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Jennifer Blood (collected editions) #6
Jennifer Blood: First Blood
After her gangster uncles killed her parents, Jessica Blute survived only by faking her own death. With a new identity, she distanced herself from her past, got married, and raised a family. Then, many years later, she sought out her uncles and delivered brutal, bloody justice! What triggered the transformation of a sweet, loving, domestic goddess into a cold-hearted killing machine? Prepare yourself for the story of Jessie Blute's lost years... and how her alter-ego Jennifer Blood came to act out the ultimate revenge fantasy!
144 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 12, 2025
Eh.
I saw this on Hoopla and was completely misled by the numbering Jennifer Blood: First Blood 1-6. I didn't realize this was a character originally written by Garth Ennis that started with Jennifer Blood, Volume One: A Woman's Work is Never Done, and this was some kind of a prequel continuation story. Looking back, I should have started there, but even that has some very mixed reviews. So, I don't know.
This is part one of how and why JB became some kind of Punisher knock-off. I can't really say if I would have loved the original idea or not, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the story or the way Jennifer was written.
The skinny gist is that this woman is a stay-at-home wife & mother who faked her own death years ago in order to take her revenge on the "uncles" who killed her father. The trauma of that eventually caused her mother to commit suicide, so she blames them for the loss of her entire mobbed-up family. She's got money tucked away that has allowed her to amass guns, gadgets, and skills over the years that make her a less wealthy Bruce Wayne with a less honorable cause.
Maybe the original spin Ennis put on this was better, but I didn't like her at all.
And it's not because she was a killer out for revenge. Love those kinds of stories! But this wasn't shocking or funny, and it felt like I was supposed to be so impressed with the premise of a mommy being a killer that there wasn't any effort put into real cleverness in the storytelling.
The art, like the story, is sort of servable, but nothing to write home about.
I do love Ennis, so I'll probably go back and see how the original story hits me, but this...?
Very meh.
I saw this on Hoopla and was completely misled by the numbering Jennifer Blood: First Blood 1-6. I didn't realize this was a character originally written by Garth Ennis that started with Jennifer Blood, Volume One: A Woman's Work is Never Done, and this was some kind of a prequel continuation story. Looking back, I should have started there, but even that has some very mixed reviews. So, I don't know.
This is part one of how and why JB became some kind of Punisher knock-off. I can't really say if I would have loved the original idea or not, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the story or the way Jennifer was written.
The skinny gist is that this woman is a stay-at-home wife & mother who faked her own death years ago in order to take her revenge on the "uncles" who killed her father. The trauma of that eventually caused her mother to commit suicide, so she blames them for the loss of her entire mobbed-up family. She's got money tucked away that has allowed her to amass guns, gadgets, and skills over the years that make her a less wealthy Bruce Wayne with a less honorable cause.
Maybe the original spin Ennis put on this was better, but I didn't like her at all.
And it's not because she was a killer out for revenge. Love those kinds of stories! But this wasn't shocking or funny, and it felt like I was supposed to be so impressed with the premise of a mommy being a killer that there wasn't any effort put into real cleverness in the storytelling.
The art, like the story, is sort of servable, but nothing to write home about.
I do love Ennis, so I'll probably go back and see how the original story hits me, but this...?
Very meh.
December 5, 2020
Dynamite is milking the series at this point. It didn't really add much of anything to the Jennifer Blood story and frankly most of it was boring. Garth Ennis already gave her an origin. We didn't need to see her performing surveillance leading up to the Garth Ennis story.
June 12, 2020
It's the backstory you didn't know you needed? Jennifer Blood/Jessie Blute's lost years, otherwise known as the years that transformed her from a domestic goddess to a cross between Punisher, and well, the Punisher. 8 out of 12
June 13, 2020
An unnecessary entry of the Jennifer Blood mini-series. This prequel added nothing to the main story, but it wasn't a bad read either. They should stop beating a dead horse.
April 14, 2018
The main female character leads a double life as a housewife and a killer on a path of vengeance. Rather wordy for my liking, to be honest. I also thought that the story was stretched unnecessarily longer than it should. Just get on with it! For whatever reason, most of what she sets out to do didn’t go according to plan. Hence, all the delay. But overall, not too bad. It wasn’t much of a pain to endure.
March 4, 2021
(Zero spoiler review) 3.5
I picked up the Garth Ennis Jennifer Blood run on a whim. Basically it was Garth Ennis, and the idea of having a sexy, kickass lady assassin was certainly up my alley. Going off the score on this site, Jennifer Blood certainly didn't rank as one of Ennis' best efforts. The run wasn't without its flaws, but it was fast paced and enjoyable, and had enough blood and cleavage to keep me turning the pages (Check out my Ennis arc review on my page if you wish). So when I saw there was another arc by a different author, I was intrigued and optimistic enough to give it a look, as I would have been happy to see Jennifer Blood continue on, although Ennis didn't leave much wriggle room at the end of his run now, did he?. From the moment I saw the artwork, I was a little relieved. I can't recall the artist on Ennis' run, but this is a very faithful and competent recreation of the original run. Yes, the quality does dip dramatically a points, such as the end of issue two (god only knows what happened there) but the pencils generally improve across the run, and they were clean and crisp enough to put a smile on my face.
