Brielle Brooks has an impossible decision to make.  Thankfully, a certain man without fear is there to offer up advice on what it means to be a hero.  Your Major Spoilers review of Dracula: Blood Hunt #2, awaits!

DRACULA: BLOOD HUNT #2

Writer: Danny Lore
Artist: Vincenzo Carratu
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Editor: Annalise Bissa
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 19th, 2024

Previously in Dracula: Blood Hunt: the daughter of Blade, Brielle Brooks, has been informed that her father has become the new lord of vampires and that she must kill him in order to save the world.

WELCOME TO MR. DAREDEVIL’S NEIGHBORHOOD

Dracula: Blood Hunt #2 opens up in media res, with Brielle Brooks sprinting down the street, having just been informed by the people she thought were heroes, that they expect her to kill her father.  Before long she’s set upon by a group of vampires.  She dispatches them but when reinforcements arrive, a timely intervention by Daredevil keeps her from being killed, but not passing out.  When she comes to, she and Daredevil have a long heart-to-heart about what it means to be a hero and how beating the bad guys is the easiest part of the job, but more often than not, the people they care about become the villains they have to deal with.  As they wrap up their chat Dracula arrives to take Brielle back.  Daredevil puts up an effort to protect her but is overpowered by the vampire lord.  Brielle agrees to go with him, but first, she has to make a call.

MANAGES TO FIND A MESSAGE FOR THE WHOLE EVENT

The first thing that impressed me about this issue was the way it was able to ease me into the story, even though I haven’t been reading everything in Blood Hunt.  By framing the recap as Brielle arguing with herself and coming to terms with what she has just heard the creators cleverly get the reader up to speed.  I don’t think there was a lot of thought put into Blood Hunt as an event, other than “Let’s have a bunch of heroes fight and kill vampires.”  But, even with that mandate, Dracula: Blood Hunt #2, manages to instill just a bit of emotion into this story.  There’s the obvious tension between Brielle and her dad, but also Daredevil’s speech touches on what it actually means to have vampires be the threat. What does it mean when someone you care about becomes the villain, even if it’s out of their control, are the heroes justified in calling for death in these circumstances?   Granted these ideas are handled with about as much nuance as a claw hammer, but they do land. There are a few moments of awkward pacing that comes off as almost a printing error.  In particular, there’s a scene where Brielle is trying to tell Daredevil who her father is and also direct his attention to her medication.  How this sequence plays out is clunky and odd due in part to some of the panel sizing and layout, but also with how it is written.

A SUBTLE CALLBACK

The art in Dracula: Blood Hunt #2 is just fine.  It doesn’t blow me away, but it definitely gets the job done.  One little element that I particularly enjoyed though, was how they handled Daredevil’s radar sense.  While his costume matches the look he has in his own ongoing title, the way they depict his power feels more reminiscent to 2011, when Mark Waid and Dan Buckley were working on the title.

BOTTOM LINE: A GOOD ISSUE EVEN ON ITS OWN

To get the complete picture of what’s going on here, you probably should be reading other titles from the Blood Hunt event, but Dracula: Blood Hunt #2 sure as heck tries its best to give you at least enough info to enjoy what’s going on in these pages, and does so in an artistic way.  Beyond that, this is your standard fare of vampire-fighting action, with a surprisingly poignant middle section that reaches beyond just this issue.  4 out of 5 stars.

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