Blade: Black & White TPB

Vampire Tales (1973) #8-9

by Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman, Tony DeZúñiga (Artist)

A war is raging, and he has a job to do; for Blade the Vampire Hunter, there are no shades of gray! Now, for the first time ever, the House of Ideas reprints the best of Blade in bold black and white from its legendary '70s-era horror magazines - including Vampire Tales and Marvel Preview! Collecting material from Vampire Tales #8-9, Marvel Preview #3 and #6, Crescent City Blues #1, and Marvel Shadows and Light #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Horror, Vampires, Superheroes, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2004

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I've always been a big fan of Marvel's b&w horror magazines, so I admit up front I'm a bit biased. The dialogue is very much from the 70s, which isn't a complement. The drama can also be overplayed in these stories, but in a way that's part of the appeal.

We have some art from Tony Dezuniga which is good although the printing is a little rough. We also have some art from Gene Colan, who to me is the quintessential Dracula artist.

Overall these are 70s horror comics, nothing more and nothing less, so if you're familiar with Marvel's horror magazines you know what to expect. If that's your thing, like it is mine, then you should enjoy this volume.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but great if, like me, you love artist Gene Colan, who contributes two of the short stories here from 1970s and 1990s. Though slight, they are worthwhile.
The B& W reprints from Vampire Tales and Marvel Preview are not kind to artists Tony DeZuniga and Rico Rival, as production errors go uncorrected on this nice printing and paper. And the scripts are workmanlike. But, hey, it was the 1970s.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is dominated by that crud Marv Wolfman, and that makes a 3 star book a 2 star book. You see, "crud" is one of the awful adjectives that Wolfman puts in Blade's mouth every few pages, and it was tiresome the first time. If you were annoyed by my use of it, then you will understand. Add to that the overuse of the nickname "fangs" and Blade's overall rotten personality, and the Wolfman stories are hard to take. Those by Christopher Claremont and Christopher Golden at least create interesting ways for the vampires Blade battles to organize themselves, and that leads to stories that are less repetitive than Wolfman's. It isn't enough, however. This is a disappointing collection.

[b · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like a bit of an odd selection overall, but generally a nice reprieve from the contemporary Marvel tone and posture. Hard to imagine Snipes doing this take instead of his own brutal macho version, but there’s still something in there that I think he draws on. Got this for free at a comic book shop just giving away old titles, and have to say it was a nice read overall, though took me a long time to really get invested and sink my teeth into it.

[Whatcha Reading Heather? · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has only been exposed to Blade through his movie appearances, I thought this was a great collection to show us who his character is in comic book history. I do wish that they released this collection in color, but that's just a personal preference.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little silly but appropriate for the time and the vampire comics. Not sure how I feel about Blade being from London.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the title states, this a collection of black and white Blade stories. These are solid, enjoyable reads loaded with '70s smack talk. I love '70s jive fool comic book smack talkin'.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Groovy Blade black and white action baby! You dig?