Blood Syndicate was not my favorite Milestone title: I maybe read the first four issues, and some of the crossover with the Superman titles. But this issue was ninety-nine cents in 1995, and maybe a dollar when I picked it up last week! Blood Syndicate #33, "Kwai Song" Written by Ivan Velez Jr, pencils by Jeffrey Moore, inks by Rober Quijano.
The super-powered gang had been through a lot since the last issue I had read, including the rebirth of dead team leader Tech-9. The story opens with him confronting another former member, the shape-shifter Masquerade, who had previously betrayed the gang: he wanted back in. Tech-9 brings out the team...to explain this wasn't a democracy, get out. As usual, the rest of the Syndicate was not in complete agreement on that choice, but head back to bed grumbling. Tech-9 asks the intangible Fade if he still trusted him, while alluding to...an earlier relationship together. (That might not have been unheard of back in 1995, but it was rarely spoken of, even obliquely as here.)
The rest of the issue follows members Kwai and Dogg. Kwai was the 77th - and last - incarnation of a Chinese mystical being, and wanted to petition her father for another life, a final one just for her. Her request is not greeted favorably by the Jade Emperor, despite the Monkey King pulling for her, which gets him sentenced to "death without reincarnation." The Monkey King picks up the Syndicate at the end of the issue. Meanwhile, Dogg--who had gained intelligence and speech at the Big Bang, when most of the rest of the Syndicate gained their powers--has been captured, and was being taken to S.Y.S.T.E.M. I forget what their deal was, but underestimated, Dogg manages to escape.
There were only two more issues of the series: Milestone's comics would end in 1997, the company would mainly focus on licensing, namely the Static Shock cartoon. The Blood Syndicate has made a few appearances since, but few and far between.
No comments:
Post a Comment