Blood Hunt

Blood Hunt (Collected Editions)

by Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz (Illustrator), Sara Pichelli (Illustrator)

An all new blockbuster Marvel event begins here, as the Avengers and the rest of the Marvel Universe face off against an endless horde of bloodthirsty vampires!

It’s an event like no other! As the skies grow dark, an army of vampires stalks the land by day. Now, Marvel’s greatest heroes must assemble to hold back an eternal night that threatens to consume the entire world in a wave of scarlet and chaos. Who will bite it?

Collecting BLOOD HUNT #1-5.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Vampires, Comic Book, Horror

152 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2024

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather quick event when considered in isolation. It is a pretty typical 'take over the world' storyline that brings several Marvel characters together to fight a big bad. Perhaps I've been out of the Marvel loop for too long as I have no idea why this particular group was chosen to headline, especially as it seems like quite a random assortment. Perhaps someone will be able to clue me in. Enjoyable, yet unable to feel like a milestone in the Marvel mythos, it won't be one that's remembered for years as groundbreaking, but it is easily digestible fun in the moment.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

As those of you who read my ‘reviews’ will know (and I know you’re out there, and I question your sanity) I’m not usually a fan of these big multi-title crossover ‘events’, in fact I think they’re the worst thing about modern era comicbooks… but even I have to admit this one was a lot of fun, in a cheesy b-movie kind of way.

It helped that the artwork was gorgeous on this, the core book of the event. Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia, I salute you. Beautiful work, folks.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A competent but very generic superhero crossover event that simply recycles ideas that have been used before: vampire uprising, superhero heel turn, shocking "deaths," big Independence Day rah-rah speech, resurrection of a dead hero, secret mastermind, "superior" villain title assumption.

I'm obviously too old for this and should leave it to the twelve-year-old who will have his little mind blown, I'm sure. Oh, wait, but this is rated Teen+? Whoops! Not so fast, kid, you gotta wait a year.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Blood Hunt #1-5, with material from Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book. Jeb Mackay has the golden (or dark) touch when it comes to antihero characters. I love what he did with Moon Knight, and he delivers once again here. Great story and perfect artwork that goes perfectly with the story. The only reason I could not give this book 5 stars is that a lot of the story takes place in the companions to the main story.

Darkness has fallen all around the world. With eternal night, the vampires have nothing to fear. Who is the fearsome and brilliant new leader of the vampires? With the heroes already naturalised, who are left to stand against vampires? What comprimises or outright sacrifices will need to be made.

It is a huge story that leads straight into a whole new world for the Marvel universe. I am looking forward to the fallout, what gspowns next, and even the companions to this story. A great epic main story that needs a few blanks filled in. The book finishes with a varient covers gallery and a sketchbook.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short crossover with absolutely incredible artwork by Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia, probably my favorite art team in superhero comics. The story is pretty thin, as it chose to leave the character stuff to the many many crossovers, but it was entertaining enough.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m going to use this as a full event review on top of just the main event so I don’t have to split it between all the series. They promoted the hell out of this event and I’m happy that for the most part it lived up to the hype. Unfortunately none of the gore lived up to the hype of what they did in issue one but it was cool to purchase a comic that had to come bagged because of the gore. I still have some thoughts on what happened to Doctor Strange at the end of the red band issue one and in his own series, very different vibes. The main story was pretty good but was carried by some heavy events in the Black Panther tie in which was fantastic lore and world building. I really liked the Blood Hunters story, it brought in some solid characters with fun stories and I’m excited to see the team continue their story after the event. Obviously the stuff in Doctor Strange’s story are really good. The stuff from both Spider-Men is alright, wasn’t a big fan. The Union Jack stuff didn’t catch me much, the Wolverine stuff was insane and such and cool. The X-Men stuff was pretty cool, the Avengers were kicking the shit out of Nazi vampires so that was awesome and it was a solid team. The Dracula story was pretty cool and it was great to see more of Brielle and how she’s been doing since her series. A lot of the one shots were just alright but I did like the Werewolf by Night was great. Vengeance of the Moon Knight ties in well and also has huge impact on the main story. The Strange Academy stuff is fun and I always like seeing those kids. Wish they’d get an ongoing again. Really liked the Fantastic 4 tie in. The Midnight Suns stuff was something I was so excited for and I ended up not liking it at all. They have almost nothing to do with the event at all and it felt like a cheap way to capitalize on the name simply because the event was dark and supernatural based. Ultimately though I really liked this event and I’m so excited for the event this fall that they set up at the end.

