Blood Journal Week #3: Midnight Suns: Blood Hunt #1, Black Panther: 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
• Week 2

Tie-ins:

• Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5: Asking 8-Ball
• The Avengers #14: Do The Monster Mash

Midnight Suns: Blood Hunt #1: Suns Out, (Hellfire) Guns Out

Midnight Suns: Blood Hunt #1 – written by Bryan Hill with art from Germán Peralta, colors by Arthur Hesli, and lettering from VC’s Cory Petit – starts a reunion for the Midnight Suns as Blade leads the world’s vampire population to war. The sun has been blotted out and the nightstalkers invade every inch of the now-dark world, showing reckless abandon as they turn and feed on heroes and civilians alike. It comes at a terrible time as Johnny Blaze is no longer Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch has little care for his spirit of vengeance, and Victoria Montesi is focused on battling evil spirits across the world. A former teammate of Blade, Tulip, recruits the three to help her take a fight to the Daywalker and figure out his motivation, fully prepared to kill him if needed. 

Hill’s scripting for the issue is a lean, team-gathering machine, wasting no time establishing where these four central characters are physically, mentally, and emotionally. He expertly weaves in Ghost Rider, Blade, and the larger Marvel continuity in an accessible way that makes it easy to jump into the series. There’s a lingering sense of history that is evident to even the non-Midnight Suns-versed Marvel fan which creates a rich, lived-in world. Hill’s writing also makes excellent use of moral ambiguity in both the book’s protagonist and antagonists. There’s an assumption (spoken aloud by Tulip) that Blade is not in total control of himself, and it’s developed thanks to the history evoked by the recent Blade solo series. 

Peralta’s linework and Hesli’s coloring are the perfect fit for the story, trading on an intense, atmospheric tone and evocative visual style. There’s an unsettling smoothness to the artwork that reads both as slick and stylized, rendering figures and magical expressions as something slightly off in physical space. Whether it be Ghost Rider coming into existence, disturbing worm creatures, or a dark spirit inhabiting an Iraqi man, the little details on their designs go a long way to make them feel like part of the mystical underbelly associated with Marvel. Hesli’s stark, harsh coloring matches the linework well, delivering a book drenched in the tones of horror. Bloody reds and sickly grays fill the issue due to the influence of the blocked sun and overwhelming vampire elements. The choice in coloring creeps into every page and establishes the specific aesthetic of the series in the tight page count. 

Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1: Red Reign

Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1 – written by Cheryl Lynn Eaton with art by Farid Karami, coloring by Andrew Halhouse, and lettering from VC’s Joe Sabino – picks up directly after the events of Blood Hunt #1 and #2 as T’Challa returns to Wakanda with his new vampiric condition. The Black Panther is spurned by Bast and T’Challa is forced to steal the heart-shaped herb to help quell his cravings and retain his intelligence. Throughout the issue, a spectral Blade haunts T’Challa, representing his darker impulses and demanding the exiled king give into his cravings. A few attempts to stop villains back in the city lead Black Panther to almost give in to the carnage before Shuri steps in and offers blood, putting a pause on the monstrous transformation. 

Eaton’s writing is a strong mix of poetic prose and tight melodrama, as the bulk of the issue lives inside of T’Challa’s head. The caption boxes offer a treasure trove of characterization and insights into the Wakandan mindset, on both a personal and spiritual level. The conflict between T’Challa’s duty versus his danger to his people is delicious internal strife brought to the external thanks to the argument with Bast. Eaton wrings every page for that drama, dripping the guilt and remorse (to a level not seen since catholic hero Matt Murdock) into the larger Blood Hunt and Black Panther continuities. 

That sense of obligation and self-torture is depicted perfectly by Karami, who knows how to make a character’s body wrack with pain. T’Challa’s physical presence lacks any sense of regality, replaced with a different heft weighing on his shoulders. Plenty of poses with his body doubled over or shaking litter the pages in this issue, really selling the internal fight. Even without the narrations, Karami’s pencils and expressions are more than enough to sell the characterization Eaton’s script is laying out. Halhouse’s coloring elevates that tortured, laborish existence with the subtle uses of yellow, vampiric eyes, and muted tones for Wakanda. The typically vibrant, Afrofuturist society feels held back by the ever-present darkness, with less of a veneer on its surface. These choices make for a dynamic read that ensures characterization is always put forward.