“Death of a Renegade” Story Line Comes to Harbinger

In an exclusive interview with USA Today, Joshua Dysart has unveiled that one of the characters in his ongoing series Harbinger will be killed off in the upcoming story arc. This will be a major part of the next story arc, entitled “Death of a Renegade.” It will be a three part story, and will signal big changes for the book. Series writer Joshua Dysart went so far as to say that “It’s not hyperbole to say everything will change after this. People say that, but in the past we’ve proven we mean it.” This statement is true, as Dysart’s recent event Harbinger Wars certainly did ‘change everything.”

Additional details were also given out about the next story arc as well, which began with a hacker named Ax releasing tons of data about Toyo Harada, the series main antagonist. The executive editor at Valiant, Warren Simons, describes this as a “horrific mistake.” Those who read issue #20 will remember that the Renegades (Peter Stanchek, Torque, Zephyr, Kris, and Flamingo) showed up on the scene to assist Ax in his escape. However, apparently enough damage was done that Harada no longer has any need of his former alter ego as a businessman, and now we will “see the most dictatorial aspects of his nature change”, says Dysart. This is likely what causes the flash forward that we saw at the start of the most recent issue of Harbinger.

According to what information we do have, the Renegades will make an attempt to confront Harada head on, while still being chased by Project Rising Spirit (PRS), and this is what leads to the deaths of one of their team mates. Valiant hasn’t pulled a DC on us, yet, so we do not know which of the characters will be dying. It is unlikely that Peter Stanchek will be the character that dies in the series, and it is equally unlikely that Torque will be killed off, as he already “died” in the 1992 run of Harbinger. This leaves Kris,  Zephyr, and Flamingo as the likely suspects.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) Dysart has also said that this death will be permanent, telling USA Today that ‘You really have to mean it”, and that this character will “only be used in flashbacks and prequels from this point on.” This will defy the common comic book trope of killing off a character, and then reviving him or her a few years later.

Harbinger #21 will release next month, though this story arc will not begin until Harbinger #22, the cover of which can be seen below.