Dr. K's Waiting Room

The Background:
Eric Brooks/Blade, the creation of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, was inspired by the 1970’s “Blaxploitation” and came about once comic creators were allowed to publish stories involving vampires and other supernatural creatures. Marvel Comics took advantage with their Tomb of Dracula series, where vampire hunter Blade would battle the titular Count and other supernatural creatures. Heavily inspired by the classic Hammer Horror films, it took some time for The Tomb of Dracula to find its feet as different writers and artists came and went, before Wolfman and Colan turned things around. Originally depicted as a jive talking, mortal vampire hunter, elements of Blade’s origin and motivation were first revealed in these two issues. However, Blade was basically a bit-player in Marvel Comics, despite his association with groups like the Nightstalkers and the Midnight Sons. Regardless, New World Pictures purchased the character rights in 1992, and the subsequent success and popularity of Blade (Norrington, 1998) transformed the character into a stoic, bad-ass Dhampir and saw him become an integral part of Marvel’s supernatural and horror stories.

The Review:
This gothic, black-and-white tale kicks off down a squalid London side-street, a back-alley slum for the poor and destitute suddenly brought to macabre life as “Billy-Blue’s” lifeless body is tossed through a window, drained of his blood, with “Beware the Legions” carved into his chest. His body is stumbled upon by courtesan Meva Whytte, leaving her distraught and vowing to avenge herself against “The Legion”. Next, we find exotic dancer Safron Caulder heading back to her dressing room when she’s suddenly grabbed by an unseen assailant, who turns out to be smooth-talking Blade. Since they’re lovers, she’s perfectly happy to be grabbed, smothered by a kiss, and get a playful smack to the ass by the jive Blade, though he’s far too jetlagged for much else. Blade heads to his hotel for a relaxing shower but is interrupted by Neva, who breaks down in tears and blames herself for not running away with Billy-Blue when she had the chance. Since Blade owes his life to Lady Vanity, the head of Neva’s vampire stalking organisation, he doesn’t hesitate to comfort Neva and get involved in the situation. On the drive, Blade relates how Lady Vanity saved and delivered him, how his mother was butchered by a mysterious vampire posing as a doctor, and how Lady Vanity raised him, teaching him everything he knows. Since then, Blade has devoted his life not just to hunting down vampires but also searching for the one who killed his mother, and that extends to defending Lady Vanity’s promiscuous cohorts from the judgemental comments of the local coppers.

One of Lady Vanity’s girls, Tamsin Ling, relates that Billy-Blue came knocking for Neva, like usual, but he was anxious, shaking, desperate for them to leave that very night. Then, a strange man arrived, one reeking of rotting fish and appearing little more than a gaunt skeleton. He commanded Ling to direct him to Billy-Blue and she was forced to obey by the power of his mesmerising gaze, leading to him being jumped and slaughtered by a bunch of bloodsuckers. Blade spends the next three nights preparing and sharpening his stakes, then visits Billy-Blue at the city morgue. The corpse awakens, sporting vampiric fangs, and Blade forces him to reveal where the vampire coven hangs out before regretfully cutting his throat, severing his head, stuffing it with garlic, and burning the remains. His thorough work accomplished, Blade heads to the address Billy-Blue gave and crashes in, stake at the ready, killing the vampires with a near-superhuman deftness. Though one pins him down and threatens to force him into joining their Legion, Blade easily stakes him through the back and tackles the remaining hoard with the same moxie, only to be subdued by the sadistic Lord Anton Vierken. However, while Vierken bites Blade’s neck, he refuses to kill him, instead revelling in his bite having made the vampire hunter little more than a mindless zombie. Blade is therefore helpless as Vierken boasts of their plot to use science to walk freely in the daylight and conquer the humans, even the accursed Van Helsings, enslaving them as livestock, slaves, and entertainment. Vierken’s speech is interrupted by a summons from his mistress, Marguerite D’Alescio, a sultry vampire queen who acts as a mediator between the Legion and their true master, Count Dracula.

