Blood Squad Seven #1: A Backmatter Concept

Image Comics launched 30 years ago with an interconnected superhero universe consisting of creator owned projects. Blood Squad Seven #1 seeks to use that real world event to create a fictional series based on the concept of one of those teams being defunct for most of those thirty years only to be reformed in the present. It is a compelling concept but one that lacks a compelling first issue.

Blood Squad Seven #1 opens in Kharkiv, Ukraine where American heroes Ripcord and Nightstriker are destroying Russian forces. The two heroes are remarkably violent–especially Ripcord, who slices soldiers’ skulls off with barbed wire whips.They are part of a project by the government to take advantage of ’90s nostalgia to bring back an old super team and take advantage of the marketing potential. Behind the scenes, the government disagrees on how best to develop and use the team. The issue ends with two cliffhangers of a sort, one of which involves a character who exists outside time and reality.

The idea of the government bringing back an old superhero team to take advantage of ’90s nostalgia has potential. Unfortunately, the two pages of backmatter do a better job explaining that concept than any of the story material in Blood Squad Seven #1. Much of this problem is owed to the multiple dialogue sequences that are designed to deliver information but are torturously long but substance free. Each one of them can either be condensed entirely or changed to add more exposition. And in the case of the latter, the series’ larger meta concept could have been hinted at rather than being entirely introduced in the backmatter.

Blood Squad Seven #1’s limited character development is largely confined to a mother and daughter. They are in conflict for the entire issue and it comes to head roughly halfway through. The scene comes across as being designed to make the revelation a shock to the reader, but so little is known about the characters to this point that it falls flat.

The one area where the issue is effective is in how it introduces Ripcord and Nightstriker. Though there isn’t much depth to them yet, the pair are a shocking contrast to what the behind-the-scenes government sequences describe. This dynamic and the relationship between the two heroes is the driving narrative force behind holding the reader’s interest for a second issue.

Blood Squad Seven #1’s major success is the art. The extended dialogue sequences reveal a lot about the mood of the characters involved. But the art uplifts it with very effective body language and character expressions. This work adds a lot to the limited character development, providing extra insight.

The action sequences that prove to be the best part of the issue’s story also deliver the best art. They’re particularly bloody and explosive. Ultimately the violence is where the issue’s fun is.

Coloring is effective throughout the entire issue. It works particularly well during the action sequences. But most striking is the final scene that adds a mystery for future issues. Different shades of red bleed across the panels, giving way to white very slightly until the final panel when white takes over. The setting contrasts particularly well with the characters in the setting who are green/gray.

Lettering proves critical in the issue, largely in the dialogue heavy scenes. The dialogue bubbles are organized well. They are easy to follow without overly obstructing the art.