Written by Keith Rommel
Art by Gianluca Testaverde
Colors by Maury Tanaka
Letters by HdEletterpunk
Published by Blood Moon Comics

“The 1993 hero who took the comic book industry by storm is back! Bloodfire was the world’s first superhero to get his powers due to the AIDS virus! Now, in this present day, the world has been swept up in a medical pandemic! How has this affected Bloodfire and what changes have happened in the past nearly 30 years?”

I will preface this by saying I knew nothing of the original Bloodfire comics when reading this new version. So I cannot make any comparisons to the original iteration of the character. This review is based solely on this issue. Also, of note, this is a very early review for Bloodfire. This comic is slated for release around December 2023 and this early review copy is not complete (colors are still being completed).

Bloodfire is an action-packed story about a superhero that derives his powers from his disabilities and government experimentation. He has somehow contracted powers throughout his time serving in the military and as he develops more injuries and needs more procedures he starts to get more powers. He last developed powers from being injected with HIV, but now has developed new powers from the COVID vaccine.

The line work from Gianluca Testaverde is impeccable, as he perfectly captures character expressions and actions. Fighting sequences are fluid and well-paced as we get a good cinematic approach to the battle. Testaverde employs shadows well to create some brilliant scenes including a particularly gruesome ending to one fight.

The character designs are great and Maury Tanaka’s colors, when present, really accentuate all of this. The black and white pages also stand out and are great to show off Testaverde’s clean lines even more. However, in the final version, this is likely to be fully colored. HdEletterpunk does a great job with lettering sound effects and word balloon placement throughout the issue.

Keith Rommel is crafting a new hero story here that can really speak to a lot of people. I always joked that the COVID vaccine would give me superpowers and now not only has Keith crafted that story, but brought that story to a very fitting hero to hold that mantle. I am very much enjoying how this issue is providing an origin story for Bloodfire’s new powers while giving new readers a taste of the history and is also setting up a larger future story and what Bloodfire will be doing next.

I’m very much looking forward to what comes next from Bloodfire. If you want high-action heroics from a superhero who has obtained his powers through very odd ways while doing his best to serve his country despite many setbacks, do yourself a favor and check out Bloodfire: For God & County #1 from Blood Moon Comics when it releases in December 2023.

You can pre-order it from Blood Moon Comics here: https://www.bloodmooncomicsllc.com/product-page/bloodfire-for-god-country

Rating: 9/10