Set Description:
Bloodlines involved a number of hungry alien parasites coming to Earth with the intention of feeding themselves on the juices they required from human spinal fluids. Although the giant and formidable monsters slaughtered many, their feeding also activated the metagene in a number of individuals, leading to a massive wave of new super-powered characters, calling themselves New Bloods.
 
The idea for this set started rather slowly. In 2019 I purchased a large number of CGC books from one collector; two were the Action Comics Annual 5 Signature Series 9.8 signed with Superman head sketch by Mike Zeck, and the other was the Superman Annual 5 in Universal 9.8. At that time I was focused primarily on my main set, For This Is the Day... That a Superman Died, and the thought barely crossed my mind that it would be cool to have all four of the Superman Bloodlines Annuals from 1993 in CGC 9.8, which all happened to feature the four Supermen from the Reign of the Supermen storyline. In early 2020 I got my main set to 100 percent complete and stayed focused on improving that whenever possible, as well as to purchase and submit books that interested me. In most cases my collecting relates to the Death of Superman in one way or another, or Darkseid who I think is really cool! In 2021 I set about finding nice copies of Adventures of Superman Annual 5 and Superman: The Man of Steel Annual 2 to submit so I could finish what I started in 2019 with those first two books.
Then in 2022 I decided that it would be really cool to work on this entire storyline! I had started reading comic books again in 1992 but was really only interested in keeping up with the Funeral for a Friend and Reign of the Supermen storylines. It was the Death of Superman TPB that sparked my interest in collecting again, so I honestly wasn't paying much attention to these books/this storyline as they were published. I had them on my pull-list but probably read them once and bagged/boarded them... I was way too busy playing catch-up with the individual Death of Superman books I had missed to pay any real attention to anything else! One BIG EXCEPTION to this were the Bloodlines trading cards! The Cyborg Superman card from this series was the first chase card I ever picked up. I was in my LCS at the time and the owner had just received the cards and had opened a few packs to sample... the Cyborg Superman chase was laying near the register and it blew my mind! I was hooked on cards and remember eventually receiving THE ONE TRUE SUPERMAN card in the mail after having mailed off the Redemption Card! Man, those were fun and exciting times to just get back into collecting!
When I decided to start working on this set I only had a couple books left from Superman titles that I really wanted to get my hands on. I was looking for something new that would be fun and challenging, and that I also knew I would personally find rewarding. As I said earlier, the 1990's were a good time to be a new collector... sure, the four Superman Bloodlines titles would be cool, but how about all 25 books from this story all lined up in CGC 9.8! THAT would be really cool! A couple bonuses for me when starting this set were that graded copies of these books don't exist in high numbers, so maybe I could make a few myself (that would be fun) and that NO ONE else seems to care about/for this story... in fact, even DC doesn't acknowledge it much! The only book that is widely cared sought from this entire set is The Demon Annual 2, which contains the first appearance of Hitman. An interesting thing about this story is that Superman was technically dead for most of it and Batman was laid up with a broken back! The panel above is from part two of Bloodbath by which time Superman has returned... I also borrowed the title of this set from this panel, which I think is pretty sweet!
In late July 2022 I requested that this set be created and it was approved on 5 August. Once the competetive set existed I started this set the same day with my first six books, five 9.8's and one 9.6!
This story consists of three chapters, as well as Bloodbath parts one and two...
Outbreak begins with Hounds of Blood in Lobo Annual 1...
A L.E.G.I.O.N. squadron is sent to investigate a strange and unfamiliar alien craft by Vril Dox, who's attempting to audition Officer Layla for bigger things, by testing out how she does when put in charge of someone like Lobo. Lobo agrees to go on the mission because the craft is in the vicinity of the Poiple Gang, who had previously stolen his Spacehog. Although Lobo at first causes trouble for Layla, she hypnotizes him and forces him to obey her while acting like a Dog, much to Lobo's anger. Aboard the ship, after Lobo has slain almost all of the Poiples, the group discovers a long dormant race of shapeshifting Alien Parasites awakened by their arrival. The aliens feed on spinal fluids, and quickly massacre all of the L.E.G.I.O.N. operatives with the exceptions of Lobo and Layla, who are barely able to escape (although Layla is unconscious, and has been bitten). Lobo has a final duel with the leader of the Poiple Gang (Cap'n Poiple), defeats him and throws him to the parasites as a distraction to make his final escape. When Layla comes to, they discover that she is much much stronger and tougher than she had previously been, presumably due to the aliens interaction with her DNA. After Lobo blows a hole in the Parasite's ship with a time bomb, he and Layla escape safely back to the L.E.G.I.O.N. Cruiser, and report back to Vril Dox, who remains angry that they did not attempt to preserve the unfamiliar alien life.
Earthplague begins with Looking Sharp in Robin Annual 2...
Robin begins tracking a group of data-pirates known as the "Psyba-Rats" whom he catches attempting to siphon data off of a Wayne Enterprises communications satellite to sell to a sinister information-broker known only as "The Collector". Knowing that Robin is tracking them, and not wanting any leads to tie back to him, the Collector decides to simply murder the Psyba-Rats. He has one of them, "Megabiter" shot during their next meeting, but the other three, Razorsharp, Hackrat and Channel are all able to run away. The Collector's goons give chase into an old warehouse, where they are all ambushed by the alien Parasite "Venev" who had been feeding in the Gotham City area. Hackrat salvages the bodies of Razorsharp and Channel, the only two still alive after Venev's feeding.
In the Psyba-Rats hideout, while attempting to recover, both Razorsharp and Channel find themselves to have developed Metahuman abilities, presumably based on Venev activating their dormant metagenes. While Channel (still in a coma) is able to transmit his image onto any monitor in his vicinity, and control the images upon it, Razorsharp is able to transform her arms into gigantic microthin blades capable of slicing through almost anything, including solid wall.
The group, led by Razorsharp, attempts to infiltrate the Collector's facilities to take revenge for the death of their friend Megabiter. They are met at the facilities by Robin, who by this time has figured out much of the proceedings, and he decides to aid them in their task, not only to stop the Collector but to prevent Razorsharp and her deadly abilities from killing him. After they make it past security, despite the Collector and his thugs being aware of their entry into the premises and violently attacking them, Razorsharp is at last able to gain a one-on-one confrontation with the large muscular villain. After the Collector kicks Robin out of a window, she instead decides to jump out after him and grab him so she can parachute him to safety, foregoing her revenge. Robin is grateful to her, but Razorsharp remains also grateful to Robin for stopping her from committing murder. Afterwards, Robin is considered an 'honorary Psyba-Rat' if only for the one night, but the two of them part ways.
Deathstorm begins with A Blaze of Gunfire in Deathstroke Annual 2...
The alien parasite Venev stows away on an airplane en route to Paris. There, she senses the smell of her next prey: Deathstroke. She follows him to the Van Horn Industries building, where Slade is visiting a friend, Gunther Van Horn, to repair his armor. Venev slaughters Van Horn's secretary and then Gunther. Andrew, Gunther's son, arrives at the building eager to show his plans for the company. To his horror, he enters Gunther's ragged office, and Venev attacks him by surprise, sucking his spinal fluid and leaving him to his apparent death. However, Andrew's Metagene activates and he wakes up changed. With the help of his associates, he arms himself with guns and equipment from the company to hunt his father's killer. He follows the trail of death until he finds Deathstroke and attacks him, assuming he's the killer. They fight, and Andrew discovers his new meta-human power while fightning him, being able to agitate the molecules of any solid object and fire concentrated bursts of energy. After resisting most of his blasts, Deathstroke incapacitates Andrew and clarifies the situation, taking off his mask and explaining that he had nothing to do with Gunther's death, even more so since he was his friend. Together, they follow the Parasite's trail into a shooting gallery, where they fighte her. Deathstroke manages to make a dent on Venev's exoeskeleton and wound her, forcing her to retreat and leave her prey for another day. Andrew is frustrated for not catching his father's killer, but he's determined to catch her and honour his memory.
Some time later, Venev stows away on another plane heading back to Metropolis, killing all of the crew and passengers and forcing the plane to crashland.
It was eventually revealed that the spinal fluids harvested by the Parasites were actually being used to contribute to the birthing of a gigantic terrible monster of their race, The Taker. Many of Earth's heroes were defeated when the Taker took them by surprise during a government commissioned task force raid on the Parasites' crashed spaceship, Superman being the only one capable of escape to warn the rest of the world. A team of New Bloods, each mysteriously called to the scene (presumably by their blood connection to the Beast), and some government-sponsored, were forced to destroy the Taker all on their own. It was discovered that when multiple New Bloods powers crossed against the Taker at once, their attack became greater than the sum of its parts. Using the energy siphoning powers of Joe Public, all of the New Bloods' collective power was directed into Anima's Animus construct, and the Taker was defeated in a gigantic one-on-one monster brawl. After the other heroes were rescued, a team of Green Lanterns flung the body of the Taker into the Sun.
Note - I really didn't feel like writing the synopsis for all of the chapters myself just yet so, because I have never been a plagiarizer... source for chapter/story info:
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Bloodlines_(storyline) |