The first wave of Blood Hunt titles continues to roll out, with Spider-Man taking center stage in the Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt miniseries. Taking place immediately after Amazing Spider-Man #49, Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1 begins with Spidey fighting the Lizard. It turns out that the Lizard has joined forces with Misty Knight, who seeks Spidey’s help in finding her partner Colleen Wing and Michael Morbius. It turns out that Morbius may have found a cure for vampirism…but to get to it, Spidey, Misty and the Lizard have to fight through the horde of bloodthirsty vampires swarming over New York City.
On the one hand, I understand why this is a miniseries. Amazing Spider-Man is about to hit its 50th issue (Which brings back the Green Goblin) so having that milestone tied up in a big crossover event wouldn’t make sense. On the other, this issue feels like it’s treading water. Most of it is dedicated to a chase around New York, with the last few pages explaining where Colleen and Morbius have been up to. Instead of weaving both together stories together, the Colleen/Morbius thread feels tacked on. I don’t blame writer Justina Ireland, who’s previously done some amazing work in the world of Star Wars; I just feel like this should have been two issues instead of one. Ireland does have Spidey’s voice down pat, and the rapport between him, Misty and the Lizard adds some levity to a dark situation.
Despite the choppy nature of the story, it boasts some great artwork from Marcelo Ferreria. Spidey is as arachnobatic as ever, dodging the Lizard’s blows and webbing up vampires. Misty also gets time to shine; Ferreria draws a sequence with her tearing through New York’s streets on her motorcycle, gunning down approaching vampires. Speaking of the vampires, they look terrifying – their pale skin and pointy ears separate them from the rest of humanity. Roberto Poggi throws shadows wherever he can with his inks, but it’s Rachelle Rosenberg who ties it all together with her color work, placing a foreboding amber sky over the heroes that serves as a grim reminder of the eternal night.
Cory Petit’s lettering helps give each character a unique voice – particularly the Lizard, whose speech bubbles come out gnarled and filled with plenty of hissing “S” sounds. Petit even makes the sound effects sound distinct: guns go “blame”, fists go “thud” when they hit vampires and of course, there’s Spidey’s trademark “thwip”. Lettering often goes unnoticed, but it can help shape a book and this is no exception.
Overall, Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1 is a book that has a solid foundation, but needs more space to breathe. With the conflict set up, hopefully the rest of this series can stick the landing.
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