The Darkhold descends Marvel into Chaos (Spoilers)

[strathcona]

After the really good Iron Man issue I had high hopes for Blade, but I ended up feeling "meh" about it. It wasn't bad, but nothing intriguing about it either.

It was amused that Kibblesmith snuck B-Negative -- one of the new New Warriors from his cancelled NEW WARRIORS mini -- into this story. So at least one of them has now made an on-panel appearance, albeit in an alternate, Darkhold-twisted reality.

Was that the vamp that was working the door? I felt he must be someone for the amount of panel time he was getting.

[Tracks]

I think that's my main issue with bringing movie Blade to the comics. The Blade movies were a vehicle for action, but didn't really spend much time with the character, so Blade depictions that go with the movie version often can be boring. Killing vampire fodder isn't that entertaining on the page.

They also kinda set up an entire plot about Blade being possessed as a demon for why he's killing humans, but that's shot down at the end of the issue so we're not really left with any understanding for why Blade's changed.

[Husk]

It was amused that Kibblesmith snuck B-Negative -- one of the new New Warriors from his cancelled NEW WARRIORS mini -- into this story. So at least one of them has now made an on-panel appearance, albeit in an alternate, Darkhold-twisted reality.

I was a little surprised to see B-Negative. I guess those New Warriors might still appear in random places.

I liked Silver Sable's design here.

[Huntsman Spider]

I think that's my main issue with bringing movie Blade to the comics. The Blade movies were a vehicle for action, but didn't really spend much time with the character, so Blade depictions that go with the movie version often can be boring. Killing vampire fodder isn't that entertaining on the page.

They also kinda set up an entire plot about Blade being possessed as a demon for why he's killing humans, but that's shot down at the end of the issue so we're not really left with any understanding for why Blade's changed.

Yeah, that's a fair point there.

I was a little surprised to see B-Negative. I guess those New Warriors might still appear in random places.

I liked Silver Sable's design here.

Silver Sable and Prowler were pretty cool, and Prowler turning out to be a vampire all along, but fighting against The Thirst and other vampires to bring humanity back from the brink was a nice twist.

[Jabare]

I think that's my main issue with bringing movie Blade to the comics. The Blade movies were a vehicle for action, but didn't really spend much time with the character, so Blade depictions that go with the movie version often can be boring. Killing vampire fodder isn't that entertaining on the page.

They also kinda set up an entire plot about Blade being possessed as a demon for why he's killing humans, but that's shot down at the end of the issue so we're not really left with any understanding for why Blade's changed.

Completely disagree with this take. The comic was just disappointing and didn't fully feature Blade, just like his old tv series.

In mediums like Spider-Man TAS, the movie version gives you enough of a skeleton to craft some compelling narratives. Just look at the Blade anime, they use the movie Blade for that, and it is a great character piece on Blade.

The comic was just lackluster, which comes down to the writing. Deadpool the Gauntlet, Doctor Strange: Damnation, Spirits of Vengeance, Mighty Avengers, Blade vs. Wolverine, and other stories all essentially use the movie Blade. Nowadays, the movie Blade is what informs all iterations of the character. It's the version we've mostly seen for the last 20+ years.

The problem with this comic was the premise. Also, the movie version showcases several Vampires that aren't cannon fodder. Many characters are flushed out. Whereas in the Marvel 616 universe, throw-away vamps are more of the norm.

[Tracks]

Completely disagree with this take. The comic was just disappointing and didn't fully feature Blade, just like his old tv series.

In mediums like Spider-Man TAS, the movie version gives you enough of a skeleton to craft some compelling narratives. Just look at the Blade anime, they use the movie Blade for that, and it is a great character piece on Blade.

The comic was just lackluster, which comes down to the writing. Deadpool the Gauntlet, Doctor Strange: Damnation, Spirits of Vengeance, Mighty Avengers, Blade vs. Wolverine, and other stories all essentially use the movie Blade. Nowadays, the movie Blade is what informs all iterations of the character. It's the version we've mostly seen for the last 20+ years.

The problem with this comic was the premise. Also, the movie version showcases several Vampires that aren't cannon fodder. Many characters are flushed out. Whereas in the Marvel 616 universe, throw-away vamps are more of the norm.

