Safron is gone and while Blade investigates, Bri tries to return to normal life and school. But does her new nemesis, Whitney, know more than she is telling? Find out in Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #4 from Marvel!

BLOODLINE: DAUGHTER OF BLADE #4

Writer: Danny Lore
Artist: Karen S. Darboe
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Editor: Annalise Bissa
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 17, 2023

Previously in Bloodline: Daughter of Blade: After Whitney lures Brielle into a nest of vampires, Brielle’s bloodlust kicks in! Blade arrives in time to save her and talk her down. After sleeping it off for two days, she awakens, and her mother introduces her to Blade. At Bri’s coaxing, he tells her his story and that she is one quarter vampire. Blade can only stay long enough to quiet things down. After Bri follows him to watch what he does, he agrees to train her. Safron agrees to this as well, and one night she comes home to a quiet house until she goes into the kitchen and finds Deacon Frost – the vampire responsible for changing Blade himself!

THINGS GET PERSONAL

Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #4 opens as Bri and Blade arrive home, not yet knowing that Safron is gone. Blade has a gift for his daughter, a reward for her hard training – a leather jacket complete with plasma capsules to help when she feels the bloodlust coming on.

They go inside and can immediately tell something is wrong. The house is dark, quiet, and trashed. Bri tries to race in, but Blade holds her back. It’s another teaching moment. She must be ready for anything. Safron’s purse is on the floor, but without her phone. Bri tries calling her, but no one picks up. Blade knows it was vampires who did this. It smells like them. He wonders if they are stupid, or they’re working for whoever is in town riling things up.

Plainly Blade wants to hunt them down. Bri asks him what she can do to help. Safron is her mother, and she wants to do something, anything except wait alone in an empty house. Blade does not want to risk her and asks her to stay with friends for at least a couple days while he investigates.

Bri returns to normal life and school as best she can. Rebecca and Jay are dependable friends. Then Whitney shows up, accuses her of being a liar and hiding things from her friends, hinting that her temper could get her into serious trouble, and hinting that she knows something about Bri’s mom. Bri ducks into the bathroom and tries calling her mom again. She hears a phone ring in the next stall. Whitney has Safron’s phone. They get into a fight, but it is daytime, and Whitney has the upper hand.

The girls are taken to the office. Whitney has another advantage over Bri. She stays calm and polite while Bri loses her temper and accuses the principal of not listening to her. She gets suspended. The principal also calls Whitney’s foster father, Mr. Frost, a name that catches Bri’s attention.

Blade fights vampires in a cemetery at night, and Deacon Frost shows up, wanting to talk to him. Blade accuses him of not being Deacon Frost. Frost says what he thinks does not matter. He wants to introduce Blade to his family.

In detention, Bri requests a bathroom break. She sees the principal talking to the police and wonders if this is about her. And what if they go to her house? She sneaks out of school and Rebecca and Jay catch up to her and demand that she tells them everything.

Blade is captured by Deacon Frost and becomes part of a ritual he is performing, or more specifically, his blood is. However, it does nothing. Blade accuses him of being uncreative. Frost threatens Safron and she mocks him. Frost’s vampire kin become restless when the power he promised them does not manifest. Frost wonders if he should go after Brielle instead. Safron breaks loose and makes a run for it!

THE PERSISTENT NEMESIS

Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #4 has terrific art. I like the opening sequence. Last issue, it was not clear what Deacon Frost intended with Safron, and here it is revealed panel by panel, but interspersed with Bri and Blade’s conversation. They start to make more of a positive father-daughter connection, and we see the empty kitchen, an overturned chair, a broken plate. This sets the scene for us, the readers, so that when Blade and Bri enter, the art can focus on them and their reactions, which is both subtle and clever.

The fight scene between Brielle and Whitney is dynamic. I like the use of motion blur. It has been established that both these young women can fight. Whitney is plainly confident that she has the upper hand. She keeps her cool as Brielle rages at her, and she bides her time to get in a few powerful hits while taunting Bri for being a monster. She also reveals that she knows Bri does not have her powers during the daytime. And then, like a perfect nemesis, she continues to keep her cool when the principal shows up, all the better to appear to be the victim.

BOTTOM LINE: ACTIONS AND CHOICES

Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #4 contains a lot of emotional turmoil. I like seeing Blade’s relationship with his daughter start to grow even as the danger grows around them.

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