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Artist Whilce Portacio sketching at a convention.

A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms.

The penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. These artists are concerned with layout (positions and vantages on scenes) to showcase steps in the plot. In earlier generations it was more common for artists to use a loose pencilling approach, in which the penciller does not take much care to reduce the vagaries of the pencil art, leaving it to the inker to interpret the penciller's intent and render the art in a more finished state.

Tools and materials[link]

A penciller works in pencil. Beyond this basic description, however, different artists choose to use a wide variety of different tools. While many artists use traditional wood pencils, others prefer mechanical pencils or drafting leads. Pencillers may use any lead hardness they wish, although many artists use a harder lead (like a 2H) to make light lines for initial sketches, then turn to a slightly softer lead for finishing phases of the drawing. Still other artists do their initial layouts using a light blue colored pencil because that color tends to disappear during photocopying.

Most comic book pages are drawn over-sized on large sheets of paper, usually Bristol board. The customary size of comic book pages in the mainstream American comics industry is 11 by 17 inches. The inker usually works directly over the penciller's pencil marks, though occasionally pages are inked on translucent paper, such as drafting vellum, preserving the original pencils. The artwork is later photographically reduced in size during the printing process.

Art Adams begins drawing thumbnail layouts from the script he's given, either at home or in a public place. The thumbnails range in size from 2 inches x 3 inches to half the size of the printed comic book. He or an assistant will then enlarge the thumbnails and trace them onto illustration board with a non-photo blue pencil, sometimes using a Prismacolor light blue pencil, because it is not too waxy, and erases easily. When working on the final illustration board, he does so on a large drawing board when in his basement studio, and a lapboard when sitting on his living room couch. After tracing the thumbnails, he will then clarify details with another light blue pencil, and finalize the details with a Number 2 pencil. He drew the first three chapters of "Jonni Future" at twice the printed comic size, and also drew the fifth chapter, "The Garden of the Sklin", at a size larger than standard, in order to render more detail than usual in those stories. For a large poster image with a multitude of characters, he will go over the figure outlines with a marker in order to emphasize them. He will use photographic reference when appropriate, as when he draws things that he is not accustomed to.^[1][2]

Artist Jim Lee is known to use F lead for his pencil work.^[3][4]

Artist J. Scott Campbell does his pencil with a lead holder, and Sanford Turquoise H lead, which he uses for its softness and darkness, and for its ability to provide a "sketchy" feel, with a minimal amount of powdery lead smearing. He uses this lead because it strikes a balance between too hard, and therefore not dark enough on the page, and too soft, and therefore prone to smearing and crumbling. Campbell avoids its closest competitor because he finds it too waxy. Campbell has also used HB lead and F lead. He maintains sharpness of the lead with a Berold Turquoise sharpener, changing them every four to six months, which he finds is the duration of their grinding ability.^[5] Campbell uses a combination of Magic Rub erasers, eraser sticks, and since he began to ink his work digitally, a Sakura electric eraser. He often sharpens the eraser to a cornered edge in order to render fine detailed work.^[6]

Artist Travis Charest uses mainly 2H lead to avoid smearing, and sometimes HB lead. He previously illustrated on regular illustration board provided by publishers, though he disliked the non-photo blue lines printed on them. By 2000, he switched to Crescent board for all his work, because it does not warp when wet, produces sharper illustrations, and are more suitable for framing because they lack the non-photo blue lines.^[7] Charest usually prefers not to employ preliminary sketching practices, such as layouts, thumbnails or lightboxing, in part due to impatience, and in part because he enjoys the serendipitous nature in which artwork develops when produced with greater spontaneity.^[8] He also prefers to use reference only when rendering objects that require a degree of real-life accuracy, such as guns, vehicles or characters of licensed properties that must resemble actors with whom they are closely identified, as when he illustrated the cover to Star Trek: The Next Generation: Embrace the Wolf in 2000.^[9]

