Assassinations and political coups have never been as easy as they are with the Hardcore Program as seen in Hardcore #1.
The Hardcore Program allows the pilot to takeover the host’s body and control their actions. The host is shot with a nanite bullet the Hardcore Implant connects and overrides the host’s nervous system. The implant biodegrades after 72 hours and does not show up in an autopsy. However, this gives the pilot a time limit because if they don’t pull out in time it will cause brain damage in the pilot.
Agent Drake is on just such a mission. Drake has taken over the body of Emil Sokolov brother to a criminal with a warhead. The mission was a success, but it was barely accomplished by Drake.
Bonnie Price from the Department of Defense wants to evaluate the program and the moral ambiguity involved in what they do. Things get a lot more complicated when she is revealed to not be who she says she is.
Being able to hop into someone else’s body and live their life for a few days has long been a dream of mine. The only thing stopping me from doing it is figuring out how. When I read this issue I was very interested to see how they will use this ability.
The ability to hop into someone else body makes perfect sense for assassinations. The host can bypass all security and walk right up to the target and kill them. It is an effective and safe way to kill targets. I really like thinking about all the possibilities of where a story like this could go.
However, it went in a direction which really limits where the story can progress. The story can have a lot of fun and will be very fast paced. A fast paced story will work well with this premise, but I would have liked a more drawn out story.
What I really wanted was a Quantum Leap kind of story where Drake has to leap from host to host. Maybe like he has to kill someone specific and once he does he can leap to the next person.
I enjoyed this issue, but I am concerned where it is going. My hopes were high because I was such a big fan of Quantum Leap and this reminds me of that. However, the ending really limited the possible directions for future issues.
A fast-paced tone could really be a good thing if done right. It needs to go all out and just be insane with how fast stuff happens and have crazy stuff happen. I think it may work better going for a fun story than a good complicated story.
I will read the next issue because I am interested in how this comic and story plays out.
Rating: 3.5/5
Written by: Andy Diggle and Robert Kirkman
Art by: Alessandro Vitti and Adriano Lucas
Cover by: Dan Panosian
Release: 12/19/18
Issue: 1
Publisher: Image Comics
