If you’re looking for a science fiction comic book tale to read, you don’t have to reach very far at your local comic book shop or bookstore. There are plenty to choose from there on the stands or in the back issue bins – which is great for all of us sci-fi lovers out there.
The science fiction genre and the comic book format go hand-in-hand – always have. But really, over the last decade or two, fans have been treated to more planet-spanning, black hole-hopping, alien-enticing offerings than ever before!
Today, we get treated to a brand-new series that leans in on the genre and proudly looks to two different, and beloved, offerings from our pop culture past with the release of Blood & Thunder #1.
Co-created by the esteemed Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible, Outcast, Oblivion Song), Blood & Thunder is written by Benito Cereno (Tech Jacket) and kinetically illustrated by E.J. Su (Tech Jacket, Cloudfall) and published on the Image Comics imprint, Skybound Entertainment, which is curated by Kirkman. The series has a great origin story that goes back a few decades, entertainingly regaled by Kirkman in the back pages of the first issue as a sort of “Afterwards” but also an “Introduction” to the creative talents for those unfamiliar with them.
Blood & Thunder uses pop culture science fiction icons in Judge Dredd and cult film The Fifth Element as a launching pad for a new far-flung universe that aliens and humans of all sorts inhabit. They don’t get along, as you might expect when there is an economic and even a physical hierarchy to the immense floating asteroid city of Metro 1. Tier 1 gets all the good weather. It’s a clean and lovely place to exist. Tier 2 is a little worse off, but still decent and clean enough. The bottom tiers of the asteroid are another story. This is where it’s always night and crime persists. And it makes a perfect setting for an evolving mystery in which bounty hunter alien Akeldama “Blood” Bledsoe operates best.
With a head of fire, Blood’s got a no-nonsense reputation and is the undisputed best at bringing the bad guys in for justice. Best of all, she’s accompanied by her sentient weapon, the sharp and witty “Thunder”, who acts like her better angel. Together they begin to uncover a mystery that is sure to shake all Tiers of Metro 1, along with their own history…and future!
Blood & Thunder is a wild, fully formed ongoing sci-fi romp, full of action and bullets, blood and baddies and heroes readers can root for!
Make the run to your local comic book shop and pick up the first enthralling issue of Blood & Thunder today!
You can catch a sneak preview of Blood & Thunder and all the action it has to offer via the series trailer directly below.
