The Life and Death of Toyo Harada Vol 1 1

RUN! Run from my ardent gory butchery! Run from the coming carnage! Clk! Clk! Clk! Your death is my gospel!

-- LV-99

Solicitation[]

Final Solicitation[]

The Atomic Age.

Eisner Award-nominated writer Joshua Dysart (HARBINGER, HARBINGER WARS) returns to the Valiant Universe to continue crafting Toyo Harada’s controversial mission to save humanity from itself. Presented in an oversized format and featuring a lineup of all-star artists, including Mico Suayan (BLOODSHOT SALVATION), CAFU (RAI), and more, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOYO HARADA will place the planet’s most powerful man in the spotlight as he strives to control the course of history. But with the menacing mastermind’s resources dwindling after the downfall of the Harbinger Foundation and a target on his head, will the formidable psiot re-emerge as humanity’s greatest hero…or its most dangerous villain?

First Announcement[]

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOYO HARADA #1 marks the return of writer Joshua Dysart, who made his indelible mark on the Valiant Universe with groundbreaking work on Harbinger, Harbinger Wars, and Imperium, as well as the re-emergence of one of Valiant’s most larger-than-life characters: the Machiavellian mastermind known as Toyo Harada!

In 1945, the bombing of Hiroshima awakened an immense and terrifying power inside young Toyo Harada. A literal “child of the bomb,” as a newly orphaned teenager he quickly discovered that the explosion had unlocked extraordinary and extremely rare psionic powers within him. Powers that could allow him to read thoughts and control matter… To bend steel and stop bullets… To manipulate armies and deceive governments… To reshape the wills of men…and build a better world.

Ripped from his own family in a blinding flash of heat and fire, Harada set out to build a new one for himself…and dedicated decades to finding and activating other unique “psiots” – thousands of fellow latent telekinetics unknowingly living across the globe – that could be harnessed to further his mission. Across the years, he publicly became a billionaire businessman and philanthropist as CEO of Harada Global Conglomerates, while in secret, he quietly erected the Harbinger Foundation – a clandestine international operation dedicated to recruiting and training psiots for the day when their skills would be needed.

Now, that day will finally come. With the existence of psiots revealed to the world and the Harbinger Foundation left in ruins, Harada has been run to ground and outed as the invisible hand behind the course of recent human history. With his resources dwindling and a death warrant on his head, the world’s most powerful man is about to become its most dangerous…

Hero or villain? In March 2019, the world will decide for itself as the man behind the Harbinger Foundation advances his plan to save the human race from itself in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOYO HARADA #1 – featuring cover artwork by Mico Suayan (BLOODSHOT SALVATION) and other incredible artists yet to be named! ^[1]

Chapter I: The Spark[]

Appearances[]

Featured Characters:

Toyo Harada (Flashback and main story)

Supporting Characters:

Harbinger Foundation
- Darpan the Mirror
- Gravedog
- Law
- LV-99
- Mech Major
- Orchid
- Stronghold

Villains:

Other Characters:

British Government (Mentioned only)
Chinese Government
Control (assisting Gravedog)
Japanese Government (Mentioned only)
Mammalia gorilla beringei graueri (Deceased)
Russian Lieutenant General (Flashback only)
Toyo Harada's father (Flashback only) (Only appearance; dies)
Toyo Harada's mother (Flashback only) (Only appearance; dies)
United States Government (Mentioned only)
Unnamed soldier (controlled by Angela('s harness))
Yakuza (Mentioned only)

Locations:

At the beginning of time (approx. 14 billion years ago)
- Space / Universe
  - The Big Bang / The Spark (that invented time)
  - ...and then there was light (400 million years later)
Japan (1936-1948) (Flashback only)
- Hiroshima
- World War II
  - Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Present day
- China
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
  - Space Elevator (under construction)
    - Space Elevator Station
- Earth
  - Earth's Orbit
    - Alien technology debris ring
- Foundation Zone

Items:

Angela's harness
Geneva Convention (Mentioned only)
H.A.R.D. Corps Neural Implants (Previously altered by Harada; see Imperium)
- Flight
- Explosive Touch
- Shield
Neutralizer field (neutralizing the dampeners)
Rising Spirit Anti-Psiot Technology^TM
- Psiot-Shields

Vehicles:

Credits[]

Writers: Joshua Dysart
Pencilers: Cafu, Mico Suayan
Inkers: Cafu, Mico Suayan
Colorists: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterers: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artists:
- Regular: Mico Suayan & Diego Rodriguez (A / Gold), Ben Harvey (B), David Mack (C), Blank Cover
- Pre-Order: Cafu & Gabe Eltaeb
- Incentives: Doug Braithwaite & Diego Rodriguez (1:250)
- Exclusives: David Baron (BNW/Knowhere), Mike Choi (Collector's Paradise/WonderCon), Jeffrey Veregge (ECCC), Neal Adams (SC Comicon), Jimbo Salgado (Shazam), Freyu (Twin City/Cat Cosplay)
Editors: David Menchel (associate), Karl Bollers (senior)
Senior Editorial Director: Robert Meyers
Very special thanks to Warren Simons, Dinesh Shamdasani, and Kyle Andrukiewicz.

