Quarter Bin #19 "Bloodwynd"

God, so sometimes it must seem like I yack on about Grant Morrison constantly, so I’m just going to briefly mention him here: in his book SUPERGODS, Morrison briefly mentions the character Bloodwynd as one of those forgettable members of the Justice League before his epic 1996 relaunch. For a lot of readers, that’s probably exactly what they think of Bloodwynd, a superhero who if he’s appeared in the last decade at all, it’s for a minor appearance as part of a forgettable alliance of supernatural figures.

SUPERGODS is replete in popular opinions (which is pretty weird, since Morrison’s reputation is basically as something of a cultural contrarian), so it’s a safe bet that he nailed Bloodwynd’s legacy (the fact that he mentioned him at all is more than two versions of the official DC ENCYCLOPEDIA managed), which for me is pretty sad, since at this point I am probably the character’s biggest and only fan.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #61 (DC)
From April 1992.

This is Bloodwynd’s debut, along with Dan Jurgens’ debut as the successor of the Giffen/DeMatteis era, which is mostly known for its eventually participation in the “Doomsday” event. Maybe it’s because I have more experience in Jurgens’ League than the famous “Bwahaha” days, but my interest in Booster Gold and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) can be traced directly back to this run, not to mention my interest in Fire, Ice, and even Guy Gardner. Along with Superman, Maxima, and Bloodwynd, they comprise my classic Justice League line-up. Bloodwynd, and the central mystery he represented, was an integral element of this chemistry, with Beetle driving himself crazy trying to figure it out. Where Morrison saw a useless figure, there is a classic example of how comic book creators used to introduce new characters, by drawing out their origins, rather than coming right out and explaining everything about them.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #63 (DC)
From June 1992.

By necessity, Bloodwynd served as a deus ex machina in his early appearances, the wild card villains hadn’t counted on. Maybe that was more annoying than Jurgens realized. It’s always hard to introduce a new character, whether in their own book or as additions to an established team. Countless heroes have faded into obscurity this way. Since there was no effort in the early days to do anything with Bloodwynd other than be featured in the Jurgens League, history was almost doomed to repeat itself.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #74
From May 1993.

Though prominently featured on the cover, Bloodwynd has already been virtually forgotten by his own creator, Dan Jurgens, who at this point has been juggling the aftermath of “Doomsday,” which reshaped the League prematurely, leading to a rebuilding process that basically never came to an end, until Zero Hour ushered in a whole new line-up (the crux of this incarnation was later featured in EXTREME JUSTICE, a book that never got the respect it was due).

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #76 (DC)
From July 1993.

It also didn’t help that when his origin was finally revealed, Bloodwynd became hopelessly entwined with Martian Manhunter. This one’s the first of two issues that explain how J’onn J’onz had unwitting been masquerading as Bloodwynd since the character’s first appearance, with the real deal trapped inside the distinctive red gem emblazoned on his chest (for those who won’t immediately track down their own information on the character, Bloodwynd was an African American hero whose costume was entirely white, with the gem and a black cape making up the rest of it; he definitely had immediate presence). Readers apparently didn’t read this story in its entirety, since years later most of them still seemed convinced that Bloodwynd was in fact Martian Manhunter. All the momentum that Jurgens had built in the early days of his run, besides, were already over. The mystery of Bloodwynd had lost its impact.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #66 (DC)
From July 1994.

Once “Doomsday” ran through DC, the League books in general suffered, through no real fault of their own. Morrison later proved that fans really liked the big guns, but previous to that, the franchise enjoyed something of a Justice Society period, which reached a culmination in the epic “Judgment Day” arc, which killed off Ice (temporarily) and basically pushed everyone to their limits, forcing characters like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle to finally grow up in the process. But although he participated, Bloodwynd was an afterthought, whatever role he might have had usurped by that era’s Amazing Man (who dominates the cover for this issue, though Bloodwynd is one of several figures featured in a negative image seen battling the arc’s villain).

Featured in the pages of SHOWCASE on his own, Bloodwynd might have interested some people for a brief time, but he was quickly identified as belonging to a bygone era before long, and was quickly erased from the ongoing continuity. The fact that nobody seems to fondly recall Dan Jurgens as a creator of the Justice League can’t possible help matters, or the fact that Jurgens himself abandoned the character, even after finally revealing his origin about a year too late, and never seemed all that interested in revisiting him, even after returning in a full-time capacity to DC.

Why care about Bloodwynd, then? As a character with gothic potential (forged in redemptive fire from his slave heritage), he remains mostly untapped, while many similar characters with less direct magnetism have gotten second and third chances since. As a member of the Justice League, he is, with all due irony, second only to Martian Manhunter as someone with considerable power and an outsider’s perspective. He didn’t just keep to himself to maintain his mystery, it’s because that’s the way he was naturally, but he also had a fierce dedication to his teammates, whether they always appreciated it or not. He’s not the Spectre, bent on some holy mission, but he is a kindred spirit of vengeance, someone who is ideally suited to comment on the complexities of our modern times. There’s so much that could be done with him, and it just seems as if no one has bothered to notice. A good writer can do some exceptional with anything, but with material this rich, you’d think someone would have bothered by now to remember Bloodwynd exists.

Mired by his own publishing history, Bloodwynd has remained in comics limbo for years. But he doesn’t have to stay there.