Advance Review: An Extended Chase Scene Lifts ‘Blood & Thunder’ #3

After two introductory issues featuring a good mix of exposition and action, Blood & Thunder #3 is an unapologetic extended chase filled with enough of explosions and death to keep readers flipping the page.

It’s a smart change of pace — particularly after a second issue meandered. There are no such distractions this time around. It’s just bounty hunter Akeldama “Blood” Bledsoe and her AI-powered gun, Thunder, chasing after the unimaginatively named Prisoner X.

Artist E.J. Su gives us plenty to gaze at as Blood and Thunder chase the alien through an asteroid colony. They try to stop it, but both protagonists are underpowered compared to the dangerous human-hating beast. While Prisoner X isn’t all that scary looking, Su does push the boundaries in depicting the chase. There’s violence and death aplenty, but no real gore.

Writer Benito Cereno plays the two heroes against each other in a smart way. Blood is mostly all business and is laser-focused on stopping the prisoner. Thunder, on the other hand, plays the role most of us would take in a similar situation. He’s scared to death and looking for a way out.

It’s a bit of a cliché, but it works well here. On one side of several panels, we read Blood ordering the alien to stop while swearing up a storm, and on the other the gun is questioning why she’s going to such lengths. Ultimately, this issue may not move the overall story along all that much, but it’s pretty entertaining anyway.

The next issue promises to be an interlude, which seems to come way too early in the story — particularly given the momentum from this chapter. But at least we have a pretty good installment this time around.

Blood & Thunder #3 will be available in comic book shops and on digital platforms on Wednesday from Image Comics.