Synopsis[]

This article does not have a synopsis recorded yet.

Pre-Order Edition[]

The Pre-Order Edition of this issue contains the following exclusive material:

The Life and Death of Toyo Harada #1 Cover Gallery (1 page)
- Textless Cover A
- Textless Cover B
- Textless Cover C
- Textless Glass Cover Variant
Page in Process (2 pages)
- Script, inks, colors, and lettered final for page 13
Inside the Foundation Zone - script excerpts and inked art (2 pages)
- In the Beginning
- Out of the Ashes
- Ghost Protocol
- Dog of War
- Monkeying Around
- Message In A Bottle
The Life and Times of Toyo Harada (09/13/09) (2 pages)
- An interview with the industrialist and CEO of the Harbinger Foundation
- Part One of the interview is about surviving Hiroshima and its influence on Harada and his desire to make this world a better place
- Photos courtesy of Khari Evans with Ian Hannin, Clayton Henry with Brian Reber, and Lewis LaRosa with Romulo Fajardo (taken from Harbinger (Volume 2) #3, #20, and #25)
A Letter From Joshua Dysart (1 page)
- ... about [writing] his "Psiot Cycle" (from Harbinger (Volume 2), Harbinger: Omegas, and Imperium to this series)

Notes[]

The digital version as well as the retailer exclusive variants were released on March 13, 2019 as solicited, however, all main covers (regular, pre-order, and incentive) were delayed by one week because there had been "timing issues with the printing plant."^[2] This marked the first time ever Valiant Entertainment (partially) missed the timely release of one of their monthly comic book titles.
The story is continued from Imperium; chronologically and directly continuing the storyline from shortly after Imperium #16. It does not acknowledge any of the Harbinger related series and events that have been published since (2015), however, none of these series really focused on Toyo Harada and what has happened in and around the Foundation Zone after the end of Imperium. This is further supported by the presence of Project Rising Spirits, who were shut down at some point after the conclusion of the Imperium storyline.

Quotes[]

Main story[]

RUN! Run from my ardent gory butchery! Run from the coming carnage! Clk! Clk! Clk! Your death is my gospel!

-- LV-99

Well, it's far from operational, but there its is, the world's first free highway to the stars. There are secrets up here in this alien tech ring that will change humanity forever...and soon even the poorest nations will have access to it. For the first time since rocks were hammers, there will be a balanced technology race.

-- Toyo Harada

It is rare, Toyo, but once in a while you make it very hard to doubt you.

-- Mech Major

Interesting. Fear of death seems like a philosophically shallow position in your line of work. And yet I believe we can help one another.

-- Broken Angel

Ahhh...the servant sings a song of sadness...I spy with my multiple eye, a flaxen whipped pet named Stronghold who has lost the solicitude of his dearest overlord.

-- LV-99

What's that you've got there, LV-99? Looks like mammalia gorilla beringei graueri?

-- Mech Major

Don't know what it's called. Found it in the jungle. Killed it and its family. Taking home to play with.

-- LV-99

Not that you care, but that's a critically endangered species.

-- Mech Major

Aren't we all...tin man?

-- LV-99

The only plan I know of is my own...do as I'm told. Stand my ground. Be at peace with impending death...and take as many ******* with me on the way out as I can.

-- Gravedog

GHAA! T-ta-take me to your llleader. Take me to your leader. So that I may show them how to defeat Toyo Harada once and for all.

-- Broken Angel

The Life and Times of Toyo Harada[]

(Interview with Toyo Harada, CEO of the Harbinger Foundation, from 09/13/09; published in the Pre-Order Edition only)

So many people lack imagination. They believe all industrialists are the same. That we are power hungry, egocentric. I promise you, sir, I do not pretend to know what is best for the world. I simply want to help the world be its best.

-- Toyo Harada

You couldn't imagine it. I lived it, and I can barely imagine it. My father had died in the war. And my mother died in the bombing. After that, I was alone, with no one but my broken people. And they needed me. That may sound conceited, but it simply was the way everything fell together in the aftermath. We needed someone to lead, and somehow I was the one selected to do so. I am certain, without a doubt, that I would not be where I am today without that experience.

-- Toyo Harada

I have seen the very worst of humanity. My eyes were opened that day to a truth few others have ever encountered. For that reason, well, that's what I've spent my life in service of – not allowing such a tragedy to happen ever again. This company, my dream for the world, and all the influence I've attained in my life, it is all because of what I witnessed with the eyes of a child. Never again. I promise you that.

-- Toyo Harada