Written by: Joshua Dysart
Art by: Robert Gill
Publisher: Valiant
With the end of Armor Hunters coming at the end of this month, the tie in mini series are beginning to come to a close as well. Armor Hunters: Harbinger #3 is the first Armor Hunters issue this month, and also the first of the tie ins to come to a close, and it does so masterfully. After two issues of great, nuanced set up, the creative team of Joshua Dysart and Robert Gill completely cut loose with this issue, and it definitely feels deserved. The duo, along with colorist Romulo Fajardio and letterer Dave Sharpe, deliver an exhilarating, high stakes conclusion. Sure, it’s pretty much just action throughout the entire issue, and a lot of it is dumb fun. That being said, the last two issues had so much depth that this feels like the creative team’s reward.
This is an issue that readers will likely zip through. It’s a quick read, which is odd, considering that it’s one flaw is that parts of it are over written. This is undeniably an issue, but it felt like it didn’t matter because of how quickly I went through this issue the first time through. It’s a great example of a high stakes, big conclusion. It’s a little bit chaotic, but this simply mirrors the feelings of the characters in the issue, who are thrown into disarray after the Armor Hunters’ bugs attack them. This confusion lends itself extremely well to the issue’s relentless pace.
Of course, most of the action works so well not because of Dysart’s writing, but because of Gill’s art. His pencils, combined with Fajardio’s robust colors, really serve to bring the twenty-plus page action sequence come to life. The psiots always look dynamic in their struggle to defeat their assailants. This definitely helps to keep the book moving along at a brisk pace, and each and every panel is visually dynamic and easy to follow.
Despite sticking solely to action for most of the issue, Dysart chooses to round out the mini series with an ending that is emotionally impactful. This mini series has centered far more around the members of Generation Zero than it has the remaining active members of The Renegades, who are largely just supporting casting characters. The ending narration, over the course of the last four to five pages, brings their arc full circle, truly establishing them as a tight knit family. The whole idea of being connected by some type of shard consciousness is great, and it’s easy to see the contrast between them and the Renegades.
Armor Hunters: Harbinger #3 is a swiftly moving, high intensity, climactic way to end this mini series. The creative team cuts loose to deliver and issue that, more than anything, is just a lot of fun, before leaving readers with an impactful ending. Both the art and the writing are completely on point in this issue, and even some minor flaws fail to significantly detract from the overall quality of the issue. Really, this finale is the perfect end to the stellar tie in mini series.
