It feels like just yesterday I was reviewing the Blood Hunt trade paperback, but in reality I wrote that review back in October 2024. Now, 10 months later, I am reviewing the new hardcover edition of Marvel’s Blood Hunt: Red Band Edition, and I got to say… I am pretty disappointed. Blood Hunt: Red Band was the first “Red Band” edition of a comic that Marvel has released, an exciting new polybagged option for fans who really wanted that extra gore. Sadly, for an extra $15, I don’t necessarily think that the hardcover release of the Red Band Edition is worth it, unless you were a huge fan of the event and didn’t buy the original trade.
As you can read in my review of the standard Blood Hunt trade, I honestly loved the Blood Hunt event, namely for its horror elements, use of various heroes, and its satisfying conclusion. However, this is a review of the hardcover Red Band Edition, so please don’t take my criticism or lower score as a read against the event itself; I assure you it is not. Instead, I wish Marvel had given this hardcover way more extras to be worth the increased price and hype factor.
Marvel
Let’s start with the positives! The construction of the book is great, with a sturdy hardcover and solid dust flap that uncovers to reveal a gorgeous red binding featuring Blade and his daughter Brielle. The hardcover itself also comes polybagged, a fun addition to a normal trade you would buy in stores. Of course, the story itself does include extra gore and horror from the talented Pepe Larraz, but my question remains: Is it enough? There are plenty of horrific visuals given in the first two issues that deepen the horror element of the original series, but after the second issue, there are not that many differences, and the entire series only includes two “exclusive” Red Band pages.
I loooove Larraz’s work… like, so much. I think he killed it on this Red Band edition, particularly Blade’s murder of Doctor Strange, which is truly brutal. Because of how much I like Larraz and his art, I was shocked that Marvel did not include process pages in the back of this hardcover collection. Ostensibly, the main difference between the regular trade and the hardcover is the inclusion of different and more art from Larraz. So why do we not get a little behind-the-scenes of his process, especially with the $34.99 price tag? In fact, there are almost no extras in this hardcover, with the collection only including some of the variant covers for the Red Band edition, which are all from the same series of (very beautiful) “Bloody Homage” covers.
Marvel
Overall, I am just not very impressed with this collection as a whole. Again, I loved the Blood Hunt event and the work that Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Garcia did on it, but this review is about the series presentation in hardcover format. I would have loved some exclusive pages, process work, or even a letter from Larraz discussing his experience illustrating such horrifying art for a Marvel comic! If you haven’t bought the standard Blood Hunt trade paperback, then I can totally see why you would want to purchase this Blood Hunt: Red Band Edition hardcover. It looks great on a shelf and isn’t egregiously more expensive, but if you already have the trade or don’t care about the extra gore, it may not be worth the splurge.
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