[Alex Sarll]

This opens badly, seemingly cementing the impression Jed MacKay's Avengers run is giving – that while he's great doing oddball soap opera with marginal characters like Moon Knight, Strange or Black Cat, once he gets too near the centre of the Marvel Universe he chokes, resulting in extruded superhero piffle that could have been written by anyone. Yes, there's a massive threat (the Darkforce Dimension erupts, blackening the skies, enabling an attack by vast armies of vampires – where they all came from is eventually asked, but never answered). There are new villains, shock reversals, all the stuff that used to hit back in the days of Civil War or Secret Invasion but has been redone so many times in the years since that none of the betrayals or impalements retains any weight. It does pick up a little for the last two issues once it stops dancing neatly through the steps and goes full heavy metal apocalypse; it helps that he writes an excellent Doctor Doom, and also that here we're getting deeper into the territory of his exceptional Moon Knight run, such that by the finale, for all that it turns out largely to set up the next crossover, you could almost forgive the lacklustre opening. But even here, it feels like a major missed opportunity that a writer known to understand the deep lore should have put Moon Knight and Dracula in the same comic without even a glancing reference to debts owed.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the FCBD issue of Bloodhunt, but the complete story was a let down. Vampires begin to take over the world, led by Blade who has been possessed by Varnae. Doctor Strange, Spider Man (Miles), Moon Knight, the F4, Dare Devil, several Avengers and Blade's daughter Brielle become involved in trying to defeat the vampires. It became convoluted and many of the heroes stood around giving speeches and pontificating. I have often wondered why some authors choose which heroes to feature in a crossover event like this, but in the case, it was obvious the featured heroes are the ones who are in recent Marvel movies and tv series. A plus is that the well-drawn cover includes the heroes found within, as too many Marvel covers are misleading and incorrect, which is a pet peeve of mine.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I don't much appreciate these so-called events, which are pointless hot air that does nothing to change the situation that precedes it.

Blood Hunt's conclusion at least has the merit of turning the situation around. A "game changer" as they say. The plot itself isn't the most original - demonic entity wants to raze the world, heroes unite to save the day - but it's very well put together, with no downtime and a few nice twists - special mention to the one in the first issue and the final one of course.

Add to that the fantabulous Pepe Larraz on the artwork - the guy's talent is truly mind-blowing - and Marte Gracia's excellent colours, and you've got a real event!

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood Hunt absolutely comes outta nowhere, but it's a pretty enjoyable Marvel event even as it arrives and is discarded without much fanfare. At some point, perhaps in a long-forgotten series, the first vampire woke up, went to Atlantis, read the Darkforce texts, and then possessed Blade. This backstory is sorta interwoven into the Blood Hunt narrative, but we mostly begin in the middle of the story, with the Darkforce users putting out the sun so the vampires can feast.

Because Jed MacKay wrote this, there's a team of superpowered vampires (MacKay loves to create supervillain teams) who take down most of the Avengers. The remaining few team up with astral-projection Doctor Strange and some strays from the Midnight Mission to take down Possessed Blade and restore light to the world.

The pacing is lightning quick, but all the main characters get fun moments to shine. It's a pretty traditional Marvel event in that all the bad stuff happens instantly and then we spend five issues dealing with it. That might not be a complaint: if Blood Hunt was any longer, I probably would have liked it less.

[Sam Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this event with zero expectations. I don't care much for vampire stories (I'm more of a werewolf guy) and I genuinely don't really like the Fantasy/Paranormal Marvel aspects. But WOW, this event COMPLETELY blew me away. MacKay did an absolutely fantastic job with this and I actually want to go back and read all the spinoff books now??? I literally never usually want to do that. Truly a testament to the quality of this event.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as individual comics, ratings below:
#1= 3.5 stars
#2= 3.5 stars
#3= 4 stars
#4= 3.5 stars
#5= 4 stars
Overall rating of 3.5 stars

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two types of events in the Big 2. There are those that loosely touch on all the corners of the Marvel/DC Universe, but other than some mentions or minor character changes not much happens. And there are the big events that "Change the foundation of the entire Multiverse!". I love both, when they are done well. This is the former, and it is done so flippin well. The art is stellar! The story has stakes and is big and bombastic while at the same time being serious and not serious at all. It's just fun! Which is what comics should be.

All that being said, I have to give you some context. I got into comics around the time the Midnight Sons were at their height. I don't know if they read their audience or if they were trying to compete with the more adult themed books at Vertigo. But whatever their motivation those books were awesome. The only downside was that every once in a while other Marvel characters showed up. With this story, I honestly don't know if I would have liked it without the Avengers et all or if I like the fact that they are there. And I think that indecision speaks to good writing. Hats off to you Jed McKay!

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC had a vampire event so obviously..... I wish this had been 8 self contained issues instead of this main hollow mini with tons of others you needed to complete the tale. There was meat on the bones but it wasn't a complete meal. However we do see where things are headed next for the rise of Doctor Doom!

[London Heady · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacKay is certainly a fun writer, and the interiors are mostly gorgeous, but Blood Hunt doesn't really ever feel grand or explosive. I mostly just read the main five issues, and what I did read of the other stuff was mostly bad. But the central issues were fun enough to coast through. Just really is missing a certain fiery element to make it feel like a big event. It did what was mostly expected, and it ended pretty quickly. But at least it had some fun monster designs.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75
Uninspiring and formulaic. At no time did I feel anything was at stake (no pun intended).

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel's next big event is here and Blood Hunt was a bloody good time. Jed MacKay uses a lot of his previous works to inspire an epic throw down between vampires and well, everyone. Its more complicated than this but I don't want to spoil anything as its relatively still new. The book does a great job of showing how much of an actual threat the antagonists are and there are some long term affects that will be felt here. I really enjoyed MacKay's Sam Wilson but he handled all the Avengers well. There were a lot of characters and not everyone gets to shine and because its a big comics publisher crossover there are a bunch of tie-ins so it doesn't feel like you get the complete story here. Pepe Larraz does phenomenal work here. He has some incredible pages/panels that will make you pause. Overall, a surprisingly good event book.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, fast read. Basic premise is that Varnae, the original Vampire, takes over the body of Blade (as prepared for in his solo title) and uses his power to cover the world in darkness and unleash vampires all over everywhere. Very cool crossover (and I'm sure I will enjoy things I read in the other crossover issues) but really only creates three things: 1) Miles Morales is now a vampire, which is a pretty cool twist for the character. 2) Vampires can now survive in the sunlight. Also cool, especially for Miles and the newer established Vampire Nation (in Chernobyl). and 3) In order for the magic ritual to happen, Strange had to give the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme to Doom, as his body had been infected with vampirism. Doom made a promise to give it back, but of course worded it in such a way to be able to keep the title. Can't wait to see the chaos he will cause with it.
Worth a read. We'll see if all the side stories are worth it too.
Recommend.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel comics and vampires…for better or worse…

Blood Hunt by Jed MacKay is a recent marvel crossover that sees vampires posing a threat to Earth due to a new leader..though it leaves a lot of questions on the table…

Curse of the mutants, Jason Aaron’s vampire nation, Dracula’s space invasion ten years ago…there’s a lot of stuff in the last decade and a half that have happened with vampires and the marvel universe…

Anyway, vampire plot uses the dark force to trap the earth in darkness (similar to what happened to new yoke during secret empire) so vampires start fighting (but maybe not those under Dracula’s leadership…it’s weird).

