Blood Hunt‘s been putting the heroes of the Marvel Universe through their paces, especially with the revelation that Blade is the mastermind behind the vampire invasion that’s gripped the world. The Daywalker defeated the Avengers and transformed other heroes into vampires, including the Black Panther. Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1 from Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Farid Karami, and Andrew Dalhouse explores the struggle the former King of Wakanda is going through now that he’s one of the living dead.
Throughout Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1, Eaton is interested in the mental and physical toll that being a vampire has taken on T’Challa. Not only does he have Blade in his head compelling him, but Bast, the goddess who bestowed him with her powers, is furious that her champion has been corrupted by vampirism. I gotta give Eaton props for using the backdrop of a crossover event to ask some heavy questions, like what happens when your faith in God (or a Panther God) is tested, as well as the struggle to hold onto one’s humanity.
Marvel Comics
This struggle is also expressed through Karami’s art, with T’Challa slowly transforming into a creature of the night. His eyes, once a deep and piercing brown, are now an unholy golden shade. His teeth have enlongated into razor-sharp fangs. What makes it even more unsettling is the look on T’Challa’s face; he’s struggling not to give in to the darkness, and it’s becoming pretty clear that he’s losing. Dalhouse wraps the entire issue in cold blues to represent the eternal night that’s gripped the world, with a ghostly blue apparition of Blade taunting T’Challa at every turn. There’s also some impressive fight scenes, including a horror-laced one where T’Challa fights against a insectoid being that looks like the ungodly love child of a Xenomorph and a Brood.
Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1 depicts T’Challa’s mental and physical struggle with vampirism in a compelling way, and it’s topped off with plenty of horror-laced action. However the rest of Blood Hunt turns out, this miniseries has my attention – and in a big crossover event, that’s no easy feat.
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