What do you think?
Rate this book
Blood Commandment (2023) #1
Blood Commandment #1
MINISERIES PREMIERE
Living an isolated life in a shadowed valley surrounded by mountains and a thick forest, a father and son are terrorized by a dangerous supernatural presence. Only the father's dark secrets can save them…or damn their souls for all eternity!
Being a single father can be tough, but for Ezra Connolly, it's a duty he doesn't take lightly. Living off-grid, away from prying eyes, in the heart of forest country, he spends his days teaching his teenage son Wil survival skills.
But Wil has questions, questions Ezra fears to answer—about his past, and about why they never leave the valley before sundown…
A four-issue horror miniseries from the creator of the breakout hit series Something Epic (2023- ) and the artist of Spawn and Punisher. Szymon Kudranski serves up a story about survival, sacrifice, and hope.
Living an isolated life in a shadowed valley surrounded by mountains and a thick forest, a father and son are terrorized by a dangerous supernatural presence. Only the father's dark secrets can save them…or damn their souls for all eternity!
Being a single father can be tough, but for Ezra Connolly, it's a duty he doesn't take lightly. Living off-grid, away from prying eyes, in the heart of forest country, he spends his days teaching his teenage son Wil survival skills.
But Wil has questions, questions Ezra fears to answer—about his past, and about why they never leave the valley before sundown…
A four-issue horror miniseries from the creator of the breakout hit series Something Epic (2023- ) and the artist of Spawn and Punisher. Szymon Kudranski serves up a story about survival, sacrifice, and hope.
- GenresComics
30 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2023
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 3, 2023
2023 - 365 Days of Horror
Day 307: Great first issue! And I love the idea of “One Man Art” comics. This is an imprint I’ll gladly follow.
Day 307: Great first issue! And I love the idea of “One Man Art” comics. This is an imprint I’ll gladly follow.
December 4, 2023
The first in a four part mini-series, written, drawn, and coloured by one man, Szymon Kudrański, the first issue of Blood Commandment makes it clear before you've even opened the book that this is going to be a dark, violent, and horror filled tale.
The series focuses on Ezra Connely, who lives out in the woods with his teenage son Wil. Wil, who dreams of having a normal life, is home schooled by his father, and taught how to survive out away from society, and how to be self sufficient. But, their little family unit has developed some cracks since the death of Ezra's wife; which has caused Wil to ask awkward questions about life, death, and the afterlife.
Despite living out in the forest, the two of them do occasionally need to visit town, and it's on one of these visits that we see Ezra staring at the neck of one of the men they come across, and later on he seems to be able to smell something that others can't. The covers for the series make it clear that this is a vampire book, but as we learn that Ezra himself is a vampire it begins to raise some questions; especially in regards to exactly who and what Wil is.
Whilst just reading about this single dad vampire trying to do best by his son would be interesting enough, it can't be the only thing that the series has to offer. Someone, or something, has found Ezra, and is following him, leaving a trail of bodies behind them. Now, as Ezra realises his carefully guarded life is in danger, he prepares to defend what's his.
One of the things that I've seen horror mini-series do in the past is to jump in too quickly, to reveal the monster, to rush to the action and the scares in an attempt to grab the reader. Whilst this certainly works, it's a formula that can often lead to characters that feel one-dimensional and shallow. You don't get to know them, and thus, you don't care when they're in danger. Blood Commandment is taking a more relaxed approach, and spends much of this first issue just listening in on the conversations between father and son, showing the reader what their lives are like. And, more importantly, what their relationship is like.
This feels like a book where the horror is going to be built in the anticipation, and there are a couple of scenes in this issue of slowly creeping dread that work wonderfully well. We get small hints at what could be coming, and the fear that Ezra shows certainly helps to sell things, but it's still very much a mystery here as to what could be happening, and that makes me want to read more, to see more of these characters and to find out what's coming.
As mentioned already, Kudrański provides the art on the book, and the art compliments the story by being slow and deliberate in places. The art helps to build the scenes, and is used to heighten the tension and is used to keep a slowly moving pace in ways that I've not really seen in a book before. There's one scene where a man is being hunted by the mysterious presence, and we see him leaving part of a building in one panel, but instead of joining him somewhere else on the next one we remain where we were, with just a receding shadow on the wall showing us that he's gone. It feels like the comic equivalent of a character walking out of shot and the camera lingering a moment too long.