Speaking through Marguerite, Dracula orders Vierken to remain focused on eliminating threats to their species rather than getting distracted by his science projects. The irony is, of course, that Dracula’s distraction allows Blade to slip away, and with crucial data as well, since he has “a built-in immunity to vampire bites” that meant he was simply playing along this whole time. Through sheer tenacity and experience, Blade eliminates the one vampire who tries to stop him and returns to Lady Vanity for some backup, realising the even he can’t take on the entire Legion alone. While they tend to him, Blade calls up Quincy Harker to lend his aid and check out the information he stole from the Legion, but the call is interrupted when a swarm of vampires come crashing in as bats. They target Lady Vanity, biting her and cracking her skull against a wall, enraging Blade, who makes creative use of the nearby fireplace to take out the murderous vampire bats and avenge the only mother he’s ever known. However, the vampires also kill Ling and Neva, spilling their life’s blood across the floor, and flee before the breaking dawn, leaving Blade distraught and incensed at having witnessed his closest allies so brutally murdered before his eyes. A few days later, the crippled Quincy arrives, only to chastise Blade for being so caught up in his need for revenge that he refuses any further help. Marguerite (and, by extension, Dracula) is furious at Vierken for failing to kill Blade. Despite Blade being just one man (though an incredibly lucky one), Vierken is stunned to learn that Dracula fears the hot-headed vampire killer. Despite the  superior strength and numbers of the vampires, Marguerite orders that Blade’s death be Vierken’s top priority from now on…or his life will be forfeit, and the story ends with the two seemingly on a collision course.

The Summary:
Ooh, baby! The jive is funky in this one! While the Blaxploitation aspects of Blade’s early appearances are problematic, at best, they certainly do add a lot to Blade’s characterisation. This, as much as Blade’s English heritage, adds a distinctive “voice” to the character you don’t see with many, if any, other Marvel heroes from this time. It’s not exactly politically correct, but it sure makes Blade a jivin’, silver tongued bad ass. He’s alluring even to a coven of promiscuous ladies of the night, cocksure, and full of bravado, happily dropping into a gaggle of vampires without hesitation. His cavalier attitude towards his mission is juxtaposed with an incredible efficiency. The narration is almost poetic in describing how his movements are fast, sure, and precise, painting him as a character his overconfident, vicious foes often underestimate. At the same time, Blade’s hatred of vampires is a very personal one; he wants to make them all pay for one vampire killing his mother. More broadly, he has been searching for the one responsible for her death and come up short but is happy to settle for any other bloodsucker that crosses his path. This vendetta only gets more personal by the end of this two-part arc as Vierken and his hoard kill the closest thing Blade had to a mother, Lady Vanity, his lover, and a close friend of his. This enrages the already hot-headed Blade so much that he refuses even old ally Quincy Harker’s aid (despite calling him for exactly that reason) and he’s determined to make the Legion of the Damned pay for their senseless slaughter of his closest allies.

Vampires are presented as demonic, voracious creatures. They’re eloquent enough, showcasing an awareness of impending danger (daylight, fire, and such) but seem overcome by an insatiable bloodlust. They’re also depicted as overconfident; sporting supernatural powers, they’re used to easily swarming and manhandling their prey. Blade, however, has twenty-eight years of training and experience under his belt and is purposely armed specifically to kill the undead. Therefore, he easily catches them unawares, staking them through the heart and even taking the time to properly dispose of Billy-Blue’s body when simply staking him would’ve been sufficient (say what you will about Blade, but he’s thorough!) Lord Vierken appears to be an anomaly among his kind; despite sporting a traditional, decrepit look, he turns to science to improve his race. He’s been so focused on perfecting his daylight research that Count Dracula himself is starting to question his focus, especially as his Legion seems happy to indulge and draw attention to themselves by leaving carved up bodies for the police to find. Vierken’s followers are onboard with his project, but far more comfortable sinking their teeth into human prey or attacking as a swarm of bats. There’s not much to note about Marguerite D’Alescio; indeed, the story doesn’t explicitly state that Dracula is talking through her. Sometimes (especially at the end), it’s not clear which character is meant to be talking. However, she appears to be revered as Dracula’s emissary and shares his goal of wanting Blade dead, simply because he’s a very dangerous man the other vampires constantly fatally underestimate. In the end, this was an interesting glimpse into Blade’s backstory, the scope of his operation, and his reputation amongst the vampire nation. The black-and-white style captures that atmosphere of classic Hammer horrors and allows for some surprisingly bloody action, though it did seem to end anti-climatically and to primarily exist to establish an ongoing vampire threat.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

What did you think to this glimpse into Blade’s backstory and world? Did the Blaxploitation aspects of the character bother you? Were you surprised by the violence on show her? What are some of your favourite Blade stories? No matter what you think, share your thoughts below and be sure to check out my other Blade content.