Review: Directionless ‘Blood And Thunder’ #18 Continues Its Meandering Ways

If nothing else, Blood & Thunder is a series that’s full of surprises. Some good; some not so much.

The series started strong, made some questions pacing choices, got strong again, lost its way a bit, and now seems intent on returning to its meandering ways. In the process though, it’s given us a few laughs.

The latest chuckle, at the hands of writer Benito Cereno and illustrator E.J. Su, involves a retirement village for out-of-date sentient guns. Yes, the Thunder in Blood & Thunder refers to a fulminator, or thinking rifle that can fire all manner of projectiles. In the last issue, hero Blood rescued several of Thunder’s siblings that were about to be dismantled. Now she has to figure out what to do with them — all while being chased by the interstellar cops.

Cereno’s answer is to drop them off at an old-folks home for guns. OK, makes sense. As if that weren’t quicky enough, Su makes the guns’ caregivers look suspiciously like Care Bears with frog eyes. It’s a hilarious visual that helps to apply a salve to the rest of this issue.

Billed as the end of the latest story arc, this chapter feels aimless, as if Cereno doesn’t really know where his own story is heading. But much of the series has felt that way. The title is sorely in need of better planning. The characters are interesting enough, but hardly unique. We’ve seen Blood and Thunder before in various incarnations: the trouble would-be hero caught up in a corrupt world, alongside a sarcastic but helpful companion. It’s not a bad combination, but you’d better execute it like crazy.

It’s unclear how much longer this series can continue its directionless ways. But at least we have some alien Care Bears to laugh with along the way.

Blood & Thunder #18– written by Benito Cereno, illustrated by E.J. Su, colored by Msassyk, and lettered by Rus Wooton — is available today in comic book stories and on digital platforms from Image Comics.