Hit Fast. Hit Hard. Take No Prisoners. Show No Mercy.

#BloodSyndicate #DwayneMcDuffie #MilestoneMedia #MilestoneComics #Tech9 #AmericaEatsItsYoung #DCComics

Don't call it a comeback for the Blood Syndicate! Fans of the 1993 Milestone Media title are digging out our kufi hats and double-breasted suits in anticipation of the recently announced new incarnation of Blood Syndicate. Wise Son, Tech-9 and Fade are back! However, time will tell when DMZ, Flashback, Masquerade and Third Rail will make an appearance. Holocaust is already bringing the heat to the Dakota Universe and inspiring villains like Hotstreak in Vita Ayala's Static: Season One.

So, in preparation for this major event in the DC/Milestone/Dakotaverse, I thought I'd take a look at the first issue of the original 1993 run of Blood Syndicate written by Dwayne McDuffie & Ivan Velez, Jr. What I found was pure kinetic magic. Throw on an instrumental version of N.W.A.'s Appetite For Destruction, and just put it on repeat while you read issue 1. Hold on tight for the cliffhanger.

Blood Syndicate took me back to the early 90's when John Singleton, Stephen Anderson, Spike Lee, and Ernest Dickerson were putting out movies for the Wayans brothers to parody just a few years later. From page one you can feel the heat --- Ice-T on the Oprah Show --- The L.A. riots --- The never-ending war on drugs. The paranoia, however justified, black people have felt for the government is on full display in the crackhouses of Paris Island. The temptation to dehumanize the homeless awakens the reader to the reality of othering and lack of opportunity in poor black neighborhoods. McDuffie and Velez, Jr. don't hold back with the realness of the language in this first issue. Blood and death are simple realities of life on Paris Island. The reporter who represents the uninitiated reader, or the "every-man," learns quickly that any second you can lose your life when another man is trying to save their own. There's no handholding or coddling in these pages. No apologies made.

LIGHT SPOILERS BELOW:

This first issue of Blood Syndicate places the reader at odds with the protagonists of the story. Are they trustworthy? Do I want my heroes being disrespectful to women? Can a group/gang have different individual desires and still accomplish a goal that is mutually advantageous? If you've never seen the movie Juice, written by Ernest Dickerson and Gerard Brown, then this next comment will mean nothing to you. "I got more control over your life than you do... I'm letting you breathe, ain't I?" A battle for control and the morality of the gang is what's at stake when Holocaust confronts Tech-9 about his compassion for the innocent. Milestone's comics were asking "What about the innocent black kids in our path?" long before Captain America: Civil War when Iron Man was still a C-lister.

The anger. The bitterness. The grit. The grime. And the swagger. You don't have to like it. But, you do have to respect what the late great Dwayne McDuffie and Ivan Velez, Jr. brought to the world of comics in April of 1993. The title of this article is a quote from Blood Syndicate member Masquerade and an encouragement with a warning. You get to choose what mercy means and how you dish it out as much as you do with anger.

Needless to say, I'm very excited for this new incarnation of Blood Syndicate brought to life by a legendary team: Geoffrey Thorne (Green Lantern, Truth & Justice, Ben 10), ChrisCross (Blood Syndicate, Truth & Justice, X-Men, JLA, Bloodshot), and Juan Castro (Arrow, Batwing, Transformers). If you want to read the original run of Blood Syndicate, go to your local comic shop and ask them if they have the Milestone Compendium One. This is how I'm consuming these initial stories and it's so rewarding! Or, you can find digital issues on Comixology and DC Universe Infinite.