Blood Syndicate #5

Aug 1993 · DC · 1.50 USD; 1.95 CAD; 0.70 GBP

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“Requiem”

★ 1st appearance — Kwai

About this Issue

Blood Syndicate #5, titled 'Requiem,' marks the first appearances of Demon Fox, the Coalition, the Demon Fox Tong, and supporting character Nina Lam — a cluster of antagonist debuts that would shape the series' street-level mythology for years to come. Published just five months into the Milestone Media imprint's existence, the issue demonstrates how quickly writers Ivan Velez Jr. and Dwayne McDuffie were willing to expand Dakota City's criminal underworld beyond the founding gang dynamic. The series as a whole was groundbreaking as one of the first mainstream superhero titles to foreground a multicultural, working-class cast grappling with race, class, and urban violence, and issue #5's introduction of organized criminal opposition gave those themes sharper dramatic stakes. Its cover was produced by Chriscross, one of the core visual voices of the Milestone line.

writer Ivan Velez Jr. · artist ChrisCross · inker John Lowe · colorist Michele Wrightson · letterer Steve Dutro · cover Denys Cowan, Mike Gustovich

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $0

Flagged key issue — estimate limited by sparse sales.

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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Raw — VF/NM ▾ $1.25–$9.99 4 listings

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Raw — VF ▾ $7.87–$11.5 2 listings

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FN $3.8 FN $3.99 FN $4.5 FN $4.98 FN · Newsstand $9.98

Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.25–$14.99 15 listings

Raw / ungraded $1.25 Raw / ungraded $1.49 Raw / ungraded $1.79 Raw / ungraded $2.25 Raw / ungraded $2.25 Raw / ungraded $2.35 Raw / ungraded $2.99 Raw / ungraded $2.99 Raw / ungraded $4 Raw / ungraded $5 Raw / ungraded $9 Raw / ungraded $9.99 Newsstand $10.99 1:7 variant $13.5 Raw / ungraded $14.99

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History

Blood Syndicate was conceived by Dwayne McDuffie and Ivan Velez Jr. with artist Denys Cowan as part of Milestone Media's spring 1993 launch — a publishing venture distributed through DC Comics and built explicitly around diverse representation in superhero comics. By issue #5, Velez Jr. had assumed the primary writing duties on the series, and the book was finding its rhythm as a street-level ensemble title set in the fictional Dakota City. The cover of #5 was provided by Chriscross, who became a signature artist for the Syndicate title, while the interior pencils are listed in some retailer sources as J.H. Williams III — though Williams's own career bibliography places his Blood Syndicate work at issues #9 and #15, making that attribution unverified for this specific issue (see Flagged).

Trivia · 8 facts

Issue title: 'Requiem' — cover-dated August 1993, published as part of Blood Syndicate Vol. 1 by Milestone Media/DC Comics.
First appearance of Demon Fox, one of the series' primary supernatural antagonists, who would go on to play a major role in subsequent arcs including a time-displacement attack on Fade.
First appearance of The Coalition and the Demon Fox Tong, expanding Dakota City's organized criminal landscape beyond the street-gang framework established in earlier issues.
First appearance of Nina Lam, a supporting character introduced in this issue.
Featured Blood Syndicate members in this issue include Wise Son, Flashback, Fade, Third Rail, Brickhouse, Boogieman, Masquerade, DMZ, and Dogg; Holocaust appears but is listed separately from the team roster.
Written by Ivan Velez Jr., the series' primary writer, who co-created the title alongside Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan.
Cover art by Chriscross, who served as a key visual contributor to the Blood Syndicate series throughout its 35-issue run (1993–1996).
A newsstand edition variant of the issue was published alongside the standard direct-market edition, consistent with Milestone's dual-format distribution practice across the line.