Advance Review — ‘Blood & Thunder’ #10 Continues Its Bizarre Pacing
by Tom Smithyman
You know you have a storytelling problem when your creative team has to rely on the readers’ letter page to explain their choices.
In the latest issue of Blood & Thunder writer Benito Cereno pleads with readers to stop complaining online that the book’s printer messed up the publication.
It’s not surprising that readers are confused, given the last few issues, which have seemingly ended in mid-plot point. (It’s no spoiler to say that this one ends in a similar way.) There’s no cliffhanger. No “to be continued” warning to readers. It just hangs there.
Cereno argues it’s like the end of a novel’s chapter, and that it will all make sense when the individual issues are read together. Of course, that’s the very nature of a monthly comic series. Breaking the storytelling rules is never a bad idea. But confusing your readers because of questionable choices is a recipe for a short run.
That issue has overshadowed the work that Cereno and artist E.J. Su have done on the series — though that may not necessarily be a bad thing. They are trying to tell an interesting story here about technology, religion, and our prejudices. But nothing has really landed yet. We get teases of things, then the characters jet off to another planet. (I guess they should get credit for finally revealing The Prisoner’s true name after 10 issues, but that’s hardly the revelation we were looking for.)
This issue gives Su a chance to draw some cool planetscapes and some alien creatures. They are serviceable but aren’t going to blow away anyone but the biggest fans of the series. Similarly, Su’s writing doesn’t exactly move the plot along as much as drop the characters into some forced situations.
There is a kernel of goodness in this series. But it feels like the creative team is shooting themselves in the foot, trying to tell the story in a different way. If they could actually pull it off, it would be interesting. But their execution is lacking.
Blood & Thunder #10 will be available in comic book stores and on digital platforms Wednesday from Image Comics.
Overview
This series continues its unfortunate and confusing trend of ending an issue seemingly in the middle of the story. As if that weren’t bad enough, the story itself seems to be meandering, teasing some hope for a larger message but constantly delaying it.
