Blade

[Guest MrRant]

My fiancee is a fan of Blade the movie and we bought Blade 2 and I mentioned the whole comic thing and she seemed interested. I have never read the book before and was wondering is it even worth picking her up any issues?

[Guest pochorenella]

I'm not sure about the most recent series, the one from a few years back with art by Bart Sears was a big departure (or so I'm told) from the character, and the latest series I've never read but heard some good things about it (it may be the most recent MINI-SERIES, I may be mistaken.)

 

My absolute recommendation would go to the Tomb of Dracula series, which is unfortunately, very hard to find. That's truly Blade at his best (and Dracula at his best too, for that matter). I remember being frightened as hell when I read those all those years back. Tomb of Dracula is rumored to be in the works as an "Essential" collection (in B/W, too bad), but if true, then it's better than nothing at all, right?

[Guest BA_Baracus]

Hmmm...

 

...in my opinion the Blade movies are an extemely rare example of the movies actually being better than the original comic.

[Guest pochorenella]

You may have a point there, Baracus. Blade was a fairly obscure Marvel character, mostly known to hardcore fans, but he was fairly popular during the seventies on the above mentioned Tomb of Dracula comic. He was kinda like the co-star with Dracula, but then he was mostly ignored in the Marvel Universe after that point (he didn't even get his own entry on the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.)

 

So yes, he didn't have his own comic until after the movie (note that Marvel didn't even put their name on the credits, only the creators Colan and Wolfman), so you can argue he was parctically unknown when the movie came out. But he was one of the firsts (if not THE first) half-human/half-vampire major characters, as far as I know.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"Hmmm...

 

...in my opinion the Blade movies are an extemely rare example of the movies actually being better than the original comic."

 

- Baracus

 

Care to expand on this?

 

What comic books have you read with Blade in them in being able to come up with your opinion?

 

Why is the movie better than the comic book version of Blade?

 

Or else are you just talking out of your ass?

 

This applies to everyone who posts in here. If you come in and make a post stating you like/hate something then be prepared to give examples for why you feel that way.

 

I have already outlined what makes a good debate/discussion and just telling people that you think something is bad/good without giving any educated reasons for why you feel that way adds nothing to the thread or the topic.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Blade has been a cameo player for nearly his entire time in Marvel.

 

From his 1st appearance in Tomb of Dracula #10 to his run in Nightstalkers, Blade was never made into a major player in any of the series' he appeared in. He was not even a recurring character either. Saying that the movie was better than the comic book version of the hero in Blade's case is not saying a lot because Blade was never given the chance with a series that lasted a decent number of issues in order for people to be able to make comparisons to.

 

How can you compare the movies to the handful of appearances in comic books he has made?

 

If someone were to make a movie about Killraven then you could make comparisons between the two outlets. Killraven enjoyed a near 30 issue run back in the '70's in Amazing Adventures and had a long enough and solid run to be able to make comparisons of him and a movie.

 

Blade made sporadic appearances throughout the early stages in his career and after the Tomb of Dracula ended, he was gone. Hell, he was only a bit player in TOD while Drac was mostly fighting off Quincy Harker, Dr. Sun or some other vampire hunters most of the time. So Blade was treated as a bit player in TOD as well like most of his later appearances in the early '90's Marvel. Blade to the best of my knowledge never made a cameo or appearance in any Marvel comic book during the '80's. Marvel put just about every one of their characters in some books one way or another during that time period too.

 

Blade was not the first character (or even major character) who was half man/half vampire. The 1st half man/half vampire character was the Monk who fought Batman back in Detective Comics #31. The Monk was a throwaway character in the end but in recent years he has become better known due to DC's insistence that the Monk was Batman's only intentional death at his hands (which is not true).

 

Another hybrid was I The Vampire who ran around in a couple issues of DC's House of Mystery series and made 2 appearances in Batman's old spin-off series the Brave & Bold back in the late '70's.

 

A case could also be made for Baron Blood and Morbius who were both half-human/half vampire.

 

Honestly, if your fiancée is a fan of Blade from the movie then I say forget about the comic books. They are nothing like the movie and you would either be confused or disappointed. The Nightstalkers series was terribly forced with it's portrayal of 3 unknown's that Marvel had not given a shit about and then were being pimped to the moon with their own comic book.

 

The handful of the Tomb of Dracula issues along with the couple Adventure Into Fear issues with Blade in them are like night and day compared to the movie.

 

If you do like the character then I suggest you pick-up the 4 issues mini series with Blade in it that came out earlier this year. It was based off the movie and would probably be the only books that could be compared to the movie itself.

 

An Essential TPB of the Tomb of Dracula will be coming out later this next year and Marvel plan on pimping the hell out of it. But it would not surprise me if Marvel pushed back the date so it would be released near the next sequel's release date.

 

Hopefully this helped you and your fiancée out.

[Guest BA_Baracus]

Jeez...quit jumping down my throat because I don't respond with 1000 word replies to every topic.

 

No...I haven't read much Blade because there's not much Blade out there to read and what is there isn't exactly setting the world on fire. The few comics starring Blade I've read didn't impress me that much.

 

Blade was a minor and not overly popular comic character, whereas I thought both the movies were very entertaining action films and Blade is now by far a more popular movie character than comic character.

 

Bottomline...if you were to ask most people to name their favourite comic book characters Blade probably wouldn't make the top 10, or hell...top 20 for many people, but I think many people would consider the Blade movies one of the top 5 series based on comic books.

 

And you know what...if you don't agree with me, I don't give a damn. It's my opinion and yours isn't any more valid just because you have the time to type 1000 word replies...

[Guest Sassquatch]

"Jeez...quit jumping down my throat because I don't respond with 1000 word replies to every topic."

 

- Baracus

 

 

You could respond with 1000 replies to every topic but unless the poster knows what they are talking about then the number of words in a post does not mean shit.

 

I could respond with some uninformative piece of tripe like you and tell people:

 

"The comic book sucked and the movie was better."

 

That sure does inform people why you think the movie was better than the book.

 

*rolls eyes*

 

Okay, you know what I am thinking. But WHY am I thinking this is what makes the reader really take notice of your post and it also adds to the discussion. Anyone can make posts like the example I gave above. Some would call it post whoring. But in actuality, the post tells the reader nothing informative or let's us know why you feel the way you feel except that you hate the comic book but like the movie.

 

Some people can't make a post that goes for 1000 words. But if you can convey what you are feeling in a short paragraph and garb the posters attention and make them think about what you are saying then you are adding/helping to the thread.

 

I chose to make a "1000 word" post because I know what I am talking about. Some posters here do not know anything about the comic book version of Blade. I felt like giving them some more background on the character and his movie ties.

 

Instead of telling everyone that the movie ruled and the comic book version sucked, I chose to explain WHY I feel the way that I feel and helped convey to the reader why the movie was better than the comic book. Anyone can post whore with "I liked it" and stop there. But the posts that actually make people stop and think are the ones where people explain why they feel the way they do with educated opinions and facts/examples/etc.

 

How can you compare a back-up character to the star of a movie?

 

You can't.

 

Two different characters and two very different stories. If you can compare a full-length movie to a dozen or so comic book cameo appearances then I'd like to know how you came up with your reasoning. It adds to the thread and the discussion. That's what I am here for. I like talking about comic books and I like gauging for other's opinions. It can also help out other posters here who might not be familiar with the topic being discussed and it might lead them into taking a look at what we are talking about.

 

"No...I haven't read much Blade because there's not much Blade out there to read and what is there isn't exactly setting the world on fire. The few comics starring Blade I've read didn't impress me that much."

 

- Baracus

 

 

If you have not read that much Blade then how can you compare the movie version of Blade to the comic book version with the small number of books you have read with Blade and be able to come to your conclusions?

 

It'd be like me telling someone that Frank Miller's run on Daredevil sucks because the only piece of work I have read from him is the DKSB and I thought that sucked.

 

But here's the kicker:

 

If you haven't done your homework and have an educated opinion that has something to stand on with facts/examples/etc. then don't post in the thread.

 

Otherwise you are just wasting everyone's time and are post whoring with no substance to your post.

 

Most likely someone will come along and ask you why you feel the way you do with your 2 line post giving the reader no idea why you feel the way you do.

 

Be prepared to explain why you feel that way instead of kvetching about how you don't type "1000 word posts" and whine about how I am "jumping down your throat."

 

You just come off as a little whiner that got called on his lack of knowledge and is now trapped in a corner and is acting like a bitchy 10 year old kicking his feet up in the air while he is on his back crying.

