The History of Blade

February 12th, 2008 | by admin |

Original Post here: Snikkkt!

The Marvel Universe is a very big place, that’s due mostly to the fact that like their much older competition Marvel Comics has a long history as a more traditional publishing house. The company started officially in the early sixties, later Marvel had branched out into other mediums, one of which was the horror genre. By even the late sixties Marvel released books like Tomb of Dracula and others. Probably the most pivotal character to come out of those days was a Vampire Hunter named Blade. First appearing in Tomb of Dracula #10 in July 1973, Blade became the hero that Marvel would use to battle fictional heavy weights like Dracula and others. What made the Blade comics so important was that the character was used as a vehicle to link to a larger world of fiction.

Aside from Dracula being a recurring character in Marvel comics, many of Blades early guess stars also had links to classic fiction, like Rachel van Helsing granddaughter of The Van Helsing and so on. Most importantly, the Blade books offered a departure from the typical super hero stories that had become a staple of comics by then. Unfortunately as interest in comics waned overall, the horror genre was pushed to the fringes; by 1976 Blade started falling into obscurity. Marv Wolfman, Blades original creator would leave his creation and Marvel Comics behind in order to make comics history in the mid-eighties, unfortunately Blade would have to wait for nearly a decade before his time would come again.

By the 1990’s several characters from Marvels old horror days were starting to make a comeback, which was coupled with a new found interest in Marvel’s version of Dracula who had made an appearance in the very popular X-Men comics. Characters like Dracula, Ghost Rider, and Morbius the Living Vampire (one of Blades original villains retooled for the Spider-Man books) made the return of Blade inevitable. Marvel pulled out all the stops, updating Blades look, and grouping him with similar characters in a book entitled Nightstalkers. While the book had a limited lifespan it succeeded in reintroducing Blade to a younger audience and sowing the seeds for a career in film.

Through clever comic book story telling the Blade character was subtly changed and updated for a movie going audience. Slight modifications were made to the characters abilities, and major changes were made to the characters demeanor and behavior, going from an outspoken adventurer, to a more stoic, almost silent warrior who barely spoke at all. By 1998 Marv Wolfman’s vampire hunter from 1973 was a box office star being portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the three part film series. As a tip of the hat to his early days, several characters from the comics made their way into the final film, Hannibal King portrayed in the film by Ryan Reynolds and the rest the Nightstalkers with Abigail Whistler used in the stead of Van Helsing’s granddaughter Rachel for the film.

Blade most recently made his mark on the small screen, continuing the adventure from the films with only a few minor adjustments to the story. The series ran for 12 episodes from June to September of 2006. Fans of the film and TV character had better prepare, because the entire Spike TV series will be available on DVD February 12th 2008.

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