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Update: Days after Marvel editor-in-chief CB Cebulski promised some comic book developments for Blade the vampire hunter in the publisher’s upcoming Free Comic Book Day releases (more on that below), new details of what’s coming up for the Daywalker have been confirmed – and it turns out the new story will finally introduce Blade’s vampire-slaying daughter years after Marvel originally had plans to do the same.
(Image credit: Marvel Comics) (opens in new tab)Announced all the way back in 2015, the introduction of Blade’s daughter was delayed after the creator of the original concept, Tim Seeley, departed the project and then disappeared from the publisher’s plans.
Now, Blade’s daughter – whose name is Brielle this time around, and who goes by the codename Bloodline, which was teased a while back – will make her first appearance in Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men #1, in a story from writer Danny Lore and artist Karen S. Darboe.
It’s unclear how much connection exists between the original idea for Blade’s daughter that was in the works back in ’15 and this version that is finally coming to comics. The original concept of Blade’s daughter was named Fallon Grey, so there’s at least one obvious change to the version of the character coming to the page this year.
Marvel promo art from 2015 (Image credit: Marvel Comics) (opens in new tab)Though Marvel’s announcement of Bloodline’s inclusion in the FCBD one-shot doesn’t reveal much, it does include art, seen here, which implies that Blade will bequeath some of his trademark vampire-killing weapons to his daughter, who appears to be in the care of Blade’s longtime on-again-off-again paramour Safron Caulder, who is presumably Brielle’s mother.
We’ll learn more about Bloodline when FCBD: Avengers/X-Men #1 is released for free through comic shops on Free Comic Book Day, May 7.
Original story follows…
Blade, the vampire-hunting ‘Daywalker’ who possesses all the powers of a vampire with none of their weaknesses, seems to be returning to the spotlight in comics starting this Free Comic Book Day.
Just as the original Blade movie trilogy is arriving on Netflix, and a new Marvel Studios Blade movie is expected to start production soon bringing actor Mahershala Ali into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Blade after his voice cameo in The Eternals, Marvel Comics editor in chief CB Cebulski has begun teasing a renewed role for Blade in Marvel Comics starting on Free Comic Book Day.
And when it comes to Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day titles, they almost always serve as previews of new series or important story developments to come.
Cebulski tweeted the tease of Blade’s return in a Twitter thread in which Marvel Comics creative director Joe Quesada invited fans to ask him anything, following a fan’s question about where Blade may appear in Marvel Comics next.
“Stay tuned. There may be news on Free Comic Book Day? Hmmmmm…” tweets Cebulski.
Stay tuned. There may be news on Free Comic Book Day? Hmmmmm…March 24, 2022
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Marvel has multiple announced Free Comic Book Day titles planned for release, including Avengers/X-Men/Eternals: Judgment Day #0, Spider-Man/Venom #1, and Marvel Voices #1. None of the revealed synopses for Marvel’s FCBD titles mention Blade or even vampires, but there may be something of a clue as to how Blade could factor into Free Comic Book Day.
Most recently, Blade has been palling around with the Avengers, even playing a key role in 2021’s Avengers summer event story Heroes Reborn. At the same time, the synopsis for AXE: Judgment Day #0 mentions a new character named Bloodline set to debut in the one-shot. We know basically nothing about who Bloodline is, or what their origin may be, but given the whole connection between blood and vampires, is it possible they’ll somehow be connected to the Daywalker?
Time will tell, likely on May 7’s Free Comic Book Day 2022.
Blade is a longtime member of the supernatural super-team The Midnight Sons.
I’ve been Newsarama’s resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I’ve also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)
