Velcome back to the Marvel Rundown! This week ain’t for the faint of heart, as the residents at Stately Beat Manor unleash the horrors of… The BLOOD HUNT Bonanza! See, with the deluge of tie-ins this week for Blood Hunt (only the goriest event this side of Transylvania), our merry band of Marvel miscreants decided to tackle some of this week’s fearsome floppies head on! All that, plus a look at Ultimate Black Panther #5!
What did you think of this week’s batch of fresh Marvel Comics, True Believers? The Beat wants to hear from you! Give us a shout-out, here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat, and let us know what you’re thinking.
- Blood Hunt: Magik #1
- The best superhero event tie-ins leverage whatever the grand status quo is to tell us something about how our spotlight heroes react against the impossible odds and demonstrate their strength of character. I haven’t loved Blood Hunt, but this spotlight one shot in Illyana Rasputin by writer Ashley Allen, artist Jesús Hervás and colorist Yen Nitro is a great single issue tale that gives Magik a chance to shine. Illyana has become one of the marquee characters within the X-men over the last decade or so, and this issue is a wonderful showcase for why that is. Her tough, rugged exterior clashes with her ferocious desire to protect the innocent. That heroic dichotomy between a life of violence and pain and the need to protect others from the same kinds of tragedies that forged them is the stuff that makes truly memorable characters. The setup of the Vampire invasion gives Magik a chance to prove herself on her own merits and writer Ashley Allen uses it to effectively showcase what makes this a special character—even for the uninitiated. I’ve enjoyed Allen’s work, mostly in anthologies and spinoffs like this up til now, and hope that her talents buy her a bigger stage. This is a strong script that wastes no page space to tell a fantastic, character-first story, as much of Allen’s work has. Hervás’s art is dynamic, moody, and raw. It’s elevated by the organic and painterly approach to the colors from Nitro. The more washed out, almost watercolor look gives the issue a storybook quality. The contrast of Illyana’s hellish flames against the cool colors and white expanse of the Siberian tundra is an effective juxtaposition that illustrates Magik’s ferocity and her personal discomfort with her own heroism. VC’s Travis Lanham handles the letters with aplomb, with a handcrafted approach to word balloons and SFX that perfectly match the textures of the art. This is a great one-shot, and if Marvel gave us more books like this month-to-month, I’d be a happy critic. — TR
- Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt #2
- Welcome back, Union Jack! When last we left UJ, he holed up in a hospital with some Manchester survivors, ghoul-like vampires breaching the gates, and British superhero turned “vampire,” Bulldog, restrained in a bloodbath. Woof. What happens next is more so a literal blood bath with enough gore and violent imagery to warrant its ‘Parental Advisory! NOT for Kids!” tag. But with Blood Hunt hitting its penultimate stage in the same week, let’s use Union Jack The Ripper to examine how Marvel editorial wanted to use the sundeath of Marvel-616 to create a narrative playground for creators to explore uncommon genres [for Marvel Comics, at least]. Clearly, Cavan Scott was tasked with scripting a short, engaging, and narratively efficient tale of a street level hero dealing with the whole vampire problem. A tall task for three issues, but Kev Walker is brought on to guide this shlock to as interesting a place as possible while being able to depict a typically MAX style Marvel story in 616 proper. Over 2/3 of the tie-in, Walker has used this panel stacking formula where the next moment almost always sits atop or underneath the next to place it spatially in our mind or in the narrative’s timeline– the result is intentionally offputting and expresses chaos more than control, which helps reinforce this Taking of Pelham 123 lite. Down one inker from issue one, Craig Yeung takes up duties carving out from Walker’s pencils, which helps block out its intense black shadows and viscerally integral hatching. Same for the inkers, colorist Java Tartaglia is alone for issue two, but the role remains the same– red for shock/violence, yellow for heroism, green for horror/distrust. Effective color palettes almost always supersede impressionistic palettes in a time of tie-ins. Same can be said of VC’s Travis Lanham who continually hits a visual stride in this single tie-in more than his other Marvel gigs. So, given a narratively wealthy backdrop, Marvel can experiment with new creative teams, new genres, new characters, and see whether it sticks to the wall or not in three issues. Consider Blood Hunt as another Shonen Jump serialization round where whichever series don’t find ground, they get axed sooner than later. Will this Union Jack team find ground or get axed? Let’s have that convo next month for the finale. — BQ
- Vengeance of the Moon Knight #6
- In my experience, the most successful event tie-ins are those that continue their ongoing narrative, and choose instead to weave in bits that wind up fitting the story they wish to tell. Now, Moon Knight has the added benefit of being written by Blood Hunt architect Jed MacKay, but even still, this is a great addition to this event that does so much to flesh out the street side of the 616. The issue is essentially a POV from the perspective of Reese, a vampire working for the late Marc Spector’s Midnight Mission, with MacKay getting into her head as she deals with the ramifications of being a bloodsucker during a hostile vampire takeover. MacKay’s strongest work has always been character based, so taking the time here to explore Reese’s psyche and relationships with the rest of this cast was an inspired idea. The art team here is also phenomenal. This is the first I’ve seen of Devmalya Pramanik and I’ve gotta say, these are some killer pages. The staging is evocative, the acting feels expressive, and there’s plenty of room for everyone to breathe from panel to panel. Not to mention Rachelle Rosenberg’s fantastic use of fuschia and orange here, which make the whole issue look like a wavy eighties vaporwave nightmare version of New York. It’s a perfect use of casting by the editorial team, and one made stronger by the expert lettering of VC’s Cory Petit. While it might not have the biggest implications for Blood Hunt, this issue shows how good of a soap this whole run of Moon Knight has been, and that it keeps getting better. — CB
- Ultimate Black Panther #5
- From his previous run by Eve Ewing and Chris Allen to his current role on the Avengers and the events of Blood Hunt, the Panther has been on fire, and Ultimate Black Panther keeps the brand hot. Writer Bryan Hill and guest artist Carlos Nieto up the stakes as the “cold war” between Wakanda and the forces of Ra and Khonshu continues to escalate. The Panther and his inner circle work to uncover the power behind a mysterious green ore with ancient ties to Wakanda’s most important natural resource, Vibranium, this same ore is important to Ra and Khonshu in their plans for conquest. This is a tense action/thriller of an issue that pulls back the curtain on Wakandan science and mysticism. — GC3
Next Week: Annihilation 2099! Wolverine: Deep Cuts! A federal holiday!
