’s found a respite from the constant terror of PRS. As for the other Bloodshots, they are now part of the government that hopefully won’t exploit them. Wishful thinking aside this one-shot shows how WWII and Vietnam Bloodshot spend their one day off.
For WWII Bloodshot it’s a reminder of that television series Highlander. Duncan McLeod far outlived the mortal friends he had made over the centuries. In one episode Duncan embraces an older man and the gentleman calls him by name. Then he realizes that this man can’t be the Duncan he knows, the man in front of him must be Duncan’s son. You see the sadness in the highlander’s eyes as he can’t share who he really is. Duncan goes along with all the memories of his past constantly haunting him. For him there are some disadvantages to immortality. The same goes for WWII Bloodshot. We learn he has a name, a past and that PRS stole so much from him that the same haunted eyes are on his face. You see how much he’s lost. He was a part of the greatest generation and he never got to reap the benefits of it.
For WWII Bloodshot at least he had a choice in becoming a human weapon. For Vietnam Bloodshot there was no such thing as volunteering. Vietnam was the war everyone wanted to forget. It became full blown during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency. The protestors would chant things like ‘Hey, hey LBJ how many babies did you kill today?’ And the soldiers who were drafted into a war no one understood why they were fighting were treated just as bad or worse. But, this Bloodshot was not a coward, when he was drafted he manned up. But the experiments he alluded to in previous issues of this comic book series are seen in full graphic view. And seeing what he did will make you sad and angry. Think of the original ‘Roots’ miniseries when Levar Burton as Kunta Kinte is trapped by slave-traders in a net, like some animal. Now, imagine that three-fold.
Both men come to some sort of reconciliation. Through Eliot Rahal’s writing and Khari Evans’ artwork, their antagonism towards each other is put into clearer context. You’ll feel wretched for what they lost. At the same time closure never promises you a happy ending. Instead it gives a camaraderie that no one else has experienced what you have. Because of PRS, WWII and Vietnam Bloodshot have formed a brotherhood. And it only makes them more formidable. The next time something cataclysmic happens, they’ll have each other’s back.
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