Project Rising Spirit filled your head with dozens of fictional wives, children and friends, tailor-made for every possible scenario. Your brain is like a TV. They change the channel, you become absorbed in a new show. A show you think is your life but it is not. They do this to motivate you. You’ll kill anyone they point you at if it means protecting the ones you love. I should know. I created half of them myself.
Dunk Tank[]
Appearances[]
Featured Characters:
- Bloodshot / Ray Garrison (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Mr. Kuretich (First appearance)
Villains:
- Project Rising Spirit
- Hutch (First appearance)
- Simon Oreck (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Abu-Zabed (Mentioned only)
- Ahmed (Only appearance; dies)
- Apanewicz (Single appearance)
- Ashley Garrison (hallucination)
- Calkins (Mentioned only)
- Captain Lowe (Only appearance; dies)
- Jennifer (Mentioned only)
- Johnny Garrison (hallucination)
- Lisa (Mentioned only)
- Rose (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- MQ-1C Predator Drone
- Nanites (First appearance)
Vehicles:
Credits[]
- Writers: Duane Swierczynski
- Pencilers: Manuel Garcia, Arturo Lozzi
- Inkers: Stefano Gaudiano
- Colorists: Ian Hannin
- Letterers: Rob Steen
- Cover Artists: Arturo Lozzi (A / Gold / ODD / DMG), Mico Suayan (B), David Aja (1:20), Esad Ribic (1:50), Lewis LaRosa (2nd), Blank Cover
- Editors: Warren Simons, Josh Johns (assistant), Jody LeHeup (associate)
- Editor-in-Chief: Warren Simons
Synopsis[]
Bloodshot has commandeered an ambulance that was transporting him after his plane crash and has forced the EMT who was working on him to drive him to his "home" He searches his memory bank and recalls a tender moment with Ashley, one of the wives uploaded to his memory. Using Ashley's image from that memory, he scans his database and finds the real world match for this woman -Ashley Spellman in Albuquerque, NM.
He forces the EMT to knock on the real Ashley's door and the EMT explains to the middle-aged woman that Bloodshot has a gun trained on Ashley’s adult son who is mowing the grass in her backyard and wants to talk to her on the phone or he will shoot her son. Ashley takes the call and Bloodshot demands to know how many Spirit Agents are watching her home and who hired her to pretend to be his wife. He mentions Dr. Kuretich and Ashley (who is not aware of any of Kuretich’s work) instantly remembers him as a guy she once dated in high school.
After mining Bloodshot’s metadata, Kuretich’s crew hones in on Atlee, NV, or at least the remains of that town, but they initially find nothing there. Kuretich explains that this was a former Project Rising Spirit research site where former P.R.S scientists and their families lived. The military was trying to create the world’s best defense system but something went horribly wrong in the town and Bloodshot’s minders programmed him to finish off the destruction of the town (and it’s citizens) in order to cover up the accident. Afterwards they buried the entire town and all of the people who were wiped out.
Back in Ashley Spellman’s living room, Bloodshot figures out that Kuretich used his old memories of real people from his life to feed Bloodshot’s memory system and to give Bloodshot people to care about and be motivated to "save”.
While Bloodshot is unraveling the mystery of his past memories, Mr. Dodge and his crew are honing in on his location with their “weapon” in tow, a woman named Pulse who is programmed to deliver a massive Electro Magnetic Pulse bomb that will neutralize the Nanites in Bloodshot’s system that regenerates his body whenever he is injured. Without the Nanites functioning, Bloodshot is rendered powerless. A member of Dodge’s crew frets that setting off an E.M.P bomb, while not injuring humans directly, will cause hospitals to go offline, cars and possibly even planes to crash – and more.
Bloodshot senses Dodge’s plan and that he is closing in on his location. In order to draw Dodge and the E.M.P. away from the populated Albuquerque area. He hops in the stolen ambulance and floors it out of town. Dodge’s crew quickly catches up to Bloodshot. Dodge fetches Pulse to set off her E.M.P. at which point Pulse states her desire to kill Dodge. Dodge brushes her threats aside and forces her out of the truck and has her release her pulse. The pulse causes the ambulance to flip over and Bloodshot is tossed from the vehicle. Dodge approaches Bloodshot who realizes that he not regenerating like he normally would. He demands to know what Dodge did to him. Dodge states his regret that he is forced to kill Bloodshot but after what Kuretich did to Bloodshot, he is now too dangerous to let live. With that he shoots Bloodshot in the face.
Notes[]
- This issue is reprinted in the collected edition Bloodshot: Setting the World on Fire. It was also reprinted as a "One Dollar Debut" issue in May, 2013.
- A black-and-white version of this story, Bloodshot (Volume 3) #1 Director's Cut, is printed in the trade paperback, Bloodshot: The Glitch and Other Tales that was published in (June, 2015 ).
- The Blank Cover is a convention exclusive cover that was made available at Baltimore Comic-Con (Baltimore, MD) in September 2012. It was limited to 1,000 copies only. It's a flipbook with Archer & Armstrong (Volume 2) #1 thus it actually has two blank covers or one wraparound blank cover.
Quotes[]
- I told you, Hutch... I'm out. And you know exactly why. Now are we gonna go have that porterhouse you promised, or do I have to beat you to death with the stump of your own arm?
- -- Ray Garrison
- Cheer up, Bloodshot. I'm about to set you free with the push of a button.
- Project Rising Spirit filled your head with dozens of fictional wives, children and friends, tailor-made for every possible scenario. Your brain is like a TV. They change the channel, you become absorbed in a new show. A show you think is your life but it is not. They do this to motivate you. You’ll kill anyone they point you at if it means protecting the ones you love. I should know. I created half of them myself.
Gallery[]
Cover Art[]
Archer & Armstrong #1)
(March 9, 2015)
Note: The "DMG" branded reprint is in Chinese language and was distributed during a press conference in Beijing, on March 9, 2015, during which DMG Entertainment announced their investment in Valiant Entertainment. This reprint is considered very rare.
Cover Art (Textless)[]
Panels[]
Related[]
- Bloodshot
References[]
This section is for footnotes and citations.