There are other places where instead of seeing someone just at the door we watch for three or four panels, low to the ground, as their feet get smaller as they move further away from us, and closer to their goal. The book feels cinematic. It feels like it's using film techniques in its art, and Kudrański is controlling the flow of the story in a way that feels fresh and new. It's a book that might not look visually distinct or impressive at first glance, but whilst reading it you begin to see that this is actually something very impressive.
My only complaint about the art is that Wil does not look 14. Wil looks a lot younger, and depending on which parts of the book you're at his age seems to range around the 10-12 mark. Yes, some people look young for their ages, but other than characters saying Wil is 14 you could read this book and not come to that conclusion yourself.
Overall, Blood Commandment is a very interesting first issue. It has some decent dialogue and creates a strong family dynamic that I want to see more of, it manages to create some creepy slow burning horror that has me excited to find out what the monster is, and the art is being used in wonderfully creative ways. This is a series that might be repeating what others have done with its variant covers, but inside it's absolutely trying something new.
The series focuses on Ezra Connely, who lives out in the woods with his teenage son Wil. Wil, who dreams of having a normal life, is home schooled by his father, and taught how to survive out away from society, and how to be self sufficient. But, their little family unit has developed some cracks since the death of Ezra's wife; which has caused Wil to ask awkward questions about life, death, and the afterlife.
Despite living out in the forest, the two of them do occasionally need to visit town, and it's on one of these visits that we see Ezra staring at the neck of one of the men they come across, and later on he seems to be able to smell something that others can't. The covers for the series make it clear that this is a vampire book, but as we learn that Ezra himself is a vampire it begins to raise some questions; especially in regards to exactly who and what Wil is.
Whilst just reading about this single dad vampire trying to do best by his son would be interesting enough, it can't be the only thing that the series has to offer. Someone, or something, has found Ezra, and is following him, leaving a trail of bodies behind them. Now, as Ezra realises his carefully guarded life is in danger, he prepares to defend what's his.
One of the things that I've seen horror mini-series do in the past is to jump in too quickly, to reveal the monster, to rush to the action and the scares in an attempt to grab the reader. Whilst this certainly works, it's a formula that can often lead to characters that feel one-dimensional and shallow. You don't get to know them, and thus, you don't care when they're in danger. Blood Commandment is taking a more relaxed approach, and spends much of this first issue just listening in on the conversations between father and son, showing the reader what their lives are like. And, more importantly, what their relationship is like.
This feels like a book where the horror is going to be built in the anticipation, and there are a couple of scenes in this issue of slowly creeping dread that work wonderfully well. We get small hints at what could be coming, and the fear that Ezra shows certainly helps to sell things, but it's still very much a mystery here as to what could be happening, and that makes me want to read more, to see more of these characters and to find out what's coming.
As mentioned already, Kudrański provides the art on the book, and the art compliments the story by being slow and deliberate in places. The art helps to build the scenes, and is used to heighten the tension and is used to keep a slowly moving pace in ways that I've not really seen in a book before. There's one scene where a man is being hunted by the mysterious presence, and we see him leaving part of a building in one panel, but instead of joining him somewhere else on the next one we remain where we were, with just a receding shadow on the wall showing us that he's gone. It feels like the comic equivalent of a character walking out of shot and the camera lingering a moment too long.
There are other places where instead of seeing someone just at the door we watch for three or four panels, low to the ground, as their feet get smaller as they move further away from us, and closer to their goal. The book feels cinematic. It feels like it's using film techniques in its art, and Kudrański is controlling the flow of the story in a way that feels fresh and new. It's a book that might not look visually distinct or impressive at first glance, but whilst reading it you begin to see that this is actually something very impressive.
My only complaint about the art is that Wil does not look 14. Wil looks a lot younger, and depending on which parts of the book you're at his age seems to range around the 10-12 mark. Yes, some people look young for their ages, but other than characters saying Wil is 14 you could read this book and not come to that conclusion yourself.
Overall, Blood Commandment is a very interesting first issue. It has some decent dialogue and creates a strong family dynamic that I want to see more of, it manages to create some creepy slow burning horror that has me excited to find out what the monster is, and the art is being used in wonderfully creative ways. This is a series that might be repeating what others have done with its variant covers, but inside it's absolutely trying something new.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2023
Good first issue, with a lot of dialogue and relationship building. It's not generic per se, but there isn't a whole lot peaking my interest. I think I'm just not very into the werewolf genre, if it isn't something very special. Don't think I will continue this one. That said, it is good and if you are interested in the genre I think it's worth checking out
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews