Announced to return at the 2020 DC Fandome, Milestone Media has had some delays. Last week we saw some of the original comics getting reprinted in a compendium edition, and the flagship characters of Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware have all gotten mini-series called “Season One.” But the first team book from Milestone — and arguably their most unique title back in the 90s — was missing. At last Blood Syndicate returns in May.
The line-up has been trimmed down a bit to give more focus to the leads, though promotional art implies the Blood Syndicate will expand in membership. Of course the origin has been updated, as has been the case with all of the titles so far. Originally gang members caught in the “Big Bang” event on Paris Island, the leads are now returned from Afghanistan. Their mission remains the same — use their powers to achieve justice in the streets, and in 2022 many readers will have a different understanding of what that means.
Geoffrey Thorne, ChrisCross, and Juan Castro are the creative team on the book. Moreso than Icon & Rocket, this is the title I’m looking forward to most from the Milestone revival, and one I wasn’t sure was going to happen.
“Making Blood Syndicate the fourth pillar of this new Dakotaverse was just a matter of time,” said Milestone chief Reginald Hudlin. “Holocaust’s recruitment of ‘Bang Babies’ in Static Season One was a big hint that we’d eventually address the impact of the ‘Big Bang’ on Paris Island. Landing Geoffrey Thorne and CHRISCROSS as writer and artists for the series was pretty much the icing on the cake; they’re the perfect team for telling this story.”
In this relaunch, DC describes Blood Syndicate as
…(reuniting) original Blood Syndicate members Tech-9, Wise Son and Fade—and returns them to Paris Island, Dakota’s densest and most impoverished borough, and the one hit hardest by the sickness, death, superpowers, and social upheavals of the Big Bang. Both Wise Son and Tech-9 have returned from their military tours in Afghanistan to a Dakota that’s far different from the one they left. While Icon and Rocket have been cleaning up the streets of drug traffic, other “Bang Babies” have been forming rival gang factions. At the same time, Holocaust has been doing some recruiting of his own, gathering a super-powered army to rule Paris Island with an iron fist. As he gains more and more influence, who’s looking out for the people when the other Dakota heroes aren’t around? And what secrets are Wise Son and Tech-9 hiding from their time overseas? When the battle lines get drawn through their neighborhoods, who of the many superpowered individuals on Paris Island will rise up to fight back for their turf—and who will fight for a chance at power far beyond the block?
We’ll find out on May 10. In the meantime, there’s [amazon text=that compendium edition&asin=1779513100] at your local comics shop, and the original Blood Syndicate #1 for free on the DC Infinite Comics app.
If you’re not familiar with Milestone Media — and you at least know Static — it was an imprint dedicated great comics along with DEI in content and creators long before that became a (long overdue) trend in comics. Co-founded in 1993 by the late Dwayne McDuffie along with Denys Cowan, Michael Davis (who modeled Static’s backstory and supporting cast on his own teen years), and Derek T. Dingle, it had a glorious run in the 1990s before the comics boom imploded again. Along with the titles mentioned above, Milestone published Xombi, briefly repurposed along with Static in the New 52, and The Shadow Cabinet, a team book for their main characters.
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