Secret Weapons: Another ‘mutants coming of age’ tale

Secret Weapons is a pretty interesting first volume Trade Paperback. The Single issues were released early in 2017, with the TPB in January 2018.

In this universe, Psiots (read: mutants) are unsurprisingly debased, the history of this negative viewpoint is unknown. Not all of them are powerful, in fact many are considered a bit useless- like a girl who can speak to birds, a man who can conjure artifacts, but not control what useless thing will arrive when conjured.

Part MysteryMen / Part Xmen, Secret Weapons takes the trope in a different direction with an unusual cast of characters, abilities, and (most importantly) the delivery of the common plot.. The standard trope continues to apply for a while before diverging: Psiot rejects are housed in a school of sorts and after being attacked are spread thin without leadership. The attacks continue as they are hunted by a malevolent force. The Psiots must locate eachother, team up, and overcome their shortcomings.

So how does this differentiate from other mutant tales?
Secret Weapons is simply a bunch of young adults who wish people would leave them alone. No egos, no costumes, no bullshit.

This no nonsense approach is great. Also fresh- current day problems (race/religion) raising their head with continued relevance even when compared against the follies experienced by those with extraordinary abilities.

A exciting edgy graphic novel. The illustration style really matches the feel of the story and helps convey it in the best way possible.

I received this free through Net Galley, but my opinion is my own.

Probably 4.5 rounded up to a 5. My thoughts may change, but this is exactly what I was looking for right now. There was no ground shaking addition to the graphic novel genre, but the story was rock solid, the characters were interesting and the powers were fun. The art was clean and crisp and really appealed to me.

Great stuff!

A highly entertaining story with some interesting characters and a good plot. I enjoyed the story and the art immensely and would definitely recommend it to any graphic novel fan.

'Secret Weapons' by Eric Heisserer with art by Raul Allen is a story about the people who get the reject powers when superpowers are doled out.

This story takes place after Harada has been defeated. The psiots who had been rejected have escaped from a place called the Willows, but someone is out to kill them or use them. There is a pretty powerful psiot named Amanda McKee who is looking out for them.

This is pretty ragtag bunch. One guy can turn to stone, but he can't move once he is stone. A woman can talk to birds, which means she has a flock of birds at her disposal. The third member can conjure up random items that seem useless or unrelated. Together, with Amanda, they are a pretty interesting team.

The story of oddball superheroes was good. The art by Raul Allen was superb. I really liked his style and it seemed to be such a good fit for this story of folks who have been gifted with seemingly worthless powers.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Valiant Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Live Wire tracks down a bunch of misfit psiots. They are being hunted by some roboty thing that absorbs their powers. The series has some potential even after the slow start. It's times like this that I wish Valiant would break from its 4 part story formats. The book could have used a couple more issues to flesh things out into a more well-rounded book. Raul Allen's art is good but the colors in the book are terrible.

Whatever you think about Valiant, they do reign supreme in just dumping you in the middle of whatever it is they're doing and leaving you to it. Normally you're left supposed to know about thirty years of back-story, and how that affects a reboot that's tied in with six or ten other comics in their universe. This book might indeed reflect on a fraction of their world, but at least it seems to start with less baggage. It doesn't go far, other than building a team of oddly-powered teenagers, but it's reasonably entertaining, and if you sit down and work out what's happened before we join in (a problem typical to Valiant, with their everything-must-be-in-four-parts policy), you can get something out of it.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would!
The basic premise is pretty much "what if the X-men had the worst powers EVER?"
An evil dude named Harada has experimented on people to bring out latent super powers - and the characters in Secret weapons are the ones whose powers were kind of duds:
One can turn himself into stone.
One talks to birds.
One makes things glow. Yeah. Just... glow.
And one can actually make things appear out of thin air! Except... he had no control of when it will happen and he has no control over what thing will appear - like when he gets fired for accidentally materializing a shotgun at work.
For some inexplicable reason someone has put a hit out on these seemingly useless mutants.... and they need to figure out why and who.

I am delighted and entertained by this title. Characters that you care about. An interconnected storyline that stands on it's own, regardless of it's Valiant heritage. You do not have to have read anything from Valiant prior to reading this. It will draw you in and fill in the blanks along the way. A rousing good tale! Recommended.

Former Harada associate Livewire is taking a look at the Harada's Harbringer organization. Livewire has discover a place "The Willows" where six psiots had lived there. Livewire discovers that Harada had some success in causing their powers to be activated. However Harada decided their powers were not useful, in fact the powers were silly. What powers do these psiots have? Livewire goes looking for these psiots. Why? Another is looking for these psiots. It is the villain Rex-O. Why is he looking for them? What will Livewire or Rex-O do if they find them? Will the psiots group together and be a team after escaping a robot? Livewire doesmake thema team. How? Will they be ready for their challenge?

It's an interesting graphic novel. In the beginning not being familiar with these characters, I had a little trouble understanding what was being written by the author. The artwork is excellent. It's a beautiful written and illustrated graphic novel.

The theme of the misfit finding their own self worth and the confidence to go with it is a theme that repeats often. Heisserer has crafted a story around a group of teens with an odd assortment of psychic powers that seem, at least at first, of no particular importance or use. Yet, as the story is told we see that what often seem laughable as a power can be useful. One can talk to birds, one can turn to concrete.

The very abilities themselves are amusing and one is challenged to decide if "Secret Weapons" is a spoof on the whole genre or just Heisserer having a bit of fun? There is a darker background story that is developed in this volume, no doubt to play out more fully as the series develops.

My rating is good, but no great. The plot line is predictable, the characters understandable. The art agreeable. But, the work seems to offer little that is new.

My thanks to netgalley for a review copy.

There is a lot to like about this book. For Valiant fans, it introduces some new characters, while giving new readers a good place to get a feel for the universe. Since it is about the rejects of the Harbinger Foundation, the story is more lighthearted without being goofy. The powers that these new characters possess are lots of fun: talking to birds, making things glow, turning to stone without being able to move, and creating random objects out of thin air.

The thing is, these young people and many others have been revealed to the world. And someone out there wants to see them destroyed. A former Harbinger Foundation leader, Livewire, learns about these kids at the same time as everyone else, but sees it as her duty to protect and train them. So, as someone is hunting them down she is teaching them how to defend themselves. That part of the plot does a lot to set up future storylines, especially if they expand their circle to draw in other rejects.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about this book is how well the characters are developed. We get to see moments that wouldn't necessarily occur in other comics. For example, the character that talks to birds gets a scene where she chats with them about a woman who feeds them in the park. It might sound dull, but it creates a sense of who she is and her place in the world. To see her develop from that point is satisfying.

The art is great. It is used to wonderful effect to show off the characters' powers. But the more mundane moments aren't forgotten about. There is a good balance between the two, especially as the characters are just coming together. I would love to read more about these characters and get a chance to see what they are capable of.

I really enjoyed this story, though I felt like I had missed some vital piece when I started reading. Not sure if this is a continuation of a previous Valiant comic series, but it has made me curious for more of Valiant's stories. Will definitely pick up the next volume when it comes out, and I'm going to look up more of Valiant's comics! The art was amazing and I really loved the main characters. Their powers were unusual but really cool and I really can't wait to find out more about them!

I really looked forward to this book when reading the description but it kind of fell short. I lacked a background that explained a little bit more about the psiots and their discovery. I also thought the color scheme was a little bit to green and dark.

Although Secret Weapons dumps you smack into the Valiant universe, it is at a place where it isn't problematic. Yes, you'll realize fairly quickly in the beginning that there is much more to the story; fortunately, the plot narrows nicely to where it is just about the 4 main characters and you don't notice it's not part of a bigger universe.

