Blood Hunt: Red Band #4 - Marvel Comics

BLOOD HUNT: RED BAND No. 4, August 2024

Arguably crammed full of more surprises than those found inside presents sat around a Christmas Tree, Jed MacKay’s narrative for Issue Four of “Blood Hunt” surely must have caused a few gasps of amazement in its audience – especially from those readers who had been struggling to keep up with the plethora of tie-in publications which separates this edition from its predecessor. Indeed, straight from the comic’s start events have clearly moved on somewhat since Blade miraculously slammed the Temple of the First Blasphemy smack into the middle of New York City, with both Stephen Strange and his wife Cleo shockingly appearing ‘cap-in-hand’ before Doctor Victor Von Doom in Doomstadt, Latveria.

To further confound and befuddle the readers’ senses though, within a handful of panels it is revealed that Eric Brooks is not in fact the traitor this unwholesome event has portrayed the Avenger to be. But has disconcertingly been possessed by Varnae, the first vampire ever to walk the planet. Such an admission is probably not too great a surprise to those bibliophiles more familiar with the Dhampir’s usual preference to stake any blood-drinker in sight. But the notion that “one who has survived the death of continents” intends to use the Daywalker as a vessel so he can merge with “an entire dimension of darkness” is impressively grandiose in design if nothing else.

Likewise the sub-plot of Hunter’s Moon teaming up with Tigra and the super-villainous Wrecker so as to free Khonshu from his prison on Asgard proves to be a real eye-opener. The resultant hordes of mummified “dead fists” pitching themselves headlong against every vampire across the globe is pulse-poundingly penned, and probably the stuff fans of the old Hammer House of Horror movies would die for; especially when the Moon God decides to seemingly also resurrect Marc Spector’s crime-fighting alter-ego simultaneously.

More than helping to sell all these story threads are Pepe Larraz and colour artist Marte Gracia, who together manage to imbue all the lead characters with the solemness or sparks of indignation an onlooker would expect from those living through such cataclysmic times. In fact, one of this comic’s best moments comes when Doctor Doom makes it clear to a truly startled Master Of The Mystic Arts that he had already foreseen the vampire’s planetwide upheaval, and taken plenty of steps to ensure his dictatorship was not affected by it; “Ah, the Darkforce. I have precautions for that as well, of course. It was only a matter of time, after all.”

The regular cover art to "BLOOD HUNT" #4 by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia

Blood Hunt: Red Band #3 - Marvel Comics

BLOOD HUNT: RED BAND No. 3, August 2024

Disconcertingly containing barely a punch in anger, Jed MacKay’s dialogue-driven and somewhat sedentary storyline for Issue Three of “Blood Hunt” probably didn’t live up to the expectations of an audience whose desire to read more about Blade’s vampire uprising made the title the “top advance-reordered comic book” in early May 2024 (at least according to “Diamond Comic Distributors”). True, the twenty-one page periodical does contain a savage attack upon the Avengers by a brainwashed Miles Morales inside the supposedly safe Sanctum Sanctorum. But this ferocious ambush is quickly quelled once Clea Strange traps the fanged fiend within the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and her deceased husband rids Spider-man of his devilish influence via the Eye of Agamotto.

Instead, the reader is subjected to several grand speeches throughout the Canadian writer’s script, with Sam Wilson’s twelve-panel tour-de-force as Captain America being the longest and most memorable of them. This repetitious rhetoric certainly has its place within the narrative, most notably poor Brielle Brooks’ reaction to discovering that her own father is at the heart of the planetary problem and discovering that Count Dracula plans for the young girl to assassinate her parent. However, to simply plonk one word-heavy discussion after another into a single edition completely saps any pace out of this publication’s plot, and quite literally leaves any bibliophile desperately wanting events to considerably move on just so both opposing forces can once again battle one another; “Do not presume to lecture me, Spider-Man, I will not let my one hope of victory just run away --”

Desperately trying to inject some energy into this lack-lustre lethargy is Pepe Larraz, who pencils some excellent shots of the chaos being caused by Blade's minions whilst Wilson waxes lyrical about the Avengers saying “No” to the vampires' demands. These pulse-pounding pictures cover a variety of locations, from Halifax and Manhattan through to the Sahara Desert and Mexico City, so resultantly do a good job of depicting the violence stretching right across the world. Yet, any momentum which they generate is then swiftly scotched by Carol Danvers spending what seems like an eternity singing Sam’s praises, and Eric Brooks unconvincingly having a major hissy fit because he feels the super-group should “lie down and die.”

The regular cover art to "BLOOD HUNT" #3 by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia

Blood Hunt: Red Band #2 - Marvel Comics

BLOOD HUNT: RED BAND No. 2, July 2024

Pitching the surviving Avengers alongside Count Dracula himself in a highly unlikely team-up against a planetwide invasion of vampires, Jed MacKay’s script for Issue Two of “Blood Hunt” certainly seems to strike a much brighter note as to the Earth’s future fate than this summer event’s deeply dark preceding instalment. In fact, the absolute beating the likes of Bloodstorm One and Megrim take at the hands of Captain Marvel, the Vision and Captain America probably caused the odd reader to leap to their feet in order to cheer the protagonists on; “Here’s our philosophy: We have a lot to avenge.”

Enjoyably however, this twenty-one page periodical’s plot doesn’t simply rely upon an insane action sequence packed full of face-pummelling fisticuffs to entertain either, as the Canadian author also pens some intriguing plot progressions into the comic too – most notably the fact that Doctor Strange is still alive as a wandering spirit despite being disembowelled by Blade. These ‘quieter’ moments are especially impressive as they both provide the writer with an opportunity to bring any bibliophiles unwilling or unable to peruse the almost overwhelming number of tie-in titles bang up to speed with the overarching narrative, as well as provide a modicum of spotlight upon some of the Marvel Universe’s lesser known characters, such as Hunter’s Moon and the Daywalker’s daughter, Brielle Brooks.

Of course, it’s the aforementioned rematch between the “broken” Earth’s mightiest heroes and the Bloodcoven which most Marvelites will probably enjoy though. Having previously defeated the “all-star” supergroup, the vampiric villains are quick to forget that they had a distinct advantage over their opponents in their first fight, courtesy of a thorough briefing and the element of surprise. This time round the creatures of the night have no such benefits, and resultantly their arrogance is quickly silenced by the Vision’s ability to harness the power of solar energy.

Equally as intrinsic to this mini-series’ storytelling as MacKay’s contribution are the lavish layouts provided throughout by Spanish illustrator Pepe Larraz and Mexican colorist Marte Gracia. Together, the two artists genuinely depict a visual feast for the eyes, with perhaps Carol Danver’s socking Vlad Dracula’s gigantic clone squarely on the jaw being this apocalyptic publication’s most noteworthy smackdown.

The regular cover art to "BLOOD HUNT" #2 by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia