Blade
Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)
Summary: A young vampire attempts to recruit a new bloodsucker by describing the excessive lifestyle they live thanks to Deacon Frost. The only downside is the vampire hunter Blade, who suddenly appears and kills the vampire and his female companions.
Review: Confession -- I’ve never seen any of the Blade films. I have no good reason for never seeing them, either. (And I realize that Blade is significant for being the first Marvel movie that didn’t look embarrassing and actually turned a profit.) I’m sure I had an opportunity to see the first one, but didn’t feel like it at the time and never bothered to go back to it. Every few years, a new sequel or TV series would continue the franchise, and I ignored them because I never saw the first movie. For some reason, the sequels are rerun continuously on various cable channels, but the first movie always seems to be ignored. Of course, if I really wanted to see the movie, I know I could at any time, but I’ve never felt any real motivation to do so.
As you might’ve guessed this was a short created to promote the 1998 Blade movie. There are a few vague references to the Book of Erebus, which I’m assuming is a plot device in the film, but aside from this brief diversion, this could easily be read as a standalone story. Chichester has a clever premise for the short; a bratty young vampire recruits you, the reader, into the world of vampirism. Apparently, you rule the city, “recruiting” all of the women you want, with a compliant police force that’s too cowardly to stand in the way of your fun. The only snag is someone called Blade, though, who conveniently arrives to kill all of the characters in the final few panels. And, as crude as this animation can be, the sequence of Blade’s stakes and shuriken (?) hitting the vampires does look pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting much from a quickie move tie-in, but it’s actually worth reading.