The penciling process that artist Adam Hughes employs for his cover work is the same he uses when doing sketches for fans at conventions, with the main difference being that he does cover work in his sketchbook, before transferring the drawing to virgin art board with a lightbox,^[10] whereas he does convention drawings on 11 x 14 Strathmore bristol, as he prefers penciling on the rougher, vellum surface rather than smooth paper, preferring smoother paper only for brush inking.^[11] He does preliminary undersketches with a lead holder,^[12] because he feels regular pencils get worn down to the nub too quickly. As he explained during a sketch demonstration at a comic book convention, during this process he uses a Sanford Turquoise 4B lead, a soft lead, though when working at home in Atlanta, where the humid weather tends to dampen the paper, he sometimes uses a B lead or 2B lead, which acts like a 4B in that environment.^[11] However, his website explains that he uses 6B lead, with some variation. For pieces rendered entirely in pencil, he employs a variety of pencil leads of varying degrees of hardness.^[13] After darkening in the construction lines that he wishes to keep, he erases the lighter ones with a kneaded eraser before rendering greater detail.^[12] For more detailed erasures, he uses a pencil-shaped white eraser, and to erase large areas, he uses a larger, hand-held white eraser, which he calls a "thermonuclear eraser", because it "takes care of everything".^[11]

Artist and former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada begins with sketches much smaller than the actual size at which he will render the final drawing. He employs a Cintiq drawing tablet when he desires to do a "tighter" digital layout of an illustration. When sketching figures, he will sometimes use photographic reference, and incorporate the photos directly into his sketches during the process of finalizing a layout. Once he makes a final decision on a layout, he will then print it out at full size, and use a light box to pencil it, sometimes altering elements in the design such as lighting or other details.^[14][15]

Artist Bryan Hitch begins with multiple rough sketches employing different camera angles on paper with a blue pencil, which traditionally does not photocopy or scan, and then select the desired elements from the rough sketch with a graphite pencil. After picking the initial shapes, he will further emphasize his selections with a red marker pen and other colored pens, continuing to attempt different variations. He will then, depending on how late in the day it is, either redraw the illustration on a sheet of layout paper or use his lightbox to tighten and clean up the drawing, emphasizing that the lightbox should not be a mere exercise in tracing, but an opportunity to refine or change elements in the drawing to make it "clean" enough to be inked. When Hitch transfers the drawing to the final art board, he does initial layouts with a 2H pencil, which feels provides the necessary accuracy and detail, and uses an erasable blue pencil to mark panel frames and vanishing points, which he introduces after the rough stage. He chooses not to put too much time or polish into this stage, preferring to work quickly, lightly and instinctively. He uses a mechanical pencil with 0.9mm 2H lead at this stage for fine outlines and detail work, and a traditional pencil for more organic work, including softer lines, shading large areas and creating more fluid motion. The "best tool of all", according to him, is a traditional pencil cut with a craft knife, which he says can produce a variety of marks, and be used for detail, shading and general sketching. Hitch believes the best results combine both the mechanical and the knife-sharpened traditional pencil. He uses an Apple iMac desktop computer, flatbed scanner and Photoshop to modify his artwork digitally.^[16]

Artist Erik Larsen uses a Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 2H pencil, and a Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser.^[17]

While reading each page of a script, Amanda Conner does tiny thumbnail sketches with stick figures corresponding to the story indicated on each page, in order to help her design the page's layout. She then does a tighter, more elaborate sketch, though still fairly small compared with the finished artwork, and then blows that up on a photocopier to the proper original comic art size, which is 10 inches x 15 inches. She then uses "very tight pencils" to light-box it onto Bristol board, if she intends to have it inked by her husband and collaborator, Jimmy Palmiotti, but will do the pencils "lighter and looser" if she intends to ink it herself, as she already knows how she wants the artwork rendered.^[18]

Once artist Gene Ha obtains a script, he makes "tiny" thumbnail sketches of each page, and then makes layout sketches on shrunked copies of comic art board, two per page. It is at this stage that he works out the light/dark balance of the page. Though he says about 90% of his artwork are done without photo reference, he will sometimes photograph his friends pose as the central characters, or use a full length mirror to draw himself. He renders minor characters from his imagination. Irrespective of how much sunlight he has on a given day, he prefers to use a 500W incandescent photo lamp, though he believes a 500W halogen lamp is also adequate. He prefers to use a lead holder with H lead for sketching, and 2B lead for shading, which he sharpens with a rotary lead pointer, believing that such leads can be sharpened better than a traditional pencil. He blows up a scan of each page layout to 8.5" x 11", and draws "tight" pencils on top of these, which are then scanned and printed on 11" x 17" inkjet paper in faint blue line. He prefers Xerox paper because he feels that the surface of marker paper tends to get smudgy or oily. When importing art to modify in his computer, he uses Photoshop.^[13]

Artist Jason Shiga penciled his 2011 graphic novel Empire State: A Love Story (Or Not) with a yellow No. 2 pencil on copy paper, before transferring it with brushed ink via a lightbox.^[19]

Artist Jonathan Luna uses 14 x 17 Strathmore Bristol board, which he cuts into 11 x 17 pieces on which to draw. He draws using a 2H pencil, and after inking his pencils with a Micron pen, he edits his line work on a graphics tablet.^[20]

Artist Marcio Takara begins his pages with 7" x 5" ink thumbnail sketches with which he shows his overall ideas to his editor. When he begins the actual pencils, he keeps them "loose", because he will eventually ink over them himself, and does not require greater specificity. The penciling stage is the fastest stage for Takara, who does all of his pencil work with an HB 0.5 mechanical pencil, completing two or three penciled pages a day, sometimes even inking all three by the end of the day.^[21]

Writer/artist Chuck Austen did his work on Elektra entirely on a computer. He prefers uses mostly Macs, but also uses PCs. When using a Mac, he uses Ray Dream Studio, and when using a PC, usings 3D Studio Max. These allow him to take three-dimensional models and break them down into simplified two-tone line forms. He purchases the models from catalogues, or uses ones that he built for Strips using in Hash or Animation:Master. After importing the models into Studio or Max, he arranges the angles and other aspects of the scene before rendering them, such as placement of background objects or modifying gestures, while the computer corrects elements such as perspective, foreshortening, proportions, etc. After the files are rendered to Austen's satisfaction, he assembles them into page form using Photoshop, completing details that the modeling programs cannot perfect, such as facial expressions, hair, filling in blacks, rendering clothes and wrinkles, etc. To finish the art, he will either print out the "pencils" directly onto Bristol board and finalize them with an HB Tombow pencil and ink them with a #2 nib, or will apply the finishes in Photoshop.^[22]

Scott McCloud also does his computer almost entirely on a computer tablet. Although he sketches his layouts in pencil, the remainder of his work is done digitally, explaining in his 2006 book Making Comics that he had not used traditional materials like Bristol board, pens or brushes in years. After sketching layouts, which he says are "pretty tight", and include the full script, he scans them into an 18-inch tablet/monitor to use them as a guide for lettering them in Adobe Illustrator. After completing the lettering, he exports the files to Photoshop, where he fully renders the art at a resolution of 1,200 dpi, creating between five and fifty layers of finished art before flattening it into a single black and white bitmap, plus a greyscale page, if needed.^[23]

Style[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Because a penciller does not usually create finished art, the extent to which the pencilled pages resemble the final, inked version varies depending on the artist.

Most pencillers develop a preference for the work of certain inkers and vice versa. Some penciller/inker teams have enjoyed long and celebrated collaborations when their styles mesh particularly well. In less successful cases, an inker's style may not complement that of the penciller, or the inker's own style may be so prominent that in effect it buries the work of the penciller.

In earlier generations^[when?] it was more common for artists to use a loose pencilling approach, in which the penciller did not take much care to reduce the vagaries of the pencil art, leaving it to the inker to interpret the penciller's intent. (In those cases, the penciler was usually credited with "breakdowns" or "layouts," while the inker was credited as the "embellisher" or "finisher".)^[24] Today^[when?] many pencillers prefer to create very meticulously detailed pages, where every nuance that they expect to see in the inked art is indicated in pencil. This is known as tight pencilling.

Workflow[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

A comic book penciller usually works closely with the comic book's editor, who commissions a script from the writer and sends it to the penciller.

