Blade: The Early Years Omnibus

The origins and early adventures of the iconic vampire hunter Blade, the Daywalker

Blade hit the comics scene in the 1970s when horror movies were all the rage and Black cinema was introducing bold new action heroes that defied authority. He immediately changed the stakes of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula, bringing a sense of unstoppable determination as he pursued Deacon Frost, the vampire that killed his mother. And if a few other vampires died along the way, all the better. This Omnibus collects, for the first time, Blade’s complete early adventures: From his influential role in Tomb of Dracula to his 1970s solo stories and on into to his 1983–84 battle against Dracula with Doctor Strange, and, as a new era of vampire hunting dawns in the 1991.

COLLECTING: TOMB OF DRACULA (1972) #10, #12–14, #24, #30, #41–43, #45, #51, #53 & #58; MARVEL PREVIEW (1975) #3; FEAR (1970) #24; DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) #61–62 & 67; TOMB OF DRACULA (1991) #1–4 and material from TOMB OF DRACULA (1972) #17–19, #21, #44, #46–50, #52; VAMPIRE TALES (1973) #8–9; MARVEL PREVIEW (1975) #8 and MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (1988) #64.

Author Biography

An award-winning writer since 1973, Marv Wolfman succeeded mentor Roy Thomas as Marvel’s editor in chief. Well-remembered for his Tomb of Dracula scripts, he also enjoyed runs on Dr. Strange, Fantastic Four and Nova, among other titles. New Teen Titans, his 1980s collaboration with George Perez, became DC Comics’ biggest hit in years. Wolfman and Perez literally rewrote DC history with Crisis on Infinite Earths. He subsequently penned episodes for such animated TV series as G.I. Joe, Transformers and others.

Industry legend Chris Claremont is best known for his epic sixteen-year run on Uncanny X-Men. Claremont’s focus on the themes of prejudice and tolerance struck at the hearts of comics fans, and he built an unparalleled following during the next three decades. Under his pen, the X-Men franchise spawned a vast array of spin-offs, many of them written by Claremont himself. His other credits include Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel, Power Man and Spider-Woman. Claremont has returned to the X-Men universe in New Exiles, GeNext, X-Men Forever, Chaos War- X-Men and Nightcrawler.

Steve Gerber (1947-2008) first came to attention writing Defenders, in which he gave the non-team a non-traditional outlook equaled by few. In Adventure of Fear, he introduced Howard the Duck. Gerber’s other 1970s contributions included scripts for Iron Man, Sub-Mariner and more. Elsewhere, he is equally well-remembered for DC’s Phantom Zone, Eclipse’s Destroyer Duck and others.

The unique, shadowy style of Gene Colan (1926-2011) most memorably appeared in long stints on Captain America and Daredevil, and all 70 issues of Tomb of Dracula – among the dozens of other Marvel titles he has drawn. His DC work on Detective Comics and Night Force is equally well remembered. During the Golden Age, he drew multiple war stories for Marvel and DC alike. Colan has earned several Eagle Awards and had professional art showings in New York City. His work on Ed Brubaker’s Captain America at the age of 82 drew well-deserved raves.

Artist P. Craig Russell began his career in comics in 1972, and is well-known for his work on the Killraven feature in Amazing Adventures for Marvel and the anthology Night Music for Eclipse. Russell continued to make a name for himself on the graphic novel Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom- Triumph and Torment. He has won and been nominated for numerous Eisner Awards including Best Pencils/Inks, Best Short Story, Best Publication for Teens, Best Limited Series and Best Comics-Related Book in 2008 for his retrospective The Art of P. Craig Russell. He has adapted stories for Neil Gaiman and Robert E. Howard.