Blood Journal Week #2: The Amazing Spider-Man #1, Union Jack the Ripper: Blood Hunt #1

The skies have gone dark, the sun hiding its face from the carnage to come. The children of the night, the vampires, have risen from the dark and hidden places of the world as one to drown the Marvel Universe in blood.

After months of building the Blood Hunt begins as the Marvel Universe runs red and things will never be the same in the first in a new anthology series that explores how the shattering events of BLOOD HUNT cover the breadth of the Marvel Universe!

Comic Watch Blood Hunt Reviews:

Main Series:

• Blood Hunt #1: Pleased To Meet You, Hope You Guess My Name…
• Blood Hunt #2: Light Finds a Way

Blood Journal:

• Week 1

Tie-ins:

• Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5: Asking 8-Ball

The Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1: Bland New Day 

Swinging out of the pages of the mainline Amazing Spider-Man title, and weaving webs that go back a few years to the Beyond era, The Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1 puts the webhead in the sights of Misty Knight. The two team up with the Lizard to find Colleen Wing and Morbius the Living Vampire, who’s discovered a supposed cure to vampirism. The main story features writing from Justina Ireland, pencils by Marcelo Ferreira, inks by Roberto Poggi, colors from Rachelle Rosenberg, and lettering from VC’s Cory Petit. The second half of the issue focuses on Collen and Morbius, which is also written by Ireland with pencils from Chris Campana, inks by Craig Yeung, colors from Rosenberg, and lettering by Petit. 

The issue is a dense callback to the previous era of Spider-Man, heavily pulling from the stories introduced when Ben Reilly wore the costume and Beyond was pulling the strings. It’s a nice return to that interesting time but due to the larger shifts in continuity, feels out of place in the context of Marvel’s wider universe. Misty moved on to other investigations within the Miles Morales series, Peter’s dealing with Osborn and Gang Wars, and the Lizard plays like a floating remainder of context. 

The issue is not a bad read per se, but feels dated in comparison to the other Blood Hunt tie-ins. Ferreira and Poggi’s artwork for the issue is lackluster, switching from inconsistent proportions and facial expressions to energy-draining action beats. Nothing in the issue is particularly egregious in its depictions but lacks any sense of standout or interesting qualities. Rosenberg’s coloring attempts to elevate the visuals and match the dynamic palette of the main event but it can’t quite reach that same height. 

Union Jack the Ripper: Blood Hunt #1: Guts, Glory, Godless

Maybe the most surprising tie-in announced is Union Jack the Ripper: Blood Hunt, a British-centric tie-in to the event. Written by Cavan Scott with pencils by Kev Walker, inks by Craig Yeung and Belardino Brabo, coloring by Javier Tartaglia and Cunniffe Dee, and lettering by  VC’s Travis Lanham, the series follows Union Jack as he wages a one-man war against the hordes of vampires. He’s forced to work with a young police officer to help protect a contingent of civilians after sustaining injuries. The collective regroups at a Union Jack safehouse and the fate of fellow Union member Bulldog. 

Scott’s scripting in the issue offers a good entry into the story with a young police officer living in the wake of the massive event. It’s a smart way to bring focus to the human characters in sharp contrast to the supernatural vampire aspects of the event. That combined with Walker’s medium and close-up-driven compositions remembers the people at the heart of the story over pure spectacle. Walker’s style, however, tries to evoke a simple, slightly blocky style that reminds of John Romita Jr without any of the specific charm. Tartaglia and Dee’s coloring offers a few standout panels, playing with interesting uses of purple and blues for the backgrounds and underground moments that sell the horror qualities of the book.