First introduced in May on Free Comic Book Day, Bloodline finally made her big debut this week with Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #1. The title says it all about how she fits in the Marvel universe, but who is she, and what kind of powers does she have? We get to find out in the new series by Danny Lore and Karen S. Darboe!
There are a lot of trappings Bloodline: Daughter of Blade could fall into, be it a Buffy copy, given she’s a teenage vampire hunter, or keeping Bloodline in the dark about who she is, but that isn’t the case with this first issue. Instead, Lore reveals Bloodline is well aware of vampires and a semi-normal high school kid. She may be loud, stands up for herself, and has a tight group of friends.
Bloodline being loud is touched interestingly when her mother is brought in to talk to a counselor. One can see Bloodline is being judged for her looks or how she acts, but not for her grades. She’s a good kid, but people are looking for find trouble where there isn’t any unless you count her extracurriculars of killing vampires, of course.
Darboe’s art gives the book a young-adult vibe that’s a bit cartoony but expressive in all the right places. Colors by Cris Peter make the book pop with pinks and purples in a fight scene later in the issue.
It’ll be interesting to see how much the mother plays into future issues.
Credit: Marvel
This issue also establishes Bloodline’s relationship with her mother, setting up an interesting confrontation with a character that crosses over into Bloodline’s daily life. With Blade likely popping up in a future issue, it’ll be interesting to see how Bloodline and her mom unpack Blade not being around.
If it sounds like there are a lot of setups, that’s because there are, with two short action scenes, but mostly it’s dialogue-driven scenes. The plot could use a bit more action or more for the characters to do. Bloodline sits with her mom more than once, chatting, for example, and there’s a short scene in school again with the characters sitting. By the end of the issue, it feels like a lot of exposition while you wait for something to happen.
Possibly the most exciting element of this issue is the implication of the cliffhanger. Bloodline fights what she thinks is a vampire, but the truth is far more interesting. Given all the elements set up in this issue, I’m curious to see where it’s all going.
Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #1 introduces a compelling situation for Bloodline as a vampire hunter and as a person whose still figuring out her half-vampire nature. A slower-paced issue, to be sure. There are a lot of elements that could spell intriguing drama surrounding vampire hunters and Blade being an absentee father.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.