But the book lives and dies by its story, for me, and I must say, this was another fairly competent stab at the character. Yes, it was minus that typical Ennis flair, but overall, a solid effort, if a little bit less of everything that made the original run so memorable for me. The Ennis innovations when it came to violence were noticeably absent, as was most of the violence period, if I'm honest. Although the most criminal of absences was the 'sex'. This book has one sultry mamma as its main character, yet that continuous sexual tension pervading Ennis' run is noticeably absent. Yes, there's a bit of cleavage here and there, but it all adds up to very little if I'm honest. The first books Jennifer oozed sex appeal, although this Jennifer is much more dour and contained. Something I never wish to see in a Jennifer Blood story again.
It might seem a little strange to focus a large part of a review on sex and violence, although if you don't get the annoyance of its absence here, then this book was never going to be for you then. The story was mostly unnecessary, although told well enough, and it kept me turning pages, I just ultimately wish it had Ennis still helming it. 3.5/5
OmniBen.
I picked up the Garth Ennis Jennifer Blood run on a whim. Basically it was Garth Ennis, and the idea of having a sexy, kickass lady assassin was certainly up my alley. Going off the score on this site, Jennifer Blood certainly didn't rank as one of Ennis' best efforts. The run wasn't without its flaws, but it was fast paced and enjoyable, and had enough blood and cleavage to keep me turning the pages (Check out my Ennis arc review on my page if you wish). So when I saw there was another arc by a different author, I was intrigued and optimistic enough to give it a look, as I would have been happy to see Jennifer Blood continue on, although Ennis didn't leave much wriggle room at the end of his run now, did he?. From the moment I saw the artwork, I was a little relieved. I can't recall the artist on Ennis' run, but this is a very faithful and competent recreation of the original run. Yes, the quality does dip dramatically a points, such as the end of issue two (god only knows what happened there) but the pencils generally improve across the run, and they were clean and crisp enough to put a smile on my face.
But the book lives and dies by its story, for me, and I must say, this was another fairly competent stab at the character. Yes, it was minus that typical Ennis flair, but overall, a solid effort, if a little bit less of everything that made the original run so memorable for me. The Ennis innovations when it came to violence were noticeably absent, as was most of the violence period, if I'm honest. Although the most criminal of absences was the 'sex'. This book has one sultry mamma as its main character, yet that continuous sexual tension pervading Ennis' run is noticeably absent. Yes, there's a bit of cleavage here and there, but it all adds up to very little if I'm honest. The first books Jennifer oozed sex appeal, although this Jennifer is much more dour and contained. Something I never wish to see in a Jennifer Blood story again.
It might seem a little strange to focus a large part of a review on sex and violence, although if you don't get the annoyance of its absence here, then this book was never going to be for you then. The story was mostly unnecessary, although told well enough, and it kept me turning pages, I just ultimately wish it had Ennis still helming it. 3.5/5
OmniBen.
February 24, 2020
Al principio no me pareció que tuvo algo que ofrecer. Mientras la trama se iba desarrollando, entendí que hay que buscar en este libro y lo entrega de manera aceptable. La historia y los diálogos brillan en las páginas y el trabajo de paneles fue excelente y se coordinó perfectamente con la narración. Aunque fue mucha, me mantuvo conectado a la historia con la justificación que es el personaje principal recibiendo un diálogo y la voz del personaje ayudó a conocerla mejor. Solo lo recomiendo en precio de oferta pero aseguro que es una lectura entretenida.
February 21, 2021
The original Jennifer Blood run was far from perfect but had a spark. This book seemed like a lifeless, by the numbers look into a past that wasn't necessary. I might have been better to tell a more straight forward look at her young life. Instead, we bounce back and forth to different times that do really interest me. The art was decent although many of the men looked identical. Overall, a boring origin tale.
September 26, 2019
2.5 Stars - Could have done with less exposition and a bit more of her actual training.
October 25, 2021
DPL hoopla
March 16, 2022
Quite boring until the last 2 issues. Picks up a bit afterwards, but overall feels like a bland and forgettable tale.
July 17, 2013
This prequel to Garth Ennis' ongoing "Jennifer Blood" is an obvious attempt at getting back to the "reasonable" original story in which Jennifer attempts to take out the people who murdered her father. While that ultra-violent revenge fantasy could be tolerated based on the fact that she only killed bad guys, the whole thing derailed and pretty soon she was killing innocent bystanders.
So what's an author to do? Well, he goes back to the root idea and now starts telling the story of how she became to be, and how she prepared for the confrontation with the criminal organization that murdered her father (who was far from an innocent man, by the way). But ultimately this is just more of what we've seen in the first dozen or so issues of "Jennifer Blood", with additional flashbacks.
I don't mind a trashy read, but this is largely a retread of paths we already know from the original series -- and let's not forget that one wasn't exactly a paragon of originality either.
(Please note that I read the individual issues, not the TPB.)
So what's an author to do? Well, he goes back to the root idea and now starts telling the story of how she became to be, and how she prepared for the confrontation with the criminal organization that murdered her father (who was far from an innocent man, by the way). But ultimately this is just more of what we've seen in the first dozen or so issues of "Jennifer Blood", with additional flashbacks.
I don't mind a trashy read, but this is largely a retread of paths we already know from the original series -- and let's not forget that one wasn't exactly a paragon of originality either.
(Please note that I read the individual issues, not the TPB.)
July 22, 2013
Goddamn there was a loads of text in this one. That is ok, if the story is good, but this was way too much flooded with way too often occuring flashbacks.
And the art was clumsy too.
And the art was clumsy too.
February 23, 2025
Prequel to the Jennifer Blood series, told through flashbacks and events leading up to the series.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews