WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Static: Season One #3, on sale now.
With DC’s recent announcement of a new series for the superhero team known as the Blood Syndicate, now seems a prudent time to go over the origins of this team and how they might be shaping up in the current Dakotaverse. Much like Static, these groups of metahumans were affected by the “Big Bang” transforming them into uniquely powered individuals. Some of them would band together to try and fight for their city, but a rotating roster and lack of a cohesive vision for what the group stood for led to the team’s eventual disintegration.
Hopefully, this time around the Blood Syndicate will be formed with a more unified front.
Debuting in Blood Syndicate #1 (by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez, Jr., Denys Cowan) the Blood Syndicate was actually the first real case of unity between Dakota’s many street gangs. Or rather, what remained of them. The initial “Big Bang” killed a great many instead of mutating them and the survivors of this event coalesced their numbers to create a new street gang that would watch out for people like them. They would be a more violent brand of hero, willing to kill whoever got in their way. Though this was usually criminals.
Eventually, the team would disband due to infighting and quite a few deaths among their members. The fact that the team never had an idea of what they were fighting for also lent to its dissolution, especially considering it held more volatile members like Holocaust who would eventually become a villain. Holocaust was also recently shown in the new Static series and was already trying to organize the new metahuman population of Dakota City, but the military intervened before serious progress could be made.
Regardless of interference, in Static: Season One #3 (by Vita Ayala, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, ChrisCross, Will Quintana, AndWorld Design) Holocaust managed to assemble his own gang shortly after. It is never stated that this is the Blood Syndicate and given Holocaust’s more villainous portrayal, it doesn’t seem likely that this group he assembled is the titular team. That does not mean it isn’t possible though. Holocaust only managed to assemble this gang within a day of the military raid, and they may not have settled on a name yet.
If that is the case, then fans may have to anticipate a more villainous version of the group. Most likely this would lead to a redemption arc of sorts as its main cast pulls away from whatever Holocaust has in mind. But there is a more positive alternative to this.
Holocaust has already proven willing to sell out his fellow Bang Babies if the pressure is on, leaving them to deal with possible incarceration while he escaped. It’s possible that those Bang Babies who know this have heard of his new gang and realize that it is merely a tool for him to seize control of the city. The new Blood Syndicate might be formed as a response to that, a more positive group of heroes for Bang Babies to join and protect Dakota City with their new powers instead of oppressing it.
Milestone Media announced new projects in comics and animation — plus a development initiative. (Milestone Media)
Back in 1993, a diverse comic book company was founded by a coalition of African American men that included artist Denys Cowan, writers Dwayne McDuffie and Michael T. Davis and Black Enterprise EVP/Chief Content Officer Derek T. Dingle. Milestone Media introduced readers to characters like the teen electric hero Static (whose “Static Shock” cartoon was on the WB Network, now CW, for four seasons starting in 2000), the brilliant armored Hardware, the alien powerhouse Icon and his partner, the kinetic-energy fueled Rocket. The group was called Milestone Media, and their existence influenced and inspired a generation of comics and superhero storytellers working today.
Milestone stopped producing comics in 1997, but after adding award-winning producer Reginald Hudlin (who produced the 2020 Emmy Awards) to its team, Milestone rejoined forces with DC in February and relaunched their four main titles this summer. During the virtual WB FanDome at a Saturday panel hosted by actor Echo Kellum, Cowan and Hudlin took another step in reestablishing and furthering the brand of Milestone by announcing a number of projects, including confirming that a “Static Shock” movie is currently being written by Randy McKinnon, and will be produced by Warner Bros. and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society.
A poster from the upcoming animated film from Milestone Media. (Milestone Media)
DC’s animated films are very popular, so when Hudlin and Cowan also announced that Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment are working on a Milestone animated movie, that’s a big deal. Hudlin mentioned that they’ve gotten lots of feedback from the comics on their “Black anime style,” and some of that will translate to the animated version. The film, based on a script by “Hardware: Season One” comics writer Brandon Thomas (who is also writing several Aquaman-focused comics series for DC), will apparently not be solely focused on one character, but will introduce many of the residents of the Dakotaverse.
“This has been the thing that Milestone fans have been dreaming about for a long time, and we’re happy to give it to you, finally,” said Cowan.
The “Blood Syndicate” comic book will be arriving in 2022. (Milestone Media)
Speaking of the residents of Dakota, the Milestone executive duo also revealed that they would be releasing an all-new In addition to the on-screen and publishing news, the Milestone Initiative was introduced. The program, with Ally, is the inaugural offering from DC’s Next Generation DC, a “talent recruitment, mentoring and development program designed to increase access and opportunities for writers, illustrators, and creatives from underrepresented communities,” according to its statement. It will give people the chance to apply for an opportunity to get a one-week in-person training seminar in DC’s Burbank offices, followed by an eight-week virtual technical training course through the Kubert School in the hopes of contributing to DC comic book content, expand representation and become comic book writers and artists themselves.
“Blood Syndicate” comic book series in 2022. The series, which featured a group of powered individuals from rival gangs who come together to form a team, was a fan favorite during their early-’90s run. No writer or artist has been named for the series yet.
In addition to announcing “Blood Syndicate,” a 1,300-page Milestone anthology will also be released in February 2022 as a part of DC’s Black History Month celebrations. Stories will be featured from Cowan, the late McDuffie, Ivan Velez, John Rozum, Frazer Irving, M.D. Bright and more. The compendium collects issues from the original series: Nos. 1-12 of “Blood Syndicate,” “Hardware” Nos. 1-12, “Icon” Nos. 1-10, “Static” Nos. 1-8, “Xombi” Nos. 1-8 and “Shadow Cabinet” No. 0.
