Blood of My Ancestors

Blood of My Ancestors started out as a graphic novel with a script by Steven Grant and artwork by the great Gil Kane--co-creator of the modern Green Lantern for DC Comics and Morbius the Living Vampire for Marvel, among many, many characters he either created outright or at least worked on in his decades-long career.

When Kane died on January 31, 2000, with only part of Blood of My Ancestors completed, it seemed like the project was doomed to sit in a drawer somewhere at DC Comics.

Then someone somewhere along the line got the brilliant idea to have another legendary comic book artist, John Buscema, finish the book. It was a rare instance of Buscema doing artwork outside of Marvel Comics, where he'd drawn the Avengers, Spider-Man, Conan, the Fantastic Four and damn near every other character in the Marvel Universe over his lengthy career.

Buscema finished the book...then he died as well.

So Blood of My Ancestors represents the final published work for two of the greats of the comic book industry, all of it inked by another noted artist, Kevin Nowlan.

This is the second time I've owned a copy of this book. That can be said for a lot of the books in my collection these days--all a lengthy attempt to rebuild what was lost when I left behind nearly everything I owned at La Casa del Terror after being forced to move out for nonpayment of rent back in 2016.

It's another small step, but a step nonetheless--and one I gladly take.