I know you're a fan of movie Blade, but yea I think those versions are more boring. They almost always need to include another character who has the bulk of the emotional development because the movie version is just so stoic. Writers often are forced to make him secondary because they want to preserve his unbothered image. In the TV series, we saw the female detective take the lead, here it was Cho, and in the Blade anime it was Makoto. And I liked the Blade anime, but I thought that version of Blade worked cause they could just focus on the action. His final fight with Deacon Frost is the coolest fight Blade has ever been depicted in.

I think the movie works because you can set aside how shallow the character is because you're rooting for him to mow through the vampires in entertaining ways, but its kinda like Stephen Dorff said, the movie version was kind of a one note character.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/...ote-character/

I just prefer the versions that integrate his comic history. Where his anger is something he is more consistently battling, his Supernatural genius is more relevant, and these days we see him more existentially figuring out his place in the larger marvel universe as a hero.

Also I think the animated series was more traditional Blade with a new backstory.

[Jabare]

No, the animated series took directly from the movie characterization. Goyer and others had already devised the character. The animated series used it first. The movie version was developed first, and they used that. Same with the anime. That's like saying Batman or Vampire Hunter D or Samurai Jack don't work as characters. Same basic skeletons.

It's a weird opinion to say the most popular and nuanced version of Blade is boring when that's literally the only version of Blade we've seen for close to 30 years. It took what worked from the original concept and improved upon that character while preserving his most integral character traits and origins. Ultimately, making him more unique and a better fit for the Marvel Universe.

One of the things that makes Blade so popular is that he has a very basic internal struggle. Blade is a dhampir hunting vampires. He's dedicated himself to hunting a part of him. He has an inherently conflicted nature. Hating a part of himself. Can he overcome it? Be better than it? This disease that was forced upon you. This disease killed his mother. His job is to go up against the very thing that he could be. He's continually fighting the man in the mirror. If he can be better and persevere he triumphs for himself as well. Blade's mother was taken from him by vampirism. The foster woman who raised him met their ends to vampirism. The loves of his life. His trusted friends and comrades who he's battle alongside. Blade, to a degree, is a pariah in his own vampire hunting community and not fully accepted or embraced because of who he is. He has a very tragic and compelling story. There are constant betrayals. He has to track his enemies and determine who he can trust and not. He moves within secret channels, with few allies earning income and supplies where he can. Yet, despite all this, the essence of Blade's struggle is very relatable. Overcoming the odds in a society, a world stacked against him, losing his parental figures and guardians at an early age

Here are two videos that exemplify the essence of Blade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltYFYvoQpkg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVJmHgDxo6A

The live-action tv series wasn't truly a Blade series. He was a secondary character because they didn't get an actor to play him or write him as a character. Any competent writer can craft a compelling story around Blade the way he is now. I know this because I've seen it done countless times with similar characters. Highlander, Vampire Hunter D, Solomon Kane, the Witcher.


It sounds like you aren't a big fan of any of the modern Blade stories in the last 25 years comics, animation, or live-action. I'd recommend rewatching the first movie, not the others. It's actually far more nuanced than you are making it out to be. Every positive Blade work (I've listed them before) is merely an update on the character. As the new movie will hopefully be. You can't poo poo what came before. Without the first film, we might not be reading about Blade's character anymore. I remember pre the Wesley Snipes film when Blade was described as the jive-talking Black Van Helsing. I'd push back on that too. Wolfman's Blade served to inform the film, just as the film serves to inform the current stories. They are all tied together. You don't just go from 0 to 100. There is a build-up, a continuity of history that Blade embodies.

Therefore, to go down this rabbit hole of Blade is boring or lame over a bad comic seems completely out of context to me.

[Xheight]

Wow thanks to both for the revisit to Blade history and you both have great points about the longevity of the character and the various media. I can only add that the medium itself has its effect on the portrayals specifically in the readiness of the visual to opt for brevity and the comic to be more literary. It certainly reawakened my appreciation of the character.

[Huntsman Spider]

Wow thanks to both for the revisit to Blade history and you both have great points about the longevity of the character and the various media. I can only add that the medium itself has its effect on the portrayals specifically in the readiness of the visual to opt for brevity and the comic to be more literary. It certainly reawakened my appreciation of the character.

Generally cosigned, especially as someone who enjoyed the Blade anime when it came out and also watched pretty much everything Blade from the 90s onward, including his guest spots in Spider-Man TAS, where he was a traditional dhampir with a vampire father (who might have been Deacon Frost) and human mother.

[Tracks]

No, the animated series took directly from the movie characterization. Goyer and others had already devised the character. The animated series used it first. The movie version was developed first, and they used that. Same with the anime. That's like saying Batman or Vampire Hunter D or Samurai Jack don't work as characters. Same basic skeletons.

