Spilled Blood - a Dark and Epic Russian Crime comic series

Promo art featuring the Uzbek, and transgender hooker and ex-cop, Sonya

Started in late 2015, Chaz Wood's adult comic series 'Spilled Blood' (Prolitoy Krovi to give its Russian title) tells the complex and brutal story of an enigmatic underworld hitman known only as 'the Uzbek' - because he's "the only one in this business". Serving a mysterious higher authority, his targets are all carefully-selected members of the Russian criminal fraternity, from the heads of families to common pimps. The police, however, are anxious to know where his 'family' get their information, and suspecting a mole or a leak in their organization, the Uzbek quickly becomes a target, for assassination, surveillance and investigation. As a character from a Central Asian Muslim background, operating in Russia, the Uzbek naturally encounters some resistance and antipathy from his enemies, and the issues of racism and intolerance are presented frankly, while still reflecting the rich cultural mix of the Russian and Asian peoples.

His sole companion in the normal world turns out to be Sonya - once a member of the militisya police named Eugene Kontarsky, Eugene quit to go through male to female gender reassignment and in so doing ended up on the streets of St. Petersburg as a prostitute, where as Sonya, (s)he first encountered the Uzbek. A strong emotional bond soon develops between the pair, with serious consequences for the future...

Given how fully her background is built upon adversity, in some ways Sonya is representative of the spirit of the Russian people as a whole - able to withstand the most brutal and inhumane treatment, and still emerge stronger and tougher as a result. With the real-life present situation for transgender people, and others on the LGBT spectrum  in Russia, her story is also not without some serious contemporary social weight, adding a very human and relevant facet to the stories.

Man of mystery...even to those closest to him, the Uzbek's identity remains secret

With the first two issues now available on Amazon Kindle, the series develops a labyrinthine story arc of intrigue, double-cross, strong character development and of course, action, to push forward a cycle of events which, by the end of the first series, will bring the city of Moscow to its knees in an apocalyptic finale.

Cast of Characters

The Uzbek: nameless, mysterious and totally lethal

Sonya Smirnova - in need of help and support, she finds herself drawn closer to the Uzbek

Mikhael Uspenskoy - son of a disinherited oligarch and ex-pimp of Sonya's

Colonel Grigori Maxim - dogged and determined pursuer of the Uzbek's 'family' organization

Andrea Voskovnikova - an associate of Maxim's, and secret service assassin

'Grandfather' Aramazt Martirisov, Armenian vice lord

 Josef Gorodetsky, leader of the maverick 'Wolfpack' Moscow police strike team which operates above
and beyond the remit of the law.