I just knew this week was going to be a hard one to pick a comic of the week. We got another issue of Invincible Iron Man and X-Men both tackling the end of the Orchis War. Plus throw in a new Wolverine/Deadpool team-up and new issue of Weapon X-Men and you have some interesting choices to make. But after reading my stack, a lot of those issues just didn’t seem to hit their mark… especially with Iron-man and X-Men. So when I picked up the first issue of Jed MacKay’s new supernatural/superhero limited series, I was expecting something ‘decent’. Boy… was I surprised!
Comic Book of The Week:
Blood Hunt #1
MacKay / Larraz / Garcia
Back in 2019, DC Comics and Tom Taylor chronicled an invasion of vampires called plainly enough DC vs. Vampires. In 2024, Marvel Comics has a go at it, with the Jed MacKay writing, Blood Hunt. If there’s anything you can say about Jed MacKay, it’s that he knows how the hell to set off a comic event. The 6-1-6 hero community has been having a lot of dealing with vampires in recent years. The Avengers and Blade fought to keep Dracula at bay as he built a new Vampire Nation somewhere in the Soviet Union. Earlier in 2010 the X-Men had to stop Dracula’s son, Xarus from infecting the human population with tainted blood. But those were minor skirmishes compared to this all-out, coordinated global attack to finally enslave the humans.
This first issue is BRUTAL. To say The Avengers are outmatched is an understatement. This incarnation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has been outmatched by every supervillain team they come across. Someone masterminds using ‘magic-powered’ heroes as vessels to open portals to dark dimensions, blocking out the sun and allowing vampires to attack everywhere all at once. MacKay doesn’t give you time to breathe. This issue is an all-out attack against the heroes and the end isn’t pretty. Pepe Larraz’s charcoal-like pencils add to the dark undertone of the story. And when we get to the shocking surprise ending (which was telegraphed and not a shock at all), you have to ask the question ‘Who’s gonna save us now, when all the usual suspects have been taken out?’
Rating: 4/5
Best of The Rest:
