BLADE COMIC BOOK MOVIES AND OTHER MEDIA
Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan in 1973, the first Blade comic book appearance as a supporting character in The Tomb of Dracula #10 by Marvel Comics. Over the years, Blade appeared in back-up stories and made guest appearances, but it wasn’t until the mid 90s when the first Blade comic book came out. From there, Blade gained popularity and eventually branched out into other forms of media.
In 1998, the first Blade comic book adaptation to the big screen was released. Starring Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker, and Kris Kristofferson as Whistler, the film centered around Blade wanting to avenge the death of his mother by vampires. Meanwhile, the pure blood vampires have gone to war with those that have been turned from humans. As the film progresses Blade learns that his mother has been turned, and that it was the head vampire, Frost, that bit her while she was pregnant, which is why Blade has the symptoms of vampires, but none of the weaknesses. The film was loosely based on the Blade comic book stories, though chiefly the latter ones, and is sometimes thought of as the film that started the comic movie revolution as it predated the first Spider-Man film.
Blade II, the sequel to the first film, also loosely based on the Blade comic book, came out in 2002 following the success of other comic related films like Spider-Man and X-Men. In this film there is a new breed of vampires called Reapers that feeds on both humans and vampires thanks to an irresistible and enhanced bloodlust. Those that survive the attacks of the Reapers become Reapers themselves. To stop the Reapers, Blade is forced to team up with the regular vampires, the Bloodpack of the Shadow Council as neither alone could defeat them. Eventually, of course, the Bloodpack betray him and he has to defeat them all on his own. Luckily he finally learns that ultraviolet light kills the Reapers. This particular Blade comic book film is the most popular of the three and did the best at the box office of the three as well.
The third Blade comic book film was Blade: Trinity, and was released in 2004. The vampires concoct a plan to have Blade blamed for killing humans, and they are successful at doing so. Now on the run from the FBI, Blade must unite with the Nightstalkers, a group of human vampire hunters led by Whistler’s daughter, and they go on the hunt for the original vampire Drake, aka Dracula.
The future of the Blade comic book films is uncertain now after a lawsuit filed by Snipes, and now that Snipes is serving a prison term for federal income tax crimes.
In other media, two video games based on the first two Blade comic book films were released for the Playstation and XBox platforms. And a short-lived television series based on the Blade comic book movies was shown on Spike in 2006.
About the Author
Follow the exploits of rockers DEMON TWEAK and the racing clan HARD DRIVING HEROES, as they battle the evil trickster Loki at http://www.classic-comic-book.com . Also read articles on your favorite classic comic book heroes written by our resident historian VIRGIL STORYTELLER.
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