My Rating
“Blade: Red Band – Part 01”
Peace and seclusion. For a man who had been possessed by the spirit of an ancient horror and then turned into the catalyst for a global Armageddon, Eric Brooks, aka Blade, was about damn due for both. The nightmare event now known as the Blood Hunt had awakened humanity to threats their ancestors had long dismissed as myths and legends. Vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night had hidden themselves from mankind for centuries, leaving hunters like Blade to track down and destroy those foolish enough to make themselves known.
Lupui Island, Southeast Asia. Eric Brooks wanted nothing more to do with people seeking his help battling dark things that fed upon the living. He was done with it all. Those flashy heroes sitting comfortably in their shiny towers could pick up the slack from now on. Blade had retreated to a small Lupuian fishing village, and as far as he was concerned, that was where he would spend the rest of his days. No Avengers, vampires, or end-of-the-world nonsense. Just stress-free living with no worries.
At least, that was the plan.
Then Damien the cultist arrived at his doorstep.
Blade may have walked away from the superhero business, but the supernatural world apparently hadn’t gotten the memo. Damien brings word of another growing threat—one involving the mysterious Cult of the Spellguard and a man carrying one of the most famous names in vampire-hunting history: Pontious Van Helsing. Whatever peace Blade thought he had found on Lupui Island is about to come crashing down around him.
Can Blade make peace with the fact that Varnae possessed his mind and body, then forced him to slaughter innocent people? What exactly is the Cult of the Spellguard? And who is the one called Pontious Van Helsing? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
There is no rest for the wicked, as Blade is drawn into yet another supernatural mystery only months after the events of Blood Hunt. Those pesky occultists and their vampire allies simply refuse to stop chasing power, even with a new Sorcerer Supreme supposedly standing guard over mankind. Or is he?
I’m not quite sure what to think about this new Red Band series yet. The artwork is excellent, the blood and guts are abundant, and when Blade starts chopping his way through monsters, the book certainly earns that big red warning on the cover. Unfortunately, underneath all that gore is a storyline that already feels a little too familiar.
Do readers really need another Blade series this quickly?
I wasn’t overly impressed with the storyline presented in Blade Volume 5. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but the series eventually became another stepping stone toward a massive Marvel crossover event. Then came Blood Hunt, with Blade once again planted right in the middle of a world-threatening catastrophe. Now the poor bastard barely gets enough time to unpack his fishing gear before another bunch of supernatural lunatics comes knocking at his door.
How many global disasters can one vampire hunter survive before they stop feeling like disasters?
That’s probably my biggest concern with Blade: Red Band. Marvel Comics has become so dependent on universe-shattering events that the smaller horror stories sometimes get buried underneath them. Blade doesn’t always need to save the entire planet. Give me a creepy village, an ancient vampire, a dark castle, and a handful of terrified locals. Sometimes watching the Daywalker hunt one nasty monster is more entertaining than watching him prevent Armageddon for the fifteenth time.
Still, there is enough here to keep me interested. Bryan Hill clearly understands Blade, and the Red Band format gives the creative team plenty of room to unleash the violent horror that should come naturally with the character. The introduction of the Spellguard and Pontious Van Helsing also gives the series a few mysteries worth following.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see where this bloody mess takes us.
I’m giving Blade: Red Band #1 three out of five stars. It’s a decent beginning with fantastic artwork and enough carnage to fill a vampire’s bathtub, but I’m hoping the story develops into something more than another excuse to threaten the entire world.
Now, if Bryan Hill wants to throw Werewolf by Night: Red Band into the mix and give us a good old-fashioned Blade-versus-werewolf bloodbath, I’m all for it. Just leave the fate of the universe out of it for a few issues.olding my breath for greatness here. I just hope they make this Blade series halfway interesting.