Comic book scripts can take a variety of forms. Some writers, such as Alan Moore, produce complete, elaborate, and lengthy outlines of each page. Others send the artist only a plot outline consisting of no more than a short overview of key scenes with little or no dialogue. Stan Lee, the founder of Marvel Comics, was known to prefer this latter form, and thus it came to be known as the Marvel Method.^[25]

Sometimes a writer or another artist (such as an art director) will include basic layouts, called "breakdowns," to assist the penciller in scene composition. If no breakdowns are included, then it falls to the penciller to determine the layout of each page, including the number of panels, their shapes and their positions. Even when these visual details are indicated by a script, a penciller may feel when drawing the scene that there is a different way of composing the scene, and may disregard the script, usually following consultation with the editor and/or writer.

Notable pencillers[link]

• Neal Adams
• Ed Benes
• Wayne Boring
• John Buscema
• John Byrne
• Gene Colan
• Dick Dillin
• Steve Ditko
• Will Eisner
• Carmine Infantino
• Don Heck
• Gil Kane
• Lee Harris
• Jack Kirby
• Jim Lee
• Todd McFarlane
• Frank Miller
• George Pérez
• Frank Quitely
• John Romita Sr
• Walt Simonson
• Curt Swan
• Michael Turner
• Bob Kane

See also[link]

• Marvel method
• Inker
• Letterer
• Colorist

References[link]

Yanick Paquette
Paquette at the New York Comic Con in Manhattan, October 10, 2010.
Nationality	Canadian
Area(s)	Penciller
Notable works	Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer Batman Incorporated

Yanick Paquette is a Canadian penciller in North American comics. He has worked for Antarctic Press, Topps, Marvel and DC Comics and since 1994.

Career[link]

Among the titles Paquette has worked on are Adventures of Superman, Areala Warrior Nun, Avengers, Codename: Knockout, Gambit, Gen¹³, JLA, Negation', Power Company, Space: Above And Beyond, Superman: The Man of Steel, Terra Obscura, Tomorrow Woman, Transmetropolitan: Filth of the City, Seven Soldiers: The Bulleteer, Wonder Woman, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Civil War: X-Men.

Clément Sauvé was his assistant on background on a wide number of issues.^[1]

Paquette was the regular artist on Ultimate X-Men from February 2007 to January 2008, and for the first five issues of Young X-Men in 2008. He later supplied the art for Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 (August 2010),^[2] and a few issues of Batman Inc., teaming up again with Grant Morrison. He is currently the artist on the relaunched Swamp Thing, with Scott Snyder writing, and Marco Rudy doing the fill-in issues.

Bibliography[link]

Interior work[link]