Anyway, the main threat is an “ancient” vampires threat from hyborean times (I know because there’s an issue of Conan where he fights the Cimmerian…who by this point is no longer in the modern day in savage avengers…oh well)…

They do some callouts…as the avengers (but only a specific membership) and the other characters written by Jed MacKay…oh and Miles Morales…are the main heroes of the book.

I imagine the tie ins show other heroes doing their part around the world…

It happens at a break neck pace and has some decent character moments but it barely takes time to explain things that happened to set this up…

I feel Blade gets a pretty bad disservice in this…

I can share more thoughts but I just wanna say that while it was a fun interesting story, if you are familiar with what came before, you have questions that may never get answered.

Still…I like Jed Mackay’s stuff and I’ll continue to read it. I’ll likely read the other blood hunt tie ins if they become available too…just so I can judge them accordingly…

[Jos Trinidad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg this was so good. I like that the concept was succinct and flowed really nicely, but I do wish that it was just a little bit longer.

I guess that I want it to explore the avenues of each character more, but maybe I just missed that with some side stories that I'll find down the road.

Still as a main plot 5/5!

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

<3 hunters moon <3

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know why I keep reading about vampires. I so rarely enjoy it.

[Remxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun, I feel like it was over very quickly though. The artwork was very beautiful and it did a good job bringing together a lot of characters and telling the story well. Probably better when you flesh it out with some of the companion stories.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s *Redacted* gets possessed by a really old enemy and sadly ONLY the Avengers and Doctor Strange help out no other super natural characters ohhh and Dr.Doom becomes the new *Double redacted*.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it comes to vampires and Marvel, I immediately think of Morbius the Living Vampire (no thanks to Jared Leto), and then there’s the Daywalker himself, Blade. Although Marvel Comics’ relationship with vampirism has been around for seventy years – back when they were known for publishing monster comics than superhero ones – vampires have been a consistent part of the Marvel Universe since The Tomb of Dracula in the seventies where Blade was introduced. Having only seen the Blade movies starring Wesley Snipes and not checked out any of his comics, so to rectify this mistake, starting with not the most obvious choice, the crossover event Blood Hunt.

Published earlier this year, the five-issue storyline shows the Darkforce Dimension emptying onto Earth, blocking out the Sun and transforming a number of Marvel characters into portals, where vampires are unleashed. As the Avengers fight off the vampiric threat, Blade tells them they are attacked by the Bloodcoven, whilst Doctor Strange and Clea have a plan to kill all vampires, whose leader shockingly turns out to be Blade himself.

Despite the bloody implication of the animalistic vampires, this is your typical crossover event where many characters are thrown into a rather thin storyline. Written by Jed MacKay, the current writer on The Avengers, Blood Hunt doesn’t always maintain its role as a standalone title as it makes reference to other Marvel titles. Not to mention the tie-in issues where some of the main characters from this book are in their solo adventures, such as the pairing of Dracula and Blade’s own daughter Brielle Brooks AKA Bloodline.

However, there are some fun surprises along the way, with Blade revealing himself to be the main villain at the end of the first issue. This may not quite reach the shock factor of other comics that showcase superheroes going through a monstrous turn like DCeased, seeing imagery likes Miles Morales suddenly turning into a vampire can get the blood pumping (no pun intended). On a dramatic level, the book only succeeds in a few character moments like Doctor Strange spending most of the book in his astral projection state since his actual body is now a vampire, or anytime Doctor Doom appears which is just glorious, especially when he’s given a new status quo.

With a variety of Marvel heroes and villains coming together to face the vampire apocalypse, you have Pepe Larraz being an ideal choice to draw this crossover event, though it’s worth noting that Sara Pichelli drew the Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt prelude. Having made a name for himself as one of the main architects of X-Men's Krakoan Age, Larraz knows how to draw spectacle with pages feature multiple colourful costumed heroes and not feeling cluttered. Working with colourist Marte Gracia, who uses a darker palette here to showcase the somewhat grim tone, and yet the visuals just pop with characters, either good or bad, strike cool poses.

