Writer: Bryan Hill; Artist: German Peralta; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit; Colorist: Arthur Hesli; Editor: Will Moss; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Ken Lashley
Victoria Montesi has a nightmare vision of a hospital in Chicago being engulfed in a wave of blood. She wakes up in her cot at an airbase in Iraq, where she she and the other Midnight Sons have been making their plans to fight back against Blade. Vicki talks with Johnny Blaze and tells him that they need to go to Chicago before they deal with Blade, and Blaze admits that he had a similar nightmare about the hospital. Danny Ketch and Tulip then say that they each also had nightmares about the hospital, which forces them to conclude that they need to investigate.
Later, at the hospital in Chicago, a nurse is attacked by a vampire. Ghost Rider arrives and intervenes, dragging the vampire out of the building behind his motorcycle. The nurse is comforted by the rest of the Midnight Sons while Ghost Rider destroys the vampire with his Penance Stare. The nurse tells them that strange things have been happening at the hospital for some time, but before she can explain they are attacked by Blade, who crashes through a window. Blaze uses his hellfire shotgun, which forces Blade to transform into a group of bats that fly out of the hospital. Vicki deduces that what they just witnessed wasn't actually Blade, but instead was a distraction to get them to leave the hospital. Using a knife, Vicki cuts her hand and bleeds onto the floor, revealing a large pentagram that she says is a doorway to Hell that they have to close.
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| I think he may need some urgent care |
THE ROADMAP
This series is a tie-in to the "Blood Hunt" crossover event, which saw Blade lead a vampire army to cover the planet in Darkforce energy and try to take over the world.
The Midnight Sons were a loose affiliation of supernatural heroes, whose membership indeed included Danny Ketch, Johnny Blaze, Victoria Montesi, and Blade among others. They first came together as an informal group in Ghost Rider (1990) # 31 to defeat Lilith. A more recent incarnation of the Midnight Sons were gathered in Doctor Strange: Damnation # 2 to fight Mephisto, and both Blaze and Blade were on that team as well.
Where this story takes place in terms of continuity is frankly impossible to determine. Johnny Blaze lost the power of Zarathos in Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance (2024) # 1 and he regained his hellfire shotgun in Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance (2024) # 5. He is reunited with Zarathos in Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance (2024) # 6 and the footnotes in this issue explicitly states that this story takes place between issues of Final Vengeance. However, there are no breaks in the Final Vengeance story where Johnny could take part in this story, so it's actually a major continuity error.
CHAIN REACTION
"Blood Hunt" continues and it looks like this mini-series isn't going to be as integral to the main crossover plot as it first seemed.
Now look, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that this series is looking to tell it's own story without being beholden to what's happening in the large schema of "Blood Hunt". It is, however, a bit disappointing to realize that the premise of the team reforming in issue # 1, to hunt down and kill Blade for unleashing a vampire apocalypse, is not actually the story we're getting. It's a way to keep the characters distracted, which would be all well and good if this was simply the Midnight Sons reuniting to deal with some supernatural threat while "Blood Hunt" was going on. Selling this comic as one thing when it actually is something else, that is again very disappointing.
That being said, though, this is still a very good comic. It is, in fact, everything I want in a series featuring these characters, and it makes me extremely happy to see the Midnight Sons being used in such a reverential and satisfying way. I think Bryan Hill really gets what makes these characters work, he takes time to make them distinct and understands their personalities. Vicki Montesi is cryptic, Johnny Blaze is laid back and relatable, Danny Ketch is brooding, and Ghost Rider is the heavy. That's probably my favorite aspect of the comic, that Ghost Rider continues to be treated as the big gun powerhouse that he really should be. He doesn't take over the series, despite being the biggest name character in the group, but plays his role perfectly as part of the ensemble.
The artwork also continues to be just top shelf, beautiful stuff to look at. German Peralta has such clean, smooth lines and it really shouldn't work as well as it does considering the tone of the story. I think Arthur Hesli's colors really enhance the best qualities of the art, bathing everything in this eerie wash of greens and blues that are only really broken up when Ghost Rider's flames are present. Peralta's Johnny Blaze skews a bit younger and cleaner than I prefer, I like scruffy 90s Blaze where he was one of the elder statesmen of the Midnight Sons, but that's a really small personal quibble. This comic has amazing artwork that you just want to stare at and absorb with your eyes.
In a perfect world this would be more than just a mini-series tie-in to a crossover. It's dripping with suspense, showcases a perfect balance of a wonderful ensemble cast, and has absolutely stunning artwork. Forget "Blood Hunt", this demands to be read even if you ignored the crossover event.
It's really damn good.
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| That's one way of putting it, sure. |
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