• Blood Childe: Portrait of a Surreal Killer #3-4 (with Faye Perozich, Millennium Publications, 1995)
• Space: Above and Beyond (with Roy Thomas, Topps):
  • Space: Above and Beyond #1-3 (1996)
  • Space: Above and Beyond: Gauntlet #1-2 (1996)
• Xena: Warrior Princess: Year One (with Roy Thomas, Topps, 1997)
• Warrior Nun Areala #4-5: "Holy Man, Holy Terror" (with Barry Lyga, Antarctic Press, 1998)
• JLA: Tomorrow Woman: "Tomorrow Never Knows" (with Tom Peyer, DC Comics, 1998)
• JLA Secret Files #2: "Heroes" (with Christopher Priest, DC Comics, 1998)
• Wonder Woman #139-144, 146-148 (with Eric Luke, DC Comics, 1998–1999)
• Eros Graphic Albums #39: "Harem Nights" (script and art, with Michel Lacombe, Eros Comix, 1999)
• Day of Judgement Secret Files #1: "Which Witch?" (with Mark Millar, DC Comics, 1999)
• JLA 80-Page Giant #2: "Madmen and Mudbaths" (with Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt, DC Comics, 1999)
• Adventures of Superman (DC Comics):
  • "A Night at the Opera" (with Mark Millar and Stuart Immonen, in #575, 2000)
  • "A Tale of Two Cities" (with Jay Faerber and Stuart Immonen, in #577, 2000)
• Gambit #15-19, 21-24 (with Fabian Nicieza, Marvel, 2000–2001)
• Superman: The Man of Steel #112: "Krypto!" (with Mark Schultz and Olivier Coipel, DC Comics, 2001)
• Superman: Our Worlds at War Secret Files #1: "Resources" (with Dan Curtis Johnson and J. H. Williams III, DC Comics, 2001)
• Codename: Knockout #4, 7-8, 10-12 (with Robert Rodi, Vertigo, 2001–2002)
• Gen¹³ #68-69: "Failed Universe" (with Adam Warren, Wildstorm, 2001)
• 9-11 Volume 2: "9 a.m. EST" (with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, DC Comics, 2002)
• Avengers #56: "Lo, There Shall Come... an Accounting!" (with Kurt Busiek, Marvel, 2002)
• Negation #11: "Baptism of Fire" (with Tony Bedard, CrossGen, 2002)
• Terra Obscura (with Alan Moore and Peter Hogan, America's Best Comics):
  • Volume 1 #1-6 (2003–2004)
  • Volume 2 #1-6 (2004–2005)
• Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #1-4 (with Grant Morrison, DC Comics, 2006)
• Civil War: X-Men #1-4 (with David Hine, Marvel, 2006)
• Ultimate X-Men #77, 79-80, 84-88 (with Robert Kirkman, Marvel, 2007–2008)
• Young X-Men #1-5 (with Marc Guggenheim, Marvel, 2008)
• X-Men: Manifest Destiny #3: "Abomination" (with Marc Guggenheim, Marvel, 2009)
• Wolverine: Origins #31-32: "The Family Business" (with Daniel Way, Marvel, 2009)
• Uncanny X-Men #512: "The Origins of the Species" (with Matt Fraction, Marvel, 2009)
• The Amazing Spider-Man #605: "Red-Headed Stranger: Epilogue — Chapter Three: Match.con" (with Brian Reed, Marvel, 2009)
• Wolverine: Weapon X #6-9: "Insane in the Brain" (with Jason Aaron, Marvel, 2009–2010)
• X-Men: Legacy #234: "The Telltale Heart" (with Mike Carey, Marvel, 2010)
• Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3: "The Bones of Bristol Bay" (with Grant Morrison, DC Comics, 2010)
• Batman Incorporated v1 #1-3, 5 (with Grant Morrison, DC Comics, 2010–2011)
• Swamp Thing #1-3, 5, 7-9 (with Scott Snyder and Marco Rudy, DC Comics, 2011–...)

Covers only[link]

• Gambit #20 (Marvel, 2000)
• Marvel Comics Presents #10 (Marvel, 2008)
• Ultimate X-Men #81-83, 89 (Marvel, 2008)
• Marvel Spotlight: Dark Reign (Marvel, 2009)
• Uncanny X-Men Annual #2 (Marvel, 2009)
• New Mutants #3 (Marvel, 2009)
• Dark X-Men: The Confession (Marvel, 2009)
• Age of Heroes #3 (Marvel, 2010)
• Dark Wolverine #90 (Marvel, 2010)
• Knight and Squire #1-6 (DC Comics, 2010–2011)
• Superman v1 #705 (DC Comics, 2011)
• Batman Incorporated v1 #4 (DC Comics, 2011)
• Swamp Thing #4, 6, 10 (DC Comics, 2012)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Yanick Paquette at the Grand Comics Database

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yanick Paquette

• Yanick Paquette at the Comic Book DB
• Yanick Paquette on Myspace
• Yanick Paquette at ComicSpace
• St.Louis, Hervé (January 3, 2004). "Interview with Yanick Paquette". Comic Book Bin. http://www.comicbookbin.com/yanickpaquette.html. Retrieved June 19, 2010. 

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008)

Douglas "Doug" Mahnke (pronounced MAN-key) is an American comic book artist and penciller.

Biography[link]

Mahnke's first prominent work was for The Mask, and he has since worked for DC Comics on JLA, Batman with writer Judd Winick, and Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein with Grant Morrison. Mahnke's work on Batman included the controversial story detailing how the previously deceased second Robin, Jason Todd, was alive and actively working against Batman's interests as the Red Hood.^[1] Mahnke also worked on the critically acclaimed prestige one-shot Batman: The Man Who Laughs with writer Ed Brubaker.

