Skybound’s Blood & Thunder #1 has a pretty simple pitch: what if the classic Lethal Weapon dichotomy of rogue cop/career cop was instead rogue cop/the cop’s gun? That’s the basic idea, which focuses on Akeldama “Blood” Bledsoe, and her gun, Thunder. Which talks.
Written by Benito Cereno, with art by E.J. Su, nothing against that excellent duo but the draw here is likely that the book is based on an idea by Robert Kirkman. And Blood & Thunder #1 has all the hallmarks of a Kirkman book. There’s a big, clear concept. You’ve got plenty of over-the-top, almost casual violence. And there’s a general offhand tone to the whole thing that slots neatly on the shelf next to Invincible and The Walking Dead. There’s also, per the two previously mentioned books, a lot going on in this premiere issue.
That’s not a bad thing, by the way. Set in the far future, there are plenty of weird, alien beasties, characters with shady pasts, and twists and family secrets yet to come out. Also, that talking gun I mentioned. The only issue with the, er, issue, is that it spends a fair amount of time — and spoilers past this point — giving a classic swerve by focusing on a corrupt, neo-Chinatown style character who the book wants us to think is the main character. The problem is we’ve already seen the cover and title of the comic, so while this likely will loop back to the characters we spend the first few pages with, this sort of feint might work when you’re writing or reading a raw script. A little less so when you’re picking up a comic called Blood & Thunder that features Blood and Thunder front and center.
But past that point? This book is a lot of fun. Thunder’s different settings offer a virtually unlimited variety of weird things that can happen to perps Blood is chasing down, beyond shooting them. It’s essentially Judge Dredd’s gun, but talking, and larger. And Blood is an engagingly drawn character, with her enormous pile of red hair popping almost out of the page.
And every bit we learn about Blood — and how she got Thunder — in the issue only serves to make the duo more fun and intriguing. This idea in various forms has been percolating in both Kirkman and Cereno’s minds for a long time, and it’s clear they’ve got long plans for this book. Su’s action is big and fun, the writing pops, and while it hits the familiar tropes of the mismatched cop story, and even a few overdone “future Earth” tropes as well, it’s all so breezy it feels comfortable, rather than frustrating.
Is Blood & Thunder a wildly original shot in the comic book shop? Maybe not. But it is a delightfully hardcore riff on the classics we’ve seen before, remixed for a new generation. Bring the blood, and bring the thunder.
Blood & Thunder #1 hits stores on May 7, 2025 from Skybound and Image Comics.
Blood & Thunder #1 Rating:
Blood & Thunder #1 Official Synopsis:
Bounty hunter Akeldama “Blood” Bledsoe and her cantankerous talking gun Thunder are the best out there at bringing in the bad guys.
However, when the galaxy’s most dangerous criminal breaks out of prison, Blood’s hunt delivers her down a path that will unlock secrets about her past, present, and future…and that’s when things get REALLY BAD.
The team of BENITO CERENO, E.J. SU (TECH JACKET), and MICHELE “MSASSYK” ASSARASAKORN, in partnership with visionary creator ROBERT KIRKMAN (INVINCIBLE, THE WALKING DEAD), present an all-new action epic set in the near future where Earth has integrated alien species into a new society—meaning there’s a whole new set of rules…and a whole load of new crimes to solve.
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