Story: A very talented psiot (psychic powers) named Harada spent his life creating people with supernatural abilities. It's a dangerous procedure, 1 in 4 survive, and the abilities released were unpredictable. Some were considered very useful while others were considered 'rejects' and sent to The Willows as an 'insurance policy.' When Harada died, his plans were leaked and psiots all over were endangered. Amanda, "Lifewire" McKee, comes across one such place - The Willows. Four reject psiots survived - a woman who can talk to birds, a man who can randomly generate objects, a man who can make objects glow, and a man who can turn himself to stone. They are being hunted down by some kind of monster and only Livewire, who can communicate with machines, can save them.

The premise of the story is different - here we have the 'rejects' who were overlooked for those with flashier powers. But are their powers really that useless? As we see throughout this first issue, it may not be that the powers are useless so much that no one took the time to examine them more closely and develop them.

Each of our protagonists has a unique history and personality: Nikki is a free spirit living on the streets and conversing with the birds all day. Owen can randomly (uncontrollably) manifest objects and it costs him a job when it happens. Avi is trying to go to university but dealing with both being a psiot and a Sikh - two things that draw far too much attention. Avi can turn to stone but it immobilizes him at the same time. Trying to save the kids is Amanda McKee - she IS powerful but she also recognizes the potential in her three new charges.

The artwork is well done but, again, we have a cover that in no way reflects what you will see inside. But the art and coloring are solid and tell the story well.

This is more of a prequel - setting up a story line using our 'rejects' and helping them to discover their full potential. Of course, it is up to them to surprise the world. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

From the guy who wrote the screenplay to the Amy Adams/Jeremy Renner movie Arrival, this was a story along the lines of Marvel's Inhumans or X-Men. People have intriguing super-abilities, but there are really amazing powers and rather oddball powers. The ones we get to meet are the ones with the oddball powers, who have been neglected, if not rejected, by those who might be interested in this kind of thing, because they're considered unimportant. One of them, for example, can talk with and understand birds; another can magically pull an object out of thin air, but he can't really control what it is he pulls; a third can turn to stone at will.

It's only as the story progresses that we can see that these powers might be of more utility than they initially appear to hold, and that they can be especially good when several such empowered people, known in this story as psiots, work together. The guy who can magically make things appear only learns later where they're coming from, and it's actually quite interesting, but not everyone is neglectful of these people. A government employee, Amanda McKee, is a technopath who can communicate with electronic systems even when she has no device in her hands.

Known by the inevitable code name of Livewire, she is investigating what's left of a facility run by Toyo Harada, who is the most powerful telepath there is. He's Amanda's former mentor and he's responsible for discovering and 'activating' these psiots. Many did not survive activation, but those who did were secreted in Harada's facility, and now they've been cast loose, abandoned to fend for themselves, which would have been fine except for the fact that a machine named Rex-O, which can absorb the powers of psiots, is hunting them down apparently intent upon wiping them out. If it absorbs Amanda's power, it can find all of them. And it's just captured her.

Although this is far from 'off-the-beaten-track' - in fact, it's on a track which has been pretty much beaten to death by now - the story was nevertheless engaging and intriguing. The characters were interesting and relatable, and they certainly made me want to follow them and see what they get up to. It helped that the artwork was good: well-drawn and nicely-colored. I liked this graphic novel, and I recommend it as a worthy read.

As a fan of comics and graphic novels since I was a child, I've had a bit of a soft spot for them as an adult. This one fit in that spot and made me feel right at home. Lately I've had a bit of a hard time finding American graphic novels that I really enjoy but I could see myself following this series quite easily.
This starts the saga of a group of misfits who have had their secret powers activated, only to be disappointed. In their society you can basically be a carrier but, until the power is activated, you do not know what it will be. Imagine being able to turn your whole body to stone or summon something at will. Both sound great except that when you're stone you can't move to fight. The summoner of the group can't really fully choose what he summons. Throw in a girl who can speak to birds and you've got the beginning of the team. At first they don't believe they can help but they are shown differently and quickly have to work together or be killed.
I really did enjoy the read. If I had any qualms about the novel it would be that the team seems a bit like an outcast version of X-men but even that could turn out to be a good thing. Only time will tell if this great start will grow into an awesome series.

