Blade, Vol. 1: Mother of Evil

Blade (2023)

by Bryan Edward Hill, Elena Casagrande (cover_art), Valentina Pinti (artist)

Blade, the vampire-hunting vampire, returns for a brand new era of thrilling action! True evil is patient. A dark, ancient power has been simmering quietly for centuries. And, when Blade himself is the one to unknowingly unleash it, Marvel's entire supernatural underworld will come out of hiding to demand he handle it - or pay a pound of flesh for his mistakes! Bloodbaths, blackmail and Blade - you won't want to miss this one! Collecting: Blade (2023) 1-5

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

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 20, 2024

About the author

Bryan Hill is a screenwriter, photographer, tv writer, and director. He is known for his work on the DC show TITANS and for his work in comics, most notably his outings on DETECTIVE COMICS, POSTAL, AMERICAN CARNAGE, KILLMONGER and ANGEL.
His writing is infused with esoteric principles, which can also be found in his photography and music.
He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty bog-standard "Blade" movie-inspired plot saved from utter mediocrity from the artist's skill at visual storytelling. The many action-packed panels sans-dialogue were the highlight, frankly, and the less said about the ludicrous Snowpiercer-inspired sequence the better.


Glad you're with me on this, Wesley.

[Frédéric · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've got far too much of an impression of having seen or read this plot 1.4 zillion times over the years to be even remotely interested in it.
Main character makes a mistake, tries to correct it, has to go through convoluted and adventurous subplots to obtain essential artefact, all this assisted by sympathetic sidekicks... that's pure autopilot plot! It’s spelled L-A-Z-Y.

Even Elena Casagrande is on autopilot. She looks like she was as bored drawing it as I was reading it.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars but ot deserved a round up instead of down. Every Blade story can start with a Nightclub as a nod the awesome movie.

This is my favourite comic version of Blade. I like the artwork (though i do think they made Blade look a bit too skinny), the action (one strike kills work perfectly for Blade's fighting style), and the story is good with huge repercussions.

The only downside is that the book is way too rushed. The panels jump from one place to another before I have a chance to process anything. There is no chance of character development. Just get to the next part quickly, trying to cram everything in.

I can't wait yo see what happens next, but I do hope the next volume is a bit slowed down. This is a great book for any Blade fan. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying the art on this series and they got brownie points for me. Doctor Strange team ups will always get you some extra points. The story has been fun and the Blade action has been solid as well. Excited to see where the next 5 issues take us.

[Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

​​З Блейдом я знайомий як з героєм другого плану який зазвичай з'являється в командних серіях і я ніколи не читав його онґоїнґи. Взагалі я був дуже здивований коли побачив, що загальна леґасі нумерація Блейда має всього 30 номерів. Тож коли я починав читати цю серію то не мав якихось великих очікувань. Тим не менш серія мене дуже приємно здивувала.

Зав'язка серії полягає у тому, що Блейд рятує дівчину від загадкового мечника який намагається її вбити. Однак після того як наш герой вбиває його виявляється, що дівчина є древнім злом, а мечник був єдиним хто міг вбити її. І тепер Еріку доводиться підготуватися до сутички з нею, а також відбитися від групи монахів які не дуже задоволені тим, що через Брукса немає кому зупинити Адану.

Сюжет мені сподобався. Браян Гілл тут видав досить-таки хорошу динамічну історію за якою було цікаво спостерігати, плюс сподобалося те, що сюжет з Аданою не злили за одну арку. Однак найбільшим плюсом коміксу є просто розкішний малюнок Елени Касаґранде. Художниця дуже добре впоралася з показом динаміки в результаті чого екшн вийшов дуже хорошим.

З суперечливих моментів виділю лише набагато слабший, на фоні Касаґранде, малюнок Валентини Пінти в 4 номері.

В результаті онґоїнґ "Blade" став для мене неочікуваним відкриттям. Я дуже задоволений першою аркою і враховуючи кінцівку 5 номеру то дуже чекаю на те що буде далі.

[kesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

was aigh- didn’t totally fw the art style but thought the story was solid. tbf idk too much ab blade as a character but i thought the story was pre self-contained. stakes (haha funny) were high, i didn’t care for the side characters too much, a certain character’s appearance was pre cool tho. blade is so badass and the only marvel character that deals w supernatural stuff on the daily (shpooky)

since the run is short finishing w vol 2. containing the last 5 issues, a lot of the character dev gets chopped up imo - definitely for the already blade fans. might have to reintro and read up to him becoming the sheriff of a vampire town 🤠

i don’t read too much spiritual stuff- ig aaron’s punisher run is a grey area- but i respect the hustle w marvel doing more horror stuff w the immortal hulk + this blade run

3/5.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only other Blade book I've read (that I can recall) is the very bad Bloodline, so my expectations for this series were low. Surprise: it's good! It's very good! Bryan Edward Hill makes the smart choice to present a Blade who is a man of few words and many swords. Rest assured, Mother of Evil is dense with violence (all stunningly illustrated by Elena Casagrande).

There's also a pretty intriguing story. Blade teams up with a few strangers (and Dr. Strange) to battle Adana, who is some kind of demon-person-thing. Fun twist: Adana is actually a potent adversary and has Blade crawling to his all-time foe Dracula at the end of the volume.

I'm pretty excited to see where this goes, which is fairly shocking after my experience with Bloodline. This is basically a Wolverine volume, but with vampires and demons. Sign me up.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Nice to see Blade back in his own title! Too little attention is given to the darker side of Marvel and both Blade and Ghost Rider, amazing heroes in their own right, are often not allowed the chance to shine. BUT, with the upcoming "Blood Hunt" crossover coming, I knew we'd see Blade sooner or later.
Highlights:
The plot consists of Blade being part of accidently waking up The Adana, "Great Mother of the Dark", who wants all monsters to be free. Teaming up with Doctor Strange, who has previous experience with The Adana, as well as some others, Blade is poised to stop her. After a mission to get Lucifer's Sword, Blade gets defeated and The Adana uses the Sword to awaken all "monsters", including those who didn't know they were. Knowing he is outmatched, Blade takes the Sword to Dracula to ask for help winning the upcoming war.

Overall, a good Volume, but I need to see what happens next.
Recommend.

[Lui H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story moves really fast, I could use some more time in between the side quests. It is interesting to see Blade get tricked and then having to solve his own mistake, and the villain feels very interesting but the pacing of the writing feels too quick to really let the tension simmer. I liked it still tho, so I will continue with Tomes of Dracula next.

[Emma Gellvear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the art intrested to see where this series goes

[Hailey Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard run-of-the-mill Blade comic

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. More magical than horror so not really what I was expecting and hoping for.

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost as good as the movies.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have read this before Blood Hunt. It has a lot of the lead up to that event.

Blade unknowingly unleashes a demon unto the world and has to find Lucifer’s sword, Lightbringer, to put an end to it. Along with the help of Dr Strange.

Really good set up. Really enjoyed this.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Solid Blade tale.

But, it is really a part 1.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blade's first solo series in...gods know how long, gets off to a decent start as Eric manages to fuck everything up in the first issue and then spends the rest of the volume trying to fix it.

It's a clever set-up, but it does feel a little subdued at times. Blade's a decent protagonist, but this feels outside of his usual wheelhouse, so he's often on the back foot and yet still somehow grumpy about how no one will treat him with the respect he deserves.

The main draw for me was Elena Casagrande, especially after her stellar turn on Black Widow lately, but aside from one or two splash pages, she's also a little more subdued on the art side too.

Not bad, and there's promise, but also not your 'typical' Blade series. Also, the fact that they introduced Bloodline just before this and she's nowhere to be seen here is a weird choice.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a pretty fun volume and its full of action and bombastic one at that, the intro of the villain Adana is kinda done quickly and you get to see her origin and what not and then the way other characters are introduced like Rotha and Tulip, its awesome and japanese action at that which is always great, plus Blade and them vs this evil, an old vampire named Lord Tanaka, enter Dr strange and whats the fate of the heroes when they confront this "Adana" and the last issue could have been a fight but feels like was cut off for some reason which makes it feel inadequate but interesting parallels and the next arc m guessing is gonna be the hero retrains and all that.. so yeah still a fun volume and has some mysteries and feels like a movie script for real and has some cool moments for sure, the art is pretty good too, but still could have been better.

[Kayra Kaan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why but I just did not like this one. The art is different but I wasn't much of a fan of it. The characters are, two dimensional. I did not like the side characters or the villain. The pacing was, fast. I read all the issues very quickly, not sure if it was a me thing or not. Felt like it focused more on action and less on dialogue.

Which makes sense when I look back and try to remember the events, I just remember a few action moments and none of the character moments. Because there isn't much. That's it, that's all. I don't recommend this. But the ending did get me excited for the next volume. I think I will be reading that too.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Blade volume I’ve read, wanted to learn more about him after playing Midnight Suns. Thought this volume was great till Issue #4.

