Advance Review: The Life and Death of Toyo Harada #1

Valiant Comics is entering a new phase with the launch of multiple new titles with new creative teams. It is a major risk to have this much change especially when you are a publisher like Valiant that typically only has a limited number of active titles at one time. With The Life and Death of Toyo Harada they are bringing back a former Valiant favorite Joshua Dysart who worked with the company previously on titles like Harbinger and Harbinger Wars. Storylines he developed in those titles are still going on today and now he is back to continue what he started.

As the title indicates this series if centered on the character of Toyo Harada who is like a combination of Professor Xavier and Magento for the Valiant Universe. You never know if he is as villainous as he appears, but you do know he will do whatever it takes to complete his mission. He sees himself as a savior for his kind and as this issue shows it is a weight he has held onto for generations. Throughout that long life, he has seen the worst of humanity and it is for that reason he seeks to secure a better future. His methodology though does call into question if his actions will actually cause the very future he is attempting to avoid.

With this being the first issue for a brand new series one of the first questions to tackle is how welcoming it is for new readers? That is a somewhat difficult question to fully answer as you have two storylines taking place during different times in Harada“s life. New readers may not fully comprehend what is occurring in the present day as much of it is a result of the events of Harbinger Wars 2. Specifics of who some of the side characters are and what the current status quo of the world is now is not extremely clear. Newer readers could especially get lost as the limited context makes the motivations of the characters unclear.

In the present day, Harada is attempting to reach the alien debris that has been circling the Earth. Many nations see this mission as a threat believing Harada is trying to craft a weapon that would be more advanced than anything they can combat, which makes the limited force that confronts him and his team“s somewhat confusing. Considering the fate of the world may be at stake you would think a more impressive army would be sent to attempt to stop him. That“s a minor quibble as the bigger issue is how absent Harada becomes in the latter half of the issue. His team takes up becomes center staged as they do much of the dirty work on the ground as Harada makes his way to the outer atmosphere. That transition is not the smoothest as the momentum gives way under the weight of trying to do a little too much.

You end with a multitude of characters are who do not get quite enough context to make all of their moments work. There are plenty of bright spots including LV-99“s unexpected encounter with the local animal kingdom Separately they work well enough but as a whole, there is not a clear vision you can hook onto. The personal stakes are not quite there yet.

Part of that is due to the fact that Harada“s history is still being revisited. Those moments are by far the issue strengths especially when comes face to face nuclear disaster. It is a devasting moment that reflects nicely on the explosion motif that continues throughout the issue. It is also the most effective artistic moment in the book. Mico Suayan and Cafu split art duties and their styles complement each other quite effectively. They are similar enough that the tone of the series remains consistent but different enough to be distinctive.

Final Thoughts:

The Life and Death of Toyo Harada #1 is lacking a cohesive narrative that fully connects these differing sides of Harada, but the compelling dive into his past life gives some hope that this series has potential worth coming back for. It is as if writer Joshua Dysart is settling into his former home and just has not quite gotten into his groove yet. If he does it will make for a welcome return.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer:Â Joshua Dysart
Artist:Â Mico Suayan,Â Cafu
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: David Sharpe

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Daniel Clark

A fan of all things comics. Growing up on a healthy diet of 90's Batman and X-Men cartoon series ignited a love for the medium that remains strong today.