Posted by AxlRotten on February 9, 2006, 11:28 am
70.121.107.146

Okay enough lurking for me on this board. It is time for me to begin adding a post or two. In my latest batch of Marvel Comics, I realized a larger than usual number of appearances by Marvel's more supernatural cast: Blade, Brother Voodoo, Morbius, Son of Satan and more. I've decided to begin posting my reviews of these books, beginning with Black Panter #12 which hosts Blade and Brother Voodoo. So, here you go. Let me know if you like and I will continue posting. ~~~ Black Panther #12 "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" Featuring Blade and Brother Voodoo Reginald Hundlin - Writer Scot Eaton - Pencils Klaus Janson - Inks Dean White - Colors The Black Panther and Cage travel to post-Katrina ravaged New Orleans to lend a hand. Once there, they encounter an unexpected threat to the victims of the flood waters left behind by Hurricane Katrina. A vampire clan is taking advantage of the dire situation and feasting on survivors. As T'Challa and Luke face the blood lusting beasts, Blade and Brother Voodoo join in. This issue introduces a mildly interesting vampire villain, a leader of a group of vampires in the south. Mid-story, during an interlude on a southern plantation, this unnamed vampire infiltrates slaughters and captures what appear to be the remains of his human family. He is much more interesting in the vampire followers and the issue would have benefited from more of his presence. We aren't provided his name nor his association with the other vampires in the story well established. His being the leader of the vampires is conjecture at this point. Next issue, I suppose. In another interlude, Monica Romeau (once known as Captain Marvel and then Photon) makes an appearance and sets up the threat of the possible infestation of vampire vermin within the outskirts of New Orleans. While I enjoyed her appearance and the set up was nice, it was a bit misplaced and unnecessary. The prelude, featuring Blade and Brother Voodoo had already firmly established the threat of vampires. The writing by Reggie Hundin is a bit better than I've read before in Black Panther and much better than the Spiderman issues. Still, his use of dialog is off and often forced. As mentioned above, his structure does not build properly, especially for a story with supernatural elements that should be building an atmosphere of suspense. Blade's dialog came across a particularly out of character. The art by Scot Eaton and Klaus Janson is wonderful. I haven't enjoyed Janson's inking on any artist this much for some time. He accents Eaton's pencils perfectly for this title without overtaking the pencils as if still inking Frank Miller. Except for the opening prelude, the team does not bring the atmosphere, however. Once Panther and Cage come on the scene, it typical superhero fare. This doesn't take too much from the book itself and is most likely due to the way the story is written. While the vampire clan members are standard and cliché, I particularly liked the boss vampire's look and presence. The major attribute to Eaton's vampires is a larger than usual set of teeth which I quite liked. Blade comes illustrated with the Snipes movie motif. Eaton brings this look to Blade very well and it works. Brother Voodoo doesn't get nearly enough page time. Oddly, though, he switches costumes from the prelude to his second entrance at the end of the book; first shown with his classic cape then later shown with his more contemporary jacket ensemble. Personally, I like the old-school cape look. Still, story construction and dialog issues aside, it is great to see all these underused characters in one book and in a single story. I am looking forward to reading the second part next month. Just bring more Brother Voodoo. Three out of Five.