 

Take some fucking time and explain WHY you feel the way you do with your opinion and have facts/examples/ext. to back it up.

 

"Blade was a minor and not overly popular comic character, whereas I thought both the movies were very entertaining action films and Blade is now by far a more popular movie character than comic character."

 

- Baracus

 

 

How would you know if Blade was not a very popular character?

 

You yourself said above that you are not very educated on the topic of Blade due to your limited amount of material you have read with him in it.

 

The first part of your post is correct. Blade was a minor character in his career.

 

However, the next part of your post shows what happens when you are talking out of your ass and are ignorant on a topic.

 

Blade was a VERY popular character in Marvel and the TOD series when he first showed up. Each issue of TOD that had Blade in it was the series' highest selling issue. The fans liked Blade's "take no shit attitude" which resembled everyone's favorite skull wearing vigilante the Punisher. Blade was so popular that Stan Lee asked if Blade could show up in several issues of Amazing Spider-Man. But Marv Wolfman did not like Stan due to the fact that Stan did not let Marv use the Silver Surfer in an issue of TOD in its early days. So Marv told Stan "no" and Blade remained in TOD.

 

Blade made 14 appearances in TOD and each one of those issues were a Top 5 seller when they came out.

 

Wolfman did not want his character to be used and abused by writers and used all of his power to keep Blade out of other series that could have used him.

 

When Wolfman left Marvel in the late '70's to work with DC, Marvel was left with a character that Wolfman co-owned and Marvel was unable to use Blade after Wolfman left. After a decade past and apologies exchanged, Marvel was allowed to use Blade in any of their books. Marvel tested the waters with Blade in the Nightstalkers series but after the long time off, Blade meant nothing to the fans and the book bombed.

 

"I don't know all of that comic book stuff so I couldn't say."

 

- Imaginary Baracus

 

You made an opinion into a fact.

 

You said Blade was not a very popular character and did not expand on that. Hell, for all we know you might have been talking about his early '90's run which is correct. But I doubt it. Instead you were talking about the character's entire time in Marvel and made a grossly misinformed and ignorant comment about Blade's lack of popularity.

 

Come prepared or get off the fuckin pot and shut up.

 

"Bottomline...if you were to ask most people to name their favourite comic book characters Blade probably wouldn't make the top 10, or hell...top 20 for many people, but I think many people would consider the Blade movies one of the top 5 series based on comic books."

 

- Baracus

 

 

Various factors are in play in this comment and with the love/hate relationship that Blade has had with the fans over the last couple decades, it would be pretty hard to gauge where most people would place Blade on their Top X super hero list.

 

Hey, you could be correct about Blade being at the bottom of people's lists. But we have no way of knowing this so it is a moot point.

 

"And you know what...if you don't agree with me, I don't give a damn. It's my opinion and yours isn't any more valid just because you have the time to type 1000 word replies..."

 

- Baracus

 

 

Cry me a river and get you head out of your ass while you are at it.

 

There are two kinds of opinions.

 

There is an EDUCATED opinion and there is an IGNORANT opinion.

 

Facts and examples that are true back up my opinion. That is an educated opinion. It goes beyond the conventional comic mag crap that does not tell you shit about the subject. Your opinion is based out of your ass and useless comic book mags that do not tell you anything except that the movie version of Blade was better than the comic book version. You are content with that and do not pursue any other informative areas that could *gasp* inform you and actually EXPLAIN to you why the movie is better. That is an ignorant opinion that you just gave us.

 

If you can't handle the heat then get out of the fuckin fire.

 

I come here to talk about comics and listen to what other posters have to say and contribute as well. I don't come here to read some little bullshit-out-of-my-ass posts with 2 lines that don't tell me jackshit about why you feel the way you do. Or make grossly informed comments and then whine about how you did not know what I am talking about or how you don't pay attention to that "insider stuff."

 

So either contribute to the discussion with something of substance and intelligence or just don't post at all.

 

*gasp*

 

Oh no...it looks like I made another 1000 some word post. Everyone better click to something else.

[Guest SuperTonyJaymz]

Sassquach, i think you may be taking this a little too sersouly

[Guest Sassquatch]

And I think you're a *little* late with your useless post.

 

If you don't have anything intelligent to add to the topic of the thread then don't say anything at all.

 

It's not too hard.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Sassquach, i think you may be taking this a little too sersouly

This still surprises people why?