Blood Syndicate #6

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

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“Flash and Burn”

★ 1st appearance — Aquamaria

About this Issue

Blood Syndicate #6 — titled 'Flash and Burn' and cover-dated September 1993 — is the narrative hinge on which the series' most consequential horror arc turns. The issue marks the first appearance of the Demon Fox, a Chinese mystical supernatural entity whose eventual assault on the Syndicate in the following issues would force every member's deepest secrets into the open, including Fade's sexuality and Masquerade's gender identity — character revelations that were genuinely groundbreaking for mainstream superhero comics in 1993. In introducing both Aquamaria (in some capacity) and the Demon Fox threat within a single issue, writer Ivan Velez Jr. simultaneously expanded the Dakotaverse's roster and set a slow-burn horror countdown in motion that redefined the series as something far more psychologically complex than a gang-turf action book. The issue is also the direct on-ramp to the Shadow War, Milestone's first internal crossover event, cementing its structural importance within the publisher's larger universe-building project.

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

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (NM) $5

Flagged key issue — estimate limited by sparse sales.

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History

Blood Syndicate was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr., and Denys Cowan as part of Milestone Media's landmark 1993 launch under DC Comics — a publishing initiative explicitly designed to bring multicultural superheroes to mainstream comics. By issue #6, series writer Ivan Velez Jr. had taken primary creative control of the title, with ChrisCross handling both interior pencils and cover art — a collaboration that gave the book a grittier, more kinetic visual identity than its debut issues. The issue arrived just six months into the run, at the precise moment Velez was transitioning the book from its street-gang origin story into a darker, mythology-driven chapter, and it directly led into the Shadow War crossover that tied the Milestone titles together for the first time.

Trivia · 8 facts

Issue title: 'Flash and Burn' (Blood Syndicate Vol. 1 #6, cover date September 1993, published by DC Comics under the Milestone Media imprint).
First appearance of the Demon Fox — described in the series as a Chinese mystical vampire — whose awakening by crime lord John Wing sets up the landmark issues #7–8 arc in which the creature tears through the Syndicate and exposes each member's darkest secrets.
Aquamaria (Maria Molina), a Latina Bang Baby whose body was transformed entirely into living water during the Big Bang event, appears in this issue; however, sources conflict on whether this constitutes her absolute first appearance (see flagged section).
Written by Ivan Velez Jr. with interior art and cover by ChrisCross (Chris Cross), who served as both penciler and cover artist on this issue.
The story directly leads into Shadow War, Milestone Comics' first internal crossover event connecting its various Dakota City titles.
Aquamaria's character — a Spanish-speaking Latina who only communicated in Spanish in her earliest appearances — was part of Milestone's deliberate design philosophy of representing non-wealthy, non-white heroes whose powers reflected the circumstances of their environment (she was submerged in the James River during the Big Bang).
The Demon Fox arc that begins here eventually culminates in Fade's sexuality and Masquerade's transgender identity being revealed to the team — among the earliest such portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters in a mainstream superhero title.
Aquamaria later appeared in the animated series Static Shock (renamed 'Aqua-Maria'), voiced by Erika Velez and Yeni Álvarez across two episodes, extending the character's reach beyond the printed page.