In Issue four there is an art style change which I just didn’t like compared to the earlier issues. I really dislike when characters look like each-other just with different hairstyles. The art got better in Issue #5 but still.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen any other Blade media but I thought the story was pretty good up till the end. Towards the end I felt like this story was rushed, I wish we could’ve seen the fight between Adana and Blade instead of a blackout.

I would recommend!

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blade gets his first ongoing series in decades. This reminds me a lot of the TV show Angel. It's not just Blade fighting vampires. All kinds of supernatural creatures and demons appear. He unwittingly unleashes something real bad on the world and is on his back foot trying to make up for it from there on out. Good stuff. I like Casagrande's art quite a bit. I do wish she could keep up with the artwork. Valentina Pinta isn't a bad replacement. I'd just like to see one artist on the entire 5 issues.

[Valentin Derevlean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Când nu poți dormi noaptea, ce faci? Te uiți la Blade pe Netflix, că le-ai descoperit acolo și oricum nu îți amintești mare lucru. Apoi mai cauți să vezi ce mai face Blade în universul Marvel, că tot anunțau ei un film nou cândva. Și ce să vezi, o duce binișor.

Atât scriitorul, cât și artistul mi-s necunoscuți, în sensul că nu am citit nimic până acum lucrat de ei, deși înțeleg că Elena Casagrande a făcut o treabă grozavă la ultima serie Black Widow. De urmărit. Povestea de aici e simpluță, nimic fancy, Blade se ocupă cu ucisul monștrilor și fără să vrea eliberează o „monstră” și nu mai știe cum să repare greșeala. Unele intersectări cu universul Marvel, cât să știm că totul e unitar, unele idei faine. Altfel, nimic grozav, nimic deosebit. O lectură ușurică pentru un cititor neutru în privința personajului.

[Mik Cope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I read the comic, knowing Blade only from The Tomb of Dracula and the films. It's pretty brutal, with the usual vampire slaying plus a mountain ninja cult after Blade. Apparently the beginning of a longer story, the plot did get a bit confused at the end and things don't look great for our "hero" or, indeed, humanity. The teaser for the next chapter is fascinating and I reckon I'll stick with the title.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn stylish of a book, but that happens when Elena Casagrande does most of your art! I was sold on that alone, I've been a fan since BW. Thing is tho, Hill is either a hit or miss writer, and he's working with a very matter of fact character. While the action is stylish and constant, the actual plot is minimal, and the pacing slingshots from single issue plots to covering so much so fast it feels like it's skipping material. Rule of cool, but jumps a lot. Hanging in there for a second volume.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new Blade series has the half-vampire, daywalker facing off against the Adana, a creature who plans to bring about the ... end of the world! OMG! Kind of a ho-hum start to this series, really. The art isn't bad, the story jumps around a bit (not a fan of jumping from the promise of a big battle at the end of part 4 to the aftermath of said battle at the start of part 5, for example). Hill's kind of hit or miss for me as a writer. I guess I'll have to see where this goes next.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not really a new story for Blade, for a story that's supposed to be all new and while it's gross it's not dark like it promised either, unless they mean the over-saturation of ink on the page(even in digital that shows). It comes off as cartoony instead of horror. Still not the worst thing I've read, but up there for this year.

[H. J. Carp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent first part of the overall story. The art is pretty good and the writing is solid.

Blade accidentally unleashes an unstoppable evil onto the world and it is up to him, a renegade monk and his ex to stop them. The story ends on a decent cliffhanger that makes me want to read the second half and then I will be able to judge the series as a whole.

Pretty good first half. Bring on part 2

[Jack Morelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful art but a lot happens and I don’t feel like there’s something (a strong relationship or plot element, or anything) to grasp on to. The Dracula tease at the end could be what I’m looking for. Really more of a 2.5

The blade: first bite infinity comic is kind of nothing but at the same time framing it all around one conversation made it a little easier to follow

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very little experience with Blade, and this is the first time I've sampled one of his solo books. I enjoyed it well enough, but I'm not sure that I'm actually getting to know Blade any better. Cool art, though.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Totally fine forgettable diversion. I enjoy the mild Dr. Strange appearance/ team up. But the dialog can be forced at times and the plot is fairly standard.
Also the pencils seem to need more work with action. Some of the action panels are extremely unintuitive and confusing.
2.75 stars

[Dakota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent start to the series. Nothing to love in the writing or art but nothing to hate either. Both have potential to grow on me as this series continues