High school life can seriously suck! No matter if you’re the coolest kid, the pot head, or biggest looser, life just somehow finds a way to suck hard at times. In Bloodlines we are introduced to Eddie, an average kid who loves skateboarding and hanging with his pal Graham. Unfortunately for Eddie, his genetics are against him and he has developed a condition which has left him in crutches. To top it all off, his mom is picky about what cereal he eats!
Eddie sets out for school soon after breakfast and Graham swings by to pick him up. They crack some buddy jokes and soon arrive at school. They meet up with some of Graham’s friends and teammates and Eddie soon takes off to get to class. Through out the school day we are introduced to a variety of interesting and very unique characters. All of these characters are drawn in such a way that they feel very distinct and are written in a way that furthers that feeling of uniqueness.
So, after school Eddie is invited to a big party in the woods by Graham and he goes. He is a wallflower though and finds himself a nice tree to sit and nurse his beer at. (Why is it always high school kids in the woods when bad stuff goes down?) Out of nowhere a mutated deer comes and begins attacking and goes after Graham as Eddie watches. The crutch bound blonde shouts out for his friend but soon finds himself charging in! His body mutates and turns blue and muscular! He takes off and deals with the mutant deer but then changes back to normal Eddie and holds his friend in his arms as he dies.
The next issue opens with a big fireball plummeting to earth and little machines finding their way to all of the characters from issue one. Graham’s funeral service takes place the next morning. Graham’s friend from school is there and he blames Eddie, saying he was slowing Graham down from getting away. during the commotion Eddie begins to change again and bails. Later, in other parts of town, other people being feeling a change as well. Graham’s friend turns a beer bottle into a grenade, a tattoo covered mechanic has a blade launch out of her back, and a little bratty girl get’s powers and murders a whole birthday party.
The issue ends with Eddie transformed in the woods and Albert approaching him saying “We need to talk” while becoming visible again!
The Good
Bloodlines offers a cool and unique feeling to the high school outcast gets powers story. The book is very easy to read and has a lot of variety in characters that are sure to be further flushed out. This series isn’t afraid of getting gory which is refreshing as a mainstream DC reader.
The Bad
Given the size of the series (6 issues) there may be too many sub plots given the wide cast of characters. Trying to cover too many characters could lead to them all feeling thin or uninteresting, especially given how these first two issues stared.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the first two issues of Bloodlines and look forward to what comes next!
