Advance Review – ‘Blood & Thunder’ #12 Closes Out A Disappointing And Confusing Story Arc
by Tom Smithyman
On the plus side, this issue of Blood & Thunder gives readers a definitive ending to this story arc.
Until now, this entire arc has been mishandled — at least from a story breakdown perspective, although there have been others. Issues would end seemingly in the middle of the story, leaving readers to complain that their copies had been misprinted. Nope, that was by the creative team’s “design.”
Issue #12 gives us a real ending to a very meh section of story. But there are two redeeming aspects to this chapter. First, it features a ton of interesting battle scenes courtesy of artist E.J. Su. Second, it changes the story considerably for the next arc. Spoilers prevent revealing more, but hope springs eternal for a stronger story going forward.
The issue, written by Benito Cereno, begins in a typically confusing way, with bounty hunter Blood flashing back to her time training with the interstellar police force. Unfortunately for readers, there’s no indication that what they are reading is actually a flashback at all. And it only complicates matters when she continues to remember things that happened even earlier in her alien life.
For some reason, Cereno doesn’t care to inform his readers when we finally snap back to the present. In an arc that has already left readers scratching their heads, this move doesn’t help. Worse still, once you realize what Cereno is doing, you question why the flashbacks were necessary in the first place. They add very little to the story at this point.
What we’re left with is Su’s artwork, which is better than several past issues since he’s actually given something interesting to render — including the monstrous Desmiox and a ton of aliens and humans in a battle royale. Su generously uses splash pages and spreads to give readers what they want — finally.
Every creator is allowed to have an off-issue — or in this case, an off-arc. We’ll give them benefit of the doubt for right now. But our patience is wearing thin, so this next issue better deliver.
Blood & Thunder #12 — written by Benito Cereno, illustrated by E.J. Su, colored by Msassyk, and lettered by Rus Rooton — will be available in comic book stores and on digital platforms on Wednesday from Image Comics.
Overview
This intentionally confusing story arc is finally over. Let’s hope that better things are ahead for this once-promising series, or readers aren’t going to make it through the next arc.
