The big two have a lot of problems as of late. It seems like both companies share a key issue, though, which is that no one wants to create new characters for these corporate universes, nor are they really incentivized to. Why put all your creative energy into a character that won’t be an expression of that creativity as soon as you exit the room?
It seems like the problem has only grown lately, and has led to even more convoluted histories, because everyone only writes characters who “matter,” anymore.
Enter Bloodline, Blade’s daughter.
Bloodline’s path to publication has been an odd one. The concept of Blade having a daughter is linked to a 2015 series that was announced but never released, which probably saved us all from both a mediocre comic and a terrible discourse cycle. Who knows what all was left on the cutting room floor, but it seems like Lore and Darboe were given room to define and mold this new character in their own way, and I think it shows. Brielle feels like a character made for 2023, largely in a good way.
The thing that I’m most surprised to have worked is the tone, which I’d describe as an emotionally open coffee shop AU, something that normally wouldn’t work for me. The sort of tone where everyone describes their emotions and are always completely open with each other can be grating, largely because it’s so different from other media, but also because it feels alien. Still, this Bloodline avoids those pitfalls, mostly just by leaning into the emotional honesty, and emphasizing the charm of the cast alongside.
A big highlight is Brielle’s relationship with her mom, which is absolutely the heart of the story here. Secret identities are leveraged for cheap drama so often in superhero stuff, and these two just knowing each other, communicating, and knowing when things are wrong is good. It still falls into damsel in distress mode, but the vibe is so different than so much superhero stuff that it barely even feels right to call it that. All that aside, it’s just refreshing to have a character’s support group in on the secret so quickly.
As far as the art goes, it’s competent, and it really fits the cozy webcomic air of the whole project.
Marvel Comics
There’s like four or five panels per page. The action is fine. The acting is solid, thought the designs are forgettable. The colors are maybe a little more muted than I’d prefer. All around, very serviceable art that improves by the time of the Halloween special. If I felt like more of this book would be coming by this same team, I’d feel good about the future issues.
This is the kind of project that Marvel needs to greenlight more often. New and original characters are the way to let creators go wild, and also to develop and grow, let alone the fat that it feels like it’s time to pivot away from the complicated endless continuity and back toward more simplified stories. Bloodline isn’t quite high quality enough that it can serve as a proof of concept in this way, but it still stands as an example of the kind of thing Marvel and DC should both be doing instead of whatever they’ve been doing with their respective lines.
Bloodline: Daughter of Blade isn’t going to be a defining comic of the ’20s or anything like that, but I wish it was. Corporate comics needs more books like it, and it’s a good thing it exists. I hope to see more of it soon.
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