The most important member of Marvel’s Blood Hunters has just been kidnapped by their deadliest enemies.

Blood Hunters #3 finds the eponymous team of vampire-hunting superheroes caught in a deadly battle against member of the Bloodcoven, the superpowered team of vampires who rose to prominence during the events of the recently concluded Blood Hunt. Though the heroes are able to stave off the threat of the Bloodcoven and the swarm of vampires who followed them for a time, it isn’t long before the Blood Hunters are forced to take drastic action. Unfortunately, burning through her powers leaves Dagger out of the fight, and when Miles Morales attempts to bring her to someone who can help, the Bloodcoven are right there to steal her away from him.

Written by ERICA SCHULTZ Art by ROBERT GILL Colors by RAIN BEREDO Letters by VC’s JOE CARAMAGNA Design by JAY BOWEN Main cover art by EMA LUPACCHINO & GURU-eFX Variant cover art by DAVID MESSINA & MATTIA IACONO

First seen in the pages of Blood Hunt #1 by Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz, the Bloodcoven consists of superpowered vampires including Megrim, Cruel, Unusual, Smoke Eater, and the Damascene. These five are led by Bloodstorm One, a clone of Dracula himself created decades ago by HYDRA’s Department of Occult Affairs. While Bloodstorm One was a powerhouse unto himself, he was never the same sort of threat as the original Dracula. During a battle with the Nightstalkers, Bloodstorm One was possessed by the true Dracula before he was seemingly destroyed altogether.

The Bloodcoven rose up as the foremost vampiric villains of Marvel’s Blood Hunt besides Blade, who had been possessed by the very first vampire, Varnae. Under Varnae’s control, Blade led an army of vampires in blacking out the skies all across the globe and terrorizing the world’s human population. Unsurprisingly, the Blood Hunt was ultimately unsuccessful, yet had lasting consequences for the Marvel Universe, including imbuing the world’s vampires with a newfound immunity to sunlight. As such, the work of the Blood Hunters team has continued long after Varnae’s latest defeat, as droves of vampires continue to threaten the world both day and night.

Tandy Bowen, better known as Dagger, has been a fan-favorite Marvel superhero since her introduction back in 1981’s Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Ed Hannigan. As a teen, Tandy lived an affluent life, albeit with a pair of genuine uncaring and neglectful parents. After finding a fast friendship with Tyrone Johnson, a homeless teen in need, the pair were caught up in the machinations of Doctor Simon Marshall. Alongside other hapless victims including the future Mister Negative, Tandy and Tyrone were subjected to horrifying experiments which left them imbued with Lightforce and Darkforce-wielding powers respectively. Since then, the two have teamed up with everyone from Spider-Man to the X-Men, making a name for themselves as the iconic duo of Cloak and Dagger.

Blood Hunters #3 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics