Blade: Blood and Chaos

Blade (1998) #1-3

by Don McGregor, Marc Andreyko (Contributor), Bart Sears (Illustrator)

Blade is back — and he's slashing his way through all sorts of bloodsuckers! The Daywalker finds himself in the middle of an undead gang war when a vampiric Mafia Don's daughter seeks vengeance for the sins of her father, and Blade is her weapon of choice! Meanwhile, in New Orleans, Morbius the Living Vampire is drawn into a dark and deadly plot! But how does the covert branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. called Silvereye plan to deal with vampires and other creatures of the night, and where does our favorite vampire hunter fit in? As a deadly fiend awakens, Blade, Silvereye — and perhaps the world — will be made to fear the Reaper! It's blood and chaos as only the Daywalker can bring it!

Collects Sins Of The Father, Blade (1998) #1-3 and Blade (1999) #1-6 and #1/2.

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

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2018

About the author

Donald Francis McGregor is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics, and the author of one of their first graphic novels.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of Blade comics from the late 90s. It was basically Marvel failing to capitalize on the character’s newfound relevance. The Don McGregor series is excellent, but it was sadly cancelled after only 3 issues. They also included the fun prequel to the movie comic, which is about Blade killing some vampire gangsters. Unfortunately, the bulk of this collection is the Bart Sears (who wrote and drew it) miniseries and it is BAD. It’s so tediously written with repetitive nonsensical narration, clunky dialogue, odd character work (Blade is almost a supporting role), and a lot of the art is just ugly. There were other Blade appearances from that time that should have been included instead.

[Judah Radd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Woe to anyone who reads this. Woe. Woe to anyone who thinks this is going to be good. Woe.

And that’s pretty much the gist.

The first issue is a movie tie-in. 🤮. Sadly, it’s one of the better stories. After that, we get the ill-fated series that was cancelled after 3 issues. Why? Trust me... it makes sense.

After that are some of the worst 6 issues I’ve ever read. Blade is barely in them, and every page is brimming with this weird old timey, ominous narration where the word “woe” is used over and over. It’s horrible.

The art is ok.

I recommend never ever even considering reading this.

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sins of the Father, ☆☆☆
Blade '98 #1-3, ☆☆ (canceled with no conclusion)
Blade '99 #1/2-6, ☆☆

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

DPL hoopla
This should really be 2.5 stars at best. The back half of the book was crap. It is a collection of various Blade runs across time and while addressed in the intro as to how those stories came about, well, let me just say the dude made a bad choice in allowing this guy to write and draw the story. I didn't really care for those drawings and the story was even worse. The first half or so by other peoples was fine.

[Jesse Baggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rereading some 90s comics recently reminded me of the artistic stylings of Bart Sears, so I searched the Libby app for any comics by him that I could check out, and this “Blade” collection came up.

Despite being far more competent than most of the big-name artists of the 90s and with his own slick take on superheroes, Sears never achieved superstar status in the industry. I always enjoyed his work, though, from “Justice League: Europe” to his how-to column in Wizard magazine.

The first entry in this collection, “Sins of the Father,” is not bad for a superhero comic. Blade gets caught up in a gang war between rival vampire mobs and has to figure out who to trust. The story gets sillier as it goes along, but fortunately it’s pretty short, and it plays to Sears’s strengths: kinetic but easy-to-follow action sequences, hyper-stylized physiques, and exciting page layouts. Three-and-a-half stars for Sears’s art but two stars for the chapter as a whole.

“Sins of the Father” is followed by a multi-part story called “Blood Allies” written by Don McGregor. It’s ponderous and dull, starting with Blade’s first line of dialogue, “Take your time, mosquito. This is the last blood you drink.” The art by Brian Hagan doesn’t help: it’s awkward and amateurish everywhere except in the backgrounds, which suggests maybe Hagan would get better over time. One star.

The collection ends with another series, “Bane of the White Worm,” this time drawn AND written by Sears. Here, Sears’s art feels looser and more experimental. I prefer his more restrained style, but there are some really amazing visuals in this story, like a weird spaghetti-faced monster kneeling before a hissing shadow, the spaghetti monster’s bare ass on full display. Unfortunately, Sears’s writing isn’t as good as his art; I got bored on this last series and decided I’d had enough. Two-and-a-half stars for Sear’s art and one star for the story and the “White Worm” series as a whole.

[PMoslice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 25% of the book was excellent. The END!!! Ok, I read a few of the other comments and they are accurate. The book took a terrible turn the last 75% was just CHAOS. Reader Beware "Woe" as the other commentor said "Woe" is this book.

[Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started to get interested into the '98 series, but it ended suddenly after the third issue without finishing the story. I was not a fan of the 6-issue '99 series. I had no idea what was going on.

[Matt Jex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, some good illustrations. Nothing much happening though.