Dark Blood is a Franco-Belgian urban fantasy/horror graphic novel series written by Aurélie Sarn and illustrated by Marc Moreno.
An amnesiac vampire who only knows himself by the name "Icarus" finds himself lost and alone in modern Paris, as he slowly pieces together his history and origins through a series of flashbacks. He is pursued by a secret society of vampires led by the mysterious and beautiful Lucia Nera who seeks to possess him for reasons he does not know.
This comic provides examples of:
- Action Dress Rip: Lucia uses the Pin that ties the top of her dress as a weapon, resulting in her breasts being exposed for the duration of the final fight with Lady Blackbird and Icarus.
- Affectionate Nickname: Icarus calls Lady Blackbird "Birdy"
- Amnesiac Hero: Icarus, specifically caused by him losing his memory every time he feeds.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Lady Blackbird still wears her Pirate outfit in the modern day.
- Back Stab: Lady Blackbird sneaks up behind Edmund while he holds Lucia at gunpoint and stabs him with the Sica dagger.
- Betty and Veronica: Lady Blackbird and Lucia Nera respectively are these for Icarus. Icarus ultimately chooses Lady Blackbird.
- Big Bad: Lucia Nera, all of the other vampires seem to serve her in some capacity and she has been pursuing Icarus persistently for centuries. Furthermore: she was the one who originally seduced Icarus/Judas into betraying Jesus, leading to his punishment and the creation of the vampire race, to begin with.
- Blood Knight: Icarus seemed to often find himself drawn to participate in various conflicts or violent professions over the course of centuries as an outlet for his vampiric bloodlust.
- Bodyguard Babes: Fra Inferno is always accompanied by two particularly bloodthirsty examples.
- Control Freak: Lucia, not only does she want to control Icarus, but through him and his ability to create new vampires she can control the entire vampire society.
- Create Your Own Villain: As the direct sire of every vampire, Icarus is directly responsible for the fact that Lucia, Edmond and Adrian are still alive in the modern day.
- Depraved Bisexual: Edmund attempts to seduce Icarus not long after they first meet and does not take the rejection very well. He is also shown getting it on with Lucia earlier in the first volume.
- Lucia potentially, given that in her first meeting with Lady Blackbird she is wearing nothing but a sheer nightgown and coyly remarks about how beautiful the other woman is, though this could be due to her being a Shameless Fanservice Girl.
- Disposable Sex Worker: The first person we see Icarus feed on is a prostitute.
- Downer Ending: Lady Blackbird is dead and Icarus is once again alone in the world with the knowledge that he is Judas and his current state is punishment for his betrayal. He hands the Sica to Yumiko, possibly hoping she will kill him with it.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Lucia
- Even Evil Has Standards: As depraved and untrustworthy as he is, Edmund seems to have contempt for Adrian's racism.
- Evil Redhead: Adrian
- Exposition of Immortality: Much of the story consists of flashbacks Icarus has to previous historical eras as he recovers his memories. Such sequences show him fighting for the Russian Army in the Napoleonic Wars and the Red Army in World War II as well as being a pirate in the 18th century. A panel later in the story also implies he was a Roman legionary, a Barbarian Warrior, a Viking Raider, a Crusader Knight and a Landsknecht mercenary.
- Historical Domain Character: Icarus is Judas.
- Jesus and several Apostles appear in the final flashback sequence.
- Emond and Icarus are originally introduced to each other by none other than famous French painter Eugène Delacroix.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How a lot of characters are killed:
- Edmond kills Fra Inferno by stabbing him clean through the head.
- Lady Blackbird does the same to Edmond from behind.
- Icarus kills Lucia this way.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Between Yumiko and Desmarais.
- Karmic Death: Adrian, who burnt a black man alive, dies by immolation, twice.
- Meaningful Name: Icarus, the name the amnesiac protagonist goes by is a shortening of the word "Sicarius", a name for a group of Jewish zealots who resisted the Roman occupation in Ancient Israel, so named after the Sica daggers they were known to use. Icarus was a member of this group before he became a vampire. Thus: Sica; Sicarius; Icarius; Icarus.
- By the end of the story this is given new significance as Icarus is actually revealed to be the Biblical Judas. Iscariot; Sicarius; Icarus.
- Monster Progenitor: Icarus is the only vampire who can turn other mortals into vampires (though he loses his memory every time he does so), and is thus responsible for the existence of the entire race. Hence why the vampires call themselves the "Heirs" as the are all direct inheritors of his legacy.
- Ms. Fanservice: Lucia Nera is an incredibly attractive woman who is always wearing outfits that accentuate her figure or barely conceal it at all, not to mention the top of her dress is hanging open throughout the final confrontation.
- The prostitue Icarus feeds on at the beginning of the first volume is pretty much completely naked in every single panel she's in.
- During one scene, while having a phone conversation with Commissioner Desmarais, Yumiko is in her hotel room completely naked save for a pair of panties.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: If Lady Blackbird had not saved Lucia from Edmund, Lucia would not have been able to kill Lady Blackbird moments later.
- Not Using the "Z" Word: The vampires generally refer to themselves as the "Heirs" because they all inherit the legacy of Icarus who was responsible for creating every one of them, even though he doesn't necessarily remember.
- One-Winged Angel: the vampires mostly appear as normal humans, but assume monstrous features when the situation calls for it.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The vampires (or "Heirs" as they call themselves) can go out in daylight and aside from silver do not seem to possess any of the typical vampire weaknesses. Also none of them can spawn new vampires except for Icarus, who turns anyone he feeds on.
- Icarus it seems cannot even be hurt by silver and can only apparently be killed by his own Sica dagger.
- Overly-Long Tongue: Most vampires seem to have these, especially when feeding or in combat.
- People Jars: Lucia and Edmond have dinner in the Eiffel Tower in a room full of large glass tanks, each of which contains a victim hooked up to an arrangement of wires and tubes that can apparently extract blood.
- Pirate Girl: Lady Blackbird
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Adrian, being a Southern plantation owner embittered that the Confederacy lost the Civil War, is incredibly racist.
- Precision F-Strike: Lucia calls Lady Blackbird a slut when the latter declares her intention to leave with Icarus on her own.
- Public Execution: The first flashback we see is of the Roman Colisium where Icarus and a group of Christians are to be killed by predatory cats, only Icarus survives.
- Shot to the Heart: Lucia kills Lady Blackbird by stabbing her in the heart with a silver pin.
- Sinister Minister: Fra Inferno
- The Starscream: Edmond to Lucia.
- The Punishment: Icarus' (Judas') condition as a vampire who loses his memory every time he feeds seems to be divine punishment for his betrayal of Christ.
- The vampire weakness to silver seems to be a reference the thirty pieces of silver Judas was paid as reward for his betrayal.
- The Vamp: Lucia Nera, even before she became a vampire as she seduced Judas (Icarus) into betraying Jesus.
- Vampire Hunter: Yumiko Yoki.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: The bust of Lucia's dress is tied with a large silver pin that she uses as a weapon.
- White Shirt of Death: Icarus is wearing this in most of the modern-day scenes.
- Wicked Cultured: Edmond, who first meets Icarus after finding out that the latter had modelled for one of Eugène Delacroix' paintings.
