Valiant; $4.99 

Foundation City is a metropolis surrounded by a protective barrier meant to keep its citizens safe from the largely uninhabitable environment around them. The city is run by the Supremum, Peter Stancheck, and protected by the Harbinger Team. In the first arc of All-New Harbinger, the Harbingers battled the Human League, leading to Harbinger team leader Obadiah Archer confronting Stancheck about the bombings. It ended with the surprise reveal that new Harbinger CiCi survived the bombing.  

The new arc begins with Archer having a pretty bad day. First, when CiCi tells him what she witnessed during the bombing, he is reluctant to believe her. Then, Archer gets assigned to provide security for Ambassador Azevedo who is reviewing Foundation City’s application to join the Urban Union. They are immediately off to a rocky start, and things get even more interesting during a visit to a women’s prison. 

This issue written by Fred Van Lente is a much needed moment to regroup after the action, accusations, and revelations in the first arc. It’s an opportunity for Archer to process what is happening and for readers to learn more about Foundation City, and its relationship with other societies.  

Artists Erik Tamayo, Exequiel F. Roel, and Ludwig Olimba pack each panel with detail, putting as much effort into the backgrounds as they do in the characters and their emotions. Each setting has a distinct look, there’s a clear sense of the city’s different locales, and several panels strike a strong, dramatic chord.  

–Amanda Sheriff