Jeff Lemire Talks Bloodshot Salvation

"I can't tell you or Matt Kindt would kill me."

That's what Bloodshot scribe Jeff Lemire has to say about the future hinted at in Book of Death, in which Bloodshot will apparently square off the the Psi-Lords.

Lemire had much more to say about his new title, Bloodshot Salvation, which debuts in comic shops in September from Lemire and artists Mico Suayan and Lewis Larosa.

During an interview ahead of Comic Con last week, Lemire revealed to ComicBook.com that his initial Bloodshot pitch was for 25 issues, and Bloodshot USA had brought a close to that chapter of his time with the character.

The ability to create new material and not just be creating the illusion of change before restoring the status quo for the next writer is a big part of what appeals to Lemire, who has written his share of corporate comics but generally leaves them pretty quickly.

"The things that we write [at Valiant], we're still kind of building the universe and the things you write have an impact on the world and get in on the ground floor of this shared universe," said Lemire, who also recently took a job on The Terrifics for DC. "When I can take a character like Bloodshot and really build his mythology and his supporting cast, it's like you're building a whole new universe."

The character of Rampage, a villain from the pre-reboot days of Valiant, will appear in the series -- something that has been promoted quite a bit in the run-up to the book. Don't expect Lemire to just bring the old guy into the new universe, though.

"All I took was the name," Lemire admitted. "I didn't look at or read any of the old stuff, which I'm sure the hardcore Valiant fans will ravage me online for saying that. One thing that really stuck out to me looking back on my initial Bloodshot series was that for the most part, Bloodshot didn't really have a villain in the whole 25-issue thing. In the early issues he was kind of his own enemy, and later on it was the abstract idea that the nanites were kind of the villain. That seemed like an area where I could still add to things and build some stuff out. It's fun to take one of the old concepts and reinvent it. An inverse of Bloodshot felt like a fun place to start and from there you fit it into where you already wanted to go."

The idea of just doing an evil doppelganger for your hero is not new to superhero comics, of course -- almost every major character has such a foe -- but Lemire isn't worried about that.

"It's all in how you handle these things. Sometimes tropes are a great place to start and then you can really f--k with them," he said. "With Rampage and the Scarred Man, it's like with everything on Bloodshot. I'm kind of subverting it: you take the idea of the supervillain and I don't want to spoil what we're doing obviously but it's not going to be the typical supervillain; we're going to do something very different with it. It wasn't what I planned, but I really like what we did and I think readers are going to be surprised."

Readers who want to get their hands on a copy of Bloodshot Salvation can pre-order one from their local comic shop, or reserve a digital copy here. You can check out the solicitation text below, and an exclusive preview of the first issue in the attached image gallery.

Written by JEFF LEMIRE

Art by LEWIS LAROSA and MICO SUAYAN

Cover A (Standard) by KENNETH ROCAFORT (JUL172245)

Cover B (Villains) by MONIKA PALOSZ (JUL172246)

Cover C (Battle Damaged) by TOMÁS GIORELLO (JUL172247)

Interlocking Variant by GREG SMALLWOOD (JUL172249)

Bloodshot Icon Variant by DAVE JOHNSON (JUL172250)

Brushed Metal Variant Cover by MICO SUAYAN (JUL172251)

From New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Moon Knight) and extraordinary artists Lewis LaRosa (BLOODSHOT REBORN) & Mico Suayan (BLOODSHOT REBORN), a bloody and vengeful new era for Bloodshot begins this September as Ray Garrison escapes his violent past to build the one thing he never thought he'd earn: a family. But when a hateful secret from his true love's past threatens their fragile peace, Bloodshot will be forced to run headlong into a barrage of blood, bullets, and broken bones for a revenge-fueled assault that will have crushing consequences for those he holds most dear…

His sacrifice will be her salvation.

Now: In the arms of his beloved girlfriend Magic, Bloodshot has finally found hope for the future…in the form of the couple's unborn child. But when Magic's estranged family – a cruel and sadistic clan of homegrown criminals – re-emerge to lay claim to their lost daughter, Bloodshot will be pushed back to the brink of madness, mayhem, and warfare…

Soon: Eight years from today, Bloodshot's daughter has inherited her father's incredible abilities. Hunted by a high-tech kill squad called Omen, Jessie must hone her powers…and learn how to survive before the world is swallowed whole by the darkness that now pervades America…