If anything, Blood Hunt suffers from a lot of the problems you often associate with crossover events, though it is saved by Pepe Larraz’s amazing art and a few strong moments of characterisation.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiempo que no leía un crossover entretenido

[Machiavelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just finished Blood Hunt (Red Band Edition) — slick art and plenty of action, but honestly pretty forgettable. It’s a big Marvel vampire event that never finds much of a pulse for me — more spectacle than story, with little tension or emotional hook. Writing is not bad, just kinda bland.

⭐️⭐️½

[José · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Leído en números individuales - Formato Red Band]

He querido leer este evento desde que he vuelto a leer cómics a principios de 2025. La razón es que su dibujante no es otro que el madrileño Pepe Larraz. Siempre me ha dado curiosidad el trabajo patrio en las grandes editoriales estadounidenses. Es verdad que no hay tanta libertad creativa como en el cómic independiente, pero me interesa saber qué es lo que hacen para saber si me gusta su estilo o no.

La historia de MacKay es divertida. Caza sangrienta es un evento que comienza cuando se esconde el sol y los vampiros atacan toda la tierra. Van cayendo todos, humanos y héroes, ante el ataque sorpresa de la persona que está detrás de todo. Por supuesto, la primera revelación que te deja con el culo torcido no es más que una triquiñuela para revelar al verdadero villano un poco más tarde.

Como no he leído series anteriores o posteriores, no sé el efecto que ha tenido en el universo Marvel. Es verdad que hace algo interesante con algunos personajes e imagino que tendrá bastante impacto en sus historias, lo que me gusta.

Me ha parecido un evento... correcto. Quizás es porque he estado bastante desconectado de Marvel desde Imperio Secreto, pero la nómina de personajes aunque me ha gustado (sobre todo, por lo bien dibujada que está Wanda Maximoff), no me ha interesado tanto como creía. Ha estado entretenido, lo he disfrutado, pero ya está.

Quizás si leyera todos los tie-ins, la historia tendría aún más impacto emocional, como suele ocurrir en casos de otros eventos. Aun así, recuerdo que el último gran evento que leí fue Civil War II y este me ha parecido mejor.

En cuanto a los personajes que participan, me ha gustado mucho volver a reencontramos con alguno a los que no había leído mucho, como el legendario cazador de vampiros Blade, y otros que ya me encantaban anteriormente (Doctor Extraño, Clea, Miles, Thor, Sam, T'challa...) e incluso leer a algunos nuevos (la Academia Strange y, sobre todo, los villanos. No los tenía muy localizados). Me ha faltado más desarrollo de personajes (magnífica relación entre Sam y T'challa) en los propios números. Quizás me habría gustado que fueran siete u ocho grapas y no se hubiera sentido todo apresurado.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun event and I really liked it overall with the premise of the world gone to dark and vampires rising but you have to read a lot of other tie-ins if you wanna get the full story else you will be left confused with some of the stuff going on but still fun tie-in with Avengers vs Blade and then realizing whats going on and whats wrong with their friend and yeah the reveal was expected but I wish we had another tie-in or maybe one more issue which explained how this and why happened rather than reference to a comic from decades ago.

But still Avengers vs Blade was cool and his minions aka Blood coven or rather this super vampire group had some really cool members like Megrim and Damascene and the designs are awesome but I wish we explored a little more of their origin and given them more substance as characters but other than them taking the Avengers down in the start they don't do much and even flee away in the end which was well not that good lol. But yeah maybe the writer will do more with them in future. The whole thing with Mackay's run has been one villain group after another without much character exploration.

But some good moments for Blade and his daughter in the end, the fallout of that will be interesting to follow and I like how it was this dark and ends with hope and a surprise twist and yet another event lol, but oh well typical modern marvel.

The art was freaking gorgeous and it lives to the event hype, like after King in black this maybe the best one. I mean I liked Empyre and Devil's reign but this one is more epic and has that scale and the art and tie-ins sort of enhance the reading experience overall. Definite recommend.