All round one of the best DC comics I have read in years; it was conceived long before the New 52 and it was as enjoyable for if not more so then the the new 52s Green Lantern that ended Geoff Johns run and th aren Red Lanterns book. Bloodspell takes two of DC's long extant fishnet wearing heroines and gives them both the opportunity to have real character agency and does it with truly georgeous art and style. This book brought me joy as a comics reader for more then just its exiting and fun story that avoided the grim and dark that has gripped the new DC; Dini and Quinoes have a real grasp for DC's long and rich history and delivers hints of it throughout the story, art and even page layouts.
The story is one that mixes just a few story elements and comes out with something glorious like the best Italian and Indian recipes that not have five ingredients or less. The story that brings them together starts with a foiled caper in Las Vegas where Black Canary goes undercover and gets trapped in a magical curse. The story may lean towards slapstick at times but the stakes are at the highest, lives are at stake. Among some pretty hideous offscreen deaths Satanna gets pulled into the story when Dinah goes to her for help realizing what she faces is beyond her ken. Along the way we get a road tale that includes flashbacks that refer to different eras, styles and costumes across DC history as it was. Bloodspell for me is a bit of a love letter to the past and makes me want more of this duo, this fishnet duo.
Paul Dini and Joe Quinones apparently originally pitched this sometime in 2005 and its a great thing to have this stand alone team up tale spotlighting these versions of the characters. The story takes Black Canary and Zatanna their pre heroine days meeting in the Himalayan alps to their then current adventuring lives Zatanna on her own and Dinah as partner to Green Arrow in his goatee style era. The story has the fun tongue in cheek yet serious action that Paul Dini does so well and the art by Joe Quinones somehow straddles that gap between realism and warner brothers cartoonish ness that few artists pull off so well. This is one of those books that pops off the pages in ways 3d comics desperately aspire to. And though I got the opportunity to read this as an advance reader I'm more then tempted to get a real copy because I seldom see a project like this that seemed produced with so much love and care; the book includes the pitch, the script, unfinished pages and design work. Its too good to pass up for fans of female character written so well and for art so detail rich and lovingly rendered.
This edition collects not just the story and its glorious art and story, they give us the initial pitch, the script which is hardly ever included and design work from Joe so this book is like a blue ray disk version of the book. If you love comics with heart that will give you much more then the usual this is one to have especially if your familiar with DC history all the better. Five stars out of five. Bravo....
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