It's a weird opinion to say the most popular and nuanced version of Blade is boring when that's literally the only version of Blade we've seen for close to 30 years. It took what worked from the original concept and improved upon that character while preserving his most integral character traits and origins. Ultimately, making him more unique and a better fit for the Marvel Universe.

One of the things that makes Blade so popular is that he has a very basic internal struggle. Blade is a dhampir hunting vampires. He's dedicated himself to hunting a part of him. He has an inherently conflicted nature. Hating a part of himself. Can he overcome it? Be better than it? This disease that was forced upon you. This disease killed his mother. His job is to go up against the very thing that he could be. He's continually fighting the man in the mirror. If he can be better and persevere he triumphs for himself as well. Blade's mother was taken from him by vampirism. The foster woman who raised him met their ends to vampirism. The loves of his life. His trusted friends and comrades who he's battle alongside. Blade, to a degree, is a pariah in his own vampire hunting community and not fully accepted or embraced because of who he is. He has a very tragic and compelling story. There are constant betrayals. He has to track his enemies and determine who he can trust and not. He moves within secret channels, with few allies earning income and supplies where he can. Yet, despite all this, the essence of Blade's struggle is very relatable. Overcoming the odds in a society, a world stacked against him, losing his parental figures and guardians at an early age

Here are two videos that exemplify the essence of Blade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltYFYvoQpkg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVJmHgDxo6A

The live-action tv series wasn't truly a Blade series. He was a secondary character because they didn't get an actor to play him or write him as a character. Any competent writer can craft a compelling story around Blade the way he is now. I know this because I've seen it done countless times with similar characters. Highlander, Vampire Hunter D, Solomon Kane, the Witcher.


It sounds like you aren't a big fan of any of the modern Blade stories in the last 25 years comics, animation, or live-action. I'd recommend rewatching the first movie, not the others. It's actually far more nuanced than you are making it out to be. Every positive Blade work (I've listed them before) is merely an update on the character. As the new movie will hopefully be. You can't poo poo what came before. Without the first film, we might not be reading about Blade's character anymore. I remember pre the Wesley Snipes film when Blade was described as the jive-talking Black Van Helsing. I'd push back on that too. Wolfman's Blade served to inform the film, just as the film serves to inform the current stories. They are all tied together. You don't just go from 0 to 100. There is a build-up, a continuity of history that Blade embodies.

Therefore, to go down this rabbit hole of Blade is boring or lame over a bad comic seems completely out of context to me.

Yea I see where your disagreement is slightly. I'm not going to get into all of it, but I did a re-read through all the comics a few years ago and I realized the aspects of the character that I was drawn to were writers building on the character elements that started in his Tomb of Dracula series. I think some of the aspects you're identifying as nuanced actually predate the movies, and some writers chose to overlook them in favor of literally translating Blade from the movies to the comics. Easiest clue for me if a writer is drawing for the comics or from the movies is how much Blade talks in a given scene. Movie Blade is stoic, and reserved in his speech, comic Blade is a talker and tends to annoy other characters with how much he talks trash. Little simple things like that, but it goes to show that writers really do have to balance two distinct versions of the character and figure out which elements work. I think its funny cause I think we're actually drawn to polar opposite characterizations.

How I understand it is I tend to like the historic comic characterization mixed with the movie introduced powerset, and from your previous posts I think you like the movie introduced characterization with his traditional background/poweset (i.e. as human as possible, the least vampire attributes possible).

So I actually like a lot of the more recent stuff because that character I see is stemming from the old comics not from the movies. I think Cates, Ewing, and to an extent Aaron pull more from his comic portrayal. I actually messaged Kibblesmith and he said he primary goal was to just write Blade 1 in the Marvel comics as a "what if they lost" type story. I thought it was a cool premise but yea, writers who try to just lift the movie version tend not to be my favorite Blade depictions. I think Hudlin tried to do that too.

Nothing really right or wrong.

[Tracks]

Wow thanks to both for the revisit to Blade history and you both have great points about the longevity of the character and the various media. I can only add that the medium itself has its effect on the portrayals specifically in the readiness of the visual to opt for brevity and the comic to be more literary. It certainly reawakened my appreciation of the character.

Yea exactly. I love Movie Blade in animated/live action mediums. I like traditional Blade for comics, but I think he needs an amped movie power set to be relevant in the Marvel universe