Blade #1 - Marvel Comics

BLADE No. 1, September 2023

Heralding the return of the New York City-based publisher's "slickest vampire hunter… in a brand new ongoing” series, Bryan Hill’s narrative for Issue One of “Blade” must surely have pleased any fan of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s creation with a pulse-pounding script that simply doesn’t skimp on intrigue, action and black-hearted treachery. Indeed, the thirty-page periodical’s plot even manages to convey some of Eric Brook’s surprising naivety as to the underhandedness of his supernatural world in a similar way to that depicted when the Daywalker first encountered his long-thought dead mother in Stephen Norrington’s 1998 motion picture; “I get it. I was set up. And you’re bad. Fine.”

Quite possibly the biggest of this “explosive” comic’s successes lies in its pacing, with the American author rather nicely mixing up the vampire hunter’s sense-shattering swordplay with some much slower, sedentary exposition. Furthermore, even when things are a little dialogue-heavy, the Chicago-born screenwriter still manages to inject plenty of energy into the scene by suddenly having something unexpected shockingly occur, such as the titular character’s conversation with Werewolf Nation’s Tanaka being interrupted by Dana Smith’s heavily skewered boyfriend transforming into an undead weapon.

Similarly as well-penned though are the book’s action sequences, which do an excellent job in illustrating just how violent (and fast) the Dhampir needs to be in order to survive his various rescue missions. Hill’s opening, focusing upon a young girl quietly drinking during a concert in a public house and then dramatically facing a coven of savage blood-drinkers when the music stops, genuinely sets a high bar of sense-shattering shenanigans for the rest of the publication to follow, and is probably only bested by Blade’s battle against “the only person in the world who can destroy” Adana.

However, Elena Casagrande also arguably needs a mighty pat on the back for helping make “Mother Of Evil” as engaging a reading experience as it is, with her prodigiously pencilled panels. The Italian artist does a first-rate job of permeating Brooks’ demeanour with all the confident, slightly arrogant, physicality of Wesley Snipes’ big screen portrayal, making “probably Marvel’s number one horror hero” dominate each and every scene in which he appears.

The regular cover art to "BLADE" #1 by Elena Casagrande & Jordie Bellaire