Deathmate

So here's the thing about being a genetically engineered super-soldier with nanite-infused blood that can heal you from even the most devastating injuries. The same thing that makes you great at getting your job done at all costs, surviving mission after mission to fight again? It also makes you great for training an even better super-soldier, because they can just keep on hunting you as you adapt and learn to become an even tougher opponent. It is, by all reasoning, the perfect way to make a killing machine. And that, unfortunately, is what Bloodshot's about to find out firsthand when Valiant releases Jeff Lemire, Mico Suayan and David Baron's Bloodshot Reborn #14, which kicks off "Bloodshot Island," a story that introduces us to Deathmate and shows us just how she got so good at killing. Check out a preview, but be warned: There's a Bloodshot Dog in this (which is great), but there's some bad stuff that's happening to him.

Recently, Valiant Entertainment put out a teaser image proclaiming "DEATHMATE IS COMING," leaving everyone to speculate what Deathmate means and what it might have to do with the 1993 Valiant/Image crossover of the same name. It looks now like the new Deathmate has nothing to do with that crossover, because she's not an event, she's a character. I suppose it's possible she's the daughter of Doctor Solar and Void, who loved up on each other in that story, but given who currently owns what, that seems highly unlikely. In fact, Deathmate seems far less human than even those far-out characters. She appears to be a some sort of incredibly cybernetic (or just robotic) killing machine. She'll make her debut as an antagonist in the upcoming Bloodshot Reborn story "Bloodshot Island," which begins in issue #14, written by Jeff Lemire with art by Mico Suayan. The book goes on sale in June.

DEATHMATE IS COMING! At least according to a cryptic teaser from Valiant Comics sent out earlier today, announcing a new series or possible summer event from the publisher in the vein of their previous Armor Hunters and Book of Death crossovers. What’s interesting about Deathmate, however, is that it shares its name with a Valiant crossover from the early 90s with Image Comics.