Secret Weapons expands on Valiant’s active psiot library of characters by introducing 3 new heroes; Nikki, Avi, and Owen, rejects of the Harbinger Foundation who were unable to meet perennial bad guy Harada’s weaponised needs. Their shortcomings are abilities that, on face value, seem to do little, and have no benefit to contributing to Harada’s army (read Harbinger for more on Harada). Nikki can talk to birds, Owen can summon random objects at will with little control over the objects he summons, and Avi can turn himself to stone (which comes in handy throughout the book). The three are discovered and promptly recruited by Livewire, founding member of the Valiant comics superhero team ‘Unity’.

What proceeds is a true hero verses villain troupe as Rex-O (new villain) steadily attempts to dismantle the team in order to make himself more enhanced.

There’s a lot of bonding going on between the three psiots which shows promise for further stories involving the trio, unfortunately, as this is a mini (4 issues) I don’t know when the next adventure will come.

Secret Weapons serves as a great introduction to a new group of characters who all have a lot of promise. It’s a shame this series wasn’t marked as an ongoing or a maxi series as the mini just gets the reader comfortable before sweeping the characters away.

My rating: 4/5 stars

Valiant’s comic universe continues to grow with their latest offering of Secret Weapons by Eric Heisserer. A group of psiots, people with powers that have been activated, are being hunted. The curiosity being their powers would largely be decried as useless in a sea of powered heroes. The book unfolds predictably, but not without charm, as the erstwhile heroes figure out how to utilize their powers to save themselves in a myriad of situations. The big bad is not very memorable, and the book largely serves as an origin story for the heroes and a showcase for Livewire, one of Valiant’s marquee heroes, and her new charges. Comparisons to Marvel’s X-men or New Mutants are easy to draw. However, the book remains a quick, well-paced adventure story that I enjoyed. The art is different than in other valiant books, and there are memorable panels in each of the the book’s four chapters. While working as a continuation of various Harbinger storylines, the book works as a stand alone entry into Valiant universe as well. It is a nice chapter to ongoing story lines, and I look forward to the next volume.

Review provided in exchange for copy provided by NetGalley.

Valiant Charts Its Own Course

I'm always interested in what Valiant's people are doing because they seem willing to take risks and to explore new territory; the results are usually good, or at least entertaining. This series, which introduces a new Valiant super-team, is no exception. Indeed, for what it's worth, I reacted to, and "cared" about, these characters much more than is usually the case.

The frame for this book, (which collects the four issue story arc), brings us into a continuing storyline, but at a convenient entry point that allows the reader to get up to speed quickly. In an earlier story a villain named Harada collected psiots, (people with psychic abilities), for an evil purpose. He dumped young psiots whose psi powers were useless into a holding facility called "The Willows". When Harada was defeated the Willows was abandoned and these "useless" psiots escaped. We start this series at the point at which the rejected psiots are being hunted down and killed, for no apparent or practical reason. Amanda McKee, (Livewire), undertakes to find, save, and team up these psychic losers.

The psychic powers are odd - one character talks to birds, one can turn himself into marble at will, one can conjure up random unexpected items, one can make things glow. What we learn during the course of the story is how such a ragtag band of rejects can pull itself together for mutual aid and protection. Unlike the "super" heroes one usually encounters - who are so dark and angsty and drama-queeny - these are heroes the reader can get behind. They are likeable and relateable; they're also confused and desperate. How they make the journey from disorganization and fear to self-reliance and pride, how they become a team, is the real story here. It is engaging, entertaining and satisfying. That's really sort of surprising for a superhero sort of story, and I for one found it refreshing and engaging. This was a nice find and an enjoyable tale that looks like it has a future.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)