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Blood Hunt #4

Jun 2024
Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz

Blood Hunt #4 cover

Story Name:

(no title given)


Synopsis

Blood Hunt #4 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4.5 stars
Vampires led by Blade (the Vampire Hunter!) have covered the globe with Darkforce, blocking out the Sun. Blade and his Bloodcoven of super-vampires have taken over the Avengers' orbiting Impossible City. Blade has found the pre-Cataclysmic Atlantean Temple Of The 1st Blasphemy under Wakanda and used the IC's translocation system to drop the huge building on Central Park. Meanwhile Clea and the astral form of Dr Strange (his body has been turned vamp by Blade) have gone to seek help from Dr Doom.

Within the Temple we see Blade, the Bloodcoven (carrying the limp forms of Scarlet Witch and Thor) and Black Panther (who Blade has made a vampire and who was instrumental in locating the Temple). Eric Brooks talks about being present when the building was built, and T'Challa realises that he's possessed by someone else. Blade admits that he's Varnae, the 1st vampire - created by a ritual in this Temple in the surface-dweller city that was the original Atlantis.

Dr Doom has already worked this out. He knows that Varnae tried to take over half-vampire Blade's body (declared as the perfect host) once before (Blade The Vampire Hunter #5). Doom has an undisclosed (probably magic) way of keeping the vamps out of Latveria, but the Stranges are here to ask for his help in getting rid of the Darkforce. Victor Von Doom says he predicted that problem too. Too may superchars have been using the stuff from the Darkforce Dimension and it was bound to come back and bite them. Clea Strange waves that aside and ask what he can *do* about it. Doom says it will require a great assembly of mages. Stephen Strange offers the use of his contact list but Doom has already brought in some of Stephen's students from the Strange Academy. But he adds 1 more requirement - he must be made Sorcerer Supreme to control the spell.

2 more players, Hunter's Moon and Tigra, have gone to Asgard on *their* mission to deal with the worldwide invasion of vampires. They're going to achieve it by stealth in case the Asgardians aren't cooperative (even though their lord Thor has been taken by the enemy). And they've brought along an undisclosed useful ally. They reach a prison cell which contains the Moon God Khonshu (since he tried to take over the Earth in Avengers (2018) #33-38). The duo can't break into the cell but their ally Wrecker's crowbar is imbued with Asgardian magic so he is able to pry the big door open.

On the roof of the Temple in Central Park Wanda Maximoff is still trapped in a magic forcefield and Thor is still being drained of Asgardian blood from 'spikes' driven into his body, especially 1 through his brain. Varnae explains to T'Challa how he made the 1st paper copy of Chthon's Darkhold text back in Atlantis. Now he has the Living Darkold (as he calls Wanda who has Chthon imprisoned within her) and the blood of a God, and these will enable him to complete the transformation which only *began* with becoming a vampire. He drinks Thor's blood and calls the Darkforce Dimension to him to make him the Unliving Darkforce, capable of consuming stars!

But Panther calls attention to a wrinkle in his plan. The Moon is shining through the Darkforce blanket. And all over the world triangles of light appear in the sky and spew out Khonshu's silver-armoured dead 'Fists', immune to vampirism. And led in New York by the dead Moon Knight. And in the Temple BP pulls the spike from Thor's head and stabs Blade through the heart. Varnae isn't affected but wants to know how T'Challa broke the control of a vampire over 1 he has turned. T'Challa says that Wakanda has face vampires before, and the heart-shaped herb that gives him his powers has been fighting off the infection. However he didn't really expect to kill Varnae. Removing the spike was really to free Thor. And now the Thunder God is eager for revenge. As are the free Avengers (Captain America (Sam Wilson), Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Vision) who now join the fight.


 

Review / Commentaries


Blood Hunt #4 Review by (June 28, 2024)
I'm rating this issue 4.5 because of the weaving in of Khonshu and Varnae. I predicted Varnae last time but I was blindsided by Khonshu. The trip to Asgard should have been a big clue but I'd forgotten that Khonshu was imprisoned there at the start of Avengers (2018) #38. And also didn't remember about Blade being selected as Varnae's host much earlier.

This is what I like about the rich strands of the Marvel Universe. Elements like the above can be lying around and will look like they were planted there with deliberate foresight. When of course it's the skill of the current writer and editor to pick up on them. Even Wrecker's Asgardian crowbar is worked in.

We now know that Blade/Varnae *chose* to capture 3 specific Avengers in #1, and why. Black Panther to find the Temple Of The 1st Blasphemy, and the Thunder God's blood and Scarlet Witch as the 'Living Darkhold' to power his spell.

Bloodline, Dracula and Spider-Man (Miles Morales) don't get a look-in this time.

The Strange Academy chars seen here are Doyle Dormammu, German Aguilar, Guslag, Shaylee Moonpeddle, Toth and Zoe Laveau. The fact that they've found the Darkhold book (which contains a spell to kill all vampires), currently incarnated as a young boy, in their own Blood Hunt mini-series (and that Dr Doom will be involved in its #3 conclusion) is obviously going to be highly relevant.



> Blood Hunt comic book info and issue index

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Pepe Larraz
Pepe Larraz
Marte Gracia
Pepe Larraz (Cover Penciler)
Pepe Larraz (Cover Inker)
Marte Gracia (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Cory Petit.
Editor: Tom Brevoort.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Black Panther
Black Panther

(T'Challa)
Blade
Blade

(Eric Brooks)
Captain America
Captain America

(Sam Wilson)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel

(Carol Danvers)
Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom

(Victor Von Doom)
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

(Stephen Strange)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Moon Knight
Moon Knight

(Marc Spector)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Tigra
Tigra

(Greer Nelson)
Wrecker
Wrecker

(Dirk Garthwaite)
Plus: Bloodcoven, Hunter's Moon, Khonshu, Varnae.

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