Blade: Red Band - Prodigal Son

by Bryan Hill

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

120 pages, Paperback

Published September 9, 2025

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an action-packed Blade adventure. I wanted to give it 3.5 stars but it definitely deserves a round-up instead of down. One thing I am not sure about is the "Red Brand". The book is no more bloody or violent than many of the other Blade stories I have read. Also, the swearing is @£#%@ out. I am not pro bad language in comics or books, but I use it sparingly it works. If you are going to make an adult/mature brand is there a point in censoring the language?

Since Blood Hunt Blade has put himself into a self-imposed exile. However, someone needs his services. Can he trust one set of bad vampires who want him to take out another bad vampire? Does it even matter? Why not take them all out?

The action and fights and Blade looking cool doing what he does is an easy five stars, but the story with needless reversals and gaps between issues/chapters I would have given it three stars. I mean the main villain seems to have two origins in the same mini-series? This seemed to be rushed, I would have thought after Blood Hunt and everything going on with Blade he should definitely have his own ongoing series. I am definitely interested in what is coming next. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad mini series! We find Blade trying to find his place in the world after being possessed by Varnae to plunge the world into chaos during the Blood Hunt event. This Blade is lost and very alone as he’s now afraid to be around people, convinced he can be possessed again. Taking random jobs here and there he finds one that leads him to some violent fights and solid twists. The ending is interesting and I’m wondering when we’ll see more.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blade's putting his life back together after Blood Hunt, which naturally means we get about three pages of solo Blade in an unreachable Asian locale before someone shows up on his doorstep with a quest: some vampire dude has a magic book that will allow him to do bad things and a shadowy anti-vampire cult wants Blade's help putting a stop to it.

Pretty simple plot, really. Blade acquires a teammate and eventually finds the baddie (who maybe isn't so bad after all! obvious twist alert). Some decent action, good pacing, middling artwork. Bryan Hill has a solid handle on Blade as a brooding, anti-hero character, which I appreciate. The "Red Band" tag is barely warranted - a few bloody scenes and curse words are still covered up.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

After being possessed by Varnae during Blood Hunt, Blade is...sad? Angry? It's not really clear. But when a new sect of bad guys command him to go and take down a new vampire threat, he's ready to stab.

I wanted to like this, I really did, but it never clicked for me. Blade's mental state is all over the place, and he doesn't seem to want to discuss it with anyone (which is fair, but makes it hard to sympathize). The bad guy's motivation is probably the most interesting thing going on, and even that only really comes to light in the last issue. Blade's new "friend" is basically a non-entity, and just there to yell at him for a bit, and then the ultimate conclusion to the story is...nothing at all. Usually I'd want to know what happens next, but honestly, I think I'm good not knowing this time around.

The artwork doesn't help matters much either. CF Villa is usually reliable, but it feels like everything's a bit too zoomed in, so all of the pencil lines look scratchy and unfinished. There's assistance from Federica Mancin as the story goes on, and her style's a little cleaner, but it doesn't save the book overall. The Red Band-ness of things mostly just means there's a lot more blood kicking about, and there are a few brutal scenes, but I didn't find it to be much worse than anything I'd read in a mainstream Marvel book.

Not a great cap to Hill's Blade run, unfortunately. Story and art are both all over the place, and the conclusion leaves me wanting less, rather than more.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tras unos años donde Blade había salido de las sombras de su solitaria cruzada, pasando a ser Vengador titular, descubriendo y aceptando a una hija que auspicia un legado o incluso "Sheriff" de la Nación Vampírica. Se ha estado auspiciando un crudo retorno al estatus quo del cazavampiros Marvelita ya con esa miniserie de Bryan Hill que le ponía en contra de un inquietante figura matriarcal en un alzamiento monstruoso que le obligaba a acudir a Drácula como "Maestro Yoda" que le desbloquease más hábilidades de su condición como ser de la noche. Esto por la contra hizo más posible que Eric Brooks tuviese un rol crucial en el evento Blood Hunt, siendo poseído por el primer ser vampírico, Varnae. De esto se desliga esta nueva miniserie donde Eric se encuentra vagabundeando tratando de autoexiliarse en castigo propio por los actos cometidos en Blood Hunt. Esto no durará, al ser convocado por una siniestra hermandad que le insta a cazar a un nuevo líder vampírico que hace de las suyas en una zona del sudeste asiático en conflicto armado.

Es verdad que Bryan Hill ya le ha pillado perfectamente el punto al personaje para ofrecer argumentos que equilibren la acción superheroíca con los componentes y elementos de terror y violencia gráfica (esto es uno de los nuevos mentados títulos Red Band de Marvel). Pero en esta ocasión creo que se repite (otro personaje femenino de rasgos asiático con cierto tonteo con Blade pero que solo servirá para ser la encumbrada "damisela en apuros" y carne de cañón") y resulta un retroceso a lo mostrado en la primera colección de Hill sobre el cazavampiros. Es cierto que la figura antagónica juega algo bien la arquitrama de "Quién es el verdadero monstruo", con eso de estar "ayudando" de forma sobrenatural a las víctimas más inocentes de un conflicto armado regional. Pero por la contra, ya solo el cacao conceptual con el nombre completo de este personaje del que solo se van apuntando pistas del pasado romano y no de la alusión a cierto linaje familiar "Stokeriano", genera una sensación frustrante de que si bien el autor pueda estar "cocinando" a futuro. Lo que necesita ahora mismo el personaje es una mejor forma de "redimirle" o cuanto menos, encajar mejor sus actos en un perfil bajo a la espera de un aparente (lean Werewolf by Night) pronto retorno de los Hijos de Medianoche. Pero esta miniserie (compartida en lo gráfico entre C. F. Villa y Federica Mancin), resulta una lectura bastante vacía en lo que podría suponer para Blade la situación post Blood Hunt.

[Shivesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was already familiar with this set of issues when they originally came out during the Blood Hunt summer event, which was right around the time I started getting back into comics as a weekly habit. Even then, I skipped the Red Band editions on the stands because the marketing felt a little too eager—like Marvel was pushing the “mature” angle as a gimmick rather than offering anything truly different. Now that I’ve read them collected in Blade: Red Band, that suspicion is pretty much confirmed. There’s nothing here that feels especially boundary‑pushing or unique beyond the branding. The supposed “violent” content is mostly standard Blade fare, not anything that justifies a special label.

As for the story itself, it’s a serviceable follow‑up to Blood Hunt, focusing on how Blade recovers, calibrates, and tries to reassert control over his life after the chaos he helped unleash. The plot follows him as he confronts the fallout of his actions, reconnects with old allies, and faces a new threat tied to the lingering supernatural instability left in the event’s wake. There are some interesting beats—moments where Blade’s guilt and stubbornness collide—but the narrative never fully commits to exploring them. Instead, it moves briskly from fight to fight, hinting at deeper emotional stakes without really digging in.

The art, to its credit, is consistently strong. The action sequences are clean, the character designs are sharp, and the atmosphere fits Blade’s world without leaning too hard into grit for grit’s sake. The dialogue is readable and straightforward, which helps the pacing, but the overall structure feels like it could have used another editorial pass. Scenes transition abruptly, and the emotional throughline doesn’t always land.

In the end, this volume isn’t bad—just not particularly memorable. It’s a competent post‑event character piece with solid art, but it never rises above “okay.” I’m open to seeing where Blade goes next, but this outing didn’t fully convince me that the Red Band experiment worked.

[Paper Ghost ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Blade comic I've ever picked up. Interesting concept, gruesome scenes and well lots of blood. Unfortunately the story felt like it was being pulled in different directions. Maybe I just need to pick up a different Blade run.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Blade, but this feels like a lifeless Steven Segal movie.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s okay. A new big bad super vampire shows up. But does he want to destroy the world, or save it?

[Mike Jozic · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blade survived being possessed and betraying his 'friends'...
Now?
Isolate and be moody sounds about right.

New bad guys show up with connections to ancient, ancient times. Of course, only Blade can stop them.
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Bonus: Red Band is overhyped. Maybe 2 or 3 panels difference in amount of gore/violence