His work also includes titles such as Major Bummer, Superman: The Man of Steel, Team Zero and Justice League Elite. He was the original artist for the Dark Horse Comics title X, a run inked by Jimmy Palmiotti, as well as being the cover artist for King Tiger/Motorhead, a two-issue series set in the same universe as X. In 2005, with comic book inker Tom Nguyen, Mahnke produced two comic book art instructional DVDs. In 2006, he took over the art for Stormwatch P.H.D. for Wildstorm Comics. His work in 2007 included the DC mini, Black Adam: The Dark Age written by Peter Tomasi, detailing Black Adam's mourning over his wife Isis and regaining his powers. In 2008, he reunited with Tomasi to pencil an issue of Nightwing for the writer.

Mahnke was an important collaborator with writer Grant Morrison on DC's event series Final Crisis, pencilling the Requiem one-shot and the two-issue Superman Beyond 3D tie-in. Mahnke also pencilled the final pages of the main series' 6th issue featuring the "death" of Batman, and replaced artist J. G. Jones entirely on the series finale issue #7 over concerns of Jones' speed.^[2]

Starting in July 2009, Mahnke became the ongoing artist for DC's Green Lantern with writer Geoff Johns, right at the beginning of the Blackest Night storyline.^[3][4]

Bibliography[link]

Comics work (interior pencil art) includes:

Dark Horse[link]

• Aliens: Stronghold, miniseries, #1-4 (1994)
• Dark Horse Presents #25-29 (1988–89)
• The Mask #1-4 (1991)
• The Mask Returns #1-4 (1992–93)
• The Mask Strikes Back #1-5 (1995)
• Mayhem (The Mask): #1-4 (1989)
• Walter: Campaign of Terror #1-4 (1994)
• X #1-5, 9 (1994)

DC[link]

• Action Comics #775 ("What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?," story, along with Lee Bermejo) (2001)
• Batman #635-639, 641, 645, 647-648 (2005–06)
• Batman: The Man Who Laughs, graphic novel, #1 (2005)
• Black Adam: The Dark Age, miniseries, #1-6 (2007–08)
• Countdown to Final Crisis #3, 8 (2008)
• Final Crisis #6 (along with J. G. Jones and Carlos Pacheco), #7 (full art) (2009)
• Final Crisis: Requiem #1 (2008)
• Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, miniseries, #1-2 (2008–09)
• Green Lantern, vol. 4, #43-48, 50-62, 64-67 (2009–11)
• Green Lantern, vol. 5, #1-5 (2011–12)
• JLA #61-68, 70, 72, 74-75, 78-79, 84-90, 100; Secret Files 2004 (2002–04)
• JLA/Cyberforce (2005)
• Justice League Elite #1-12 (2004–05)
• Nightwing #151 (2009)
• DC Comics Presents: Flash (one-shot, DC Comics, 2004)
• Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein, miniseries, #1-4 (2006)
• Gen¹³ #38 (1999)
• Hitman/Lobo: That Stupid Bastich! (2000)
• Justice League Elite #1-12 (2004–05)
• Lobo/Mask, miniseries, #1-2 (1997)
• Major Bummer #1-15 (1997–98)
• Martian Manhunter #24 (2000)
• Masks: Too Hot for TV! (2004)
• Nightwing #151 (along with Shawn Moll) (2009)
• Superman: Lex 2000 (5-pages only) (2001)
• Stormwatch P.H.D. #1-4, 6-7 (2007)
• Superman and Batman: World's Funnest (among other artists) (2000)
• Superman: The Man of Steel #87-89, 91, 93, 95-98, 100, 102-105, 107-108, 110-111, 114-118 (1999–2001)
• Team Zero, miniseries, #1-6 (2006)
• World's Finest: Our Worlds at War (5-pages only) (2001)
• Worldstorm #1 (2006)

Other publishers[link]

• Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #26 (Marvel, 1994)

Covers only[link]

• Dark Horse Presents #49, 64, 134 (Dark Horse, 1991–1998)
• Dr. Giggles #1-2 (Dark Horse, 1992)
• Comics' Greatest World: Arcadia #4 (Dark Horse, 1993)
• Comics' Greatest World: Vortex #1 (Dark Horse, 1993)
• Out of the Vortex #1 (Dark Horse, 1993)
• Barb Wire: Ace of Spades #3-4 (Dark Horse, 1996)
• King Tiger & Motorhead #1-2 (Dark Horse, 1996)
• Randy Bowen's Decapitator #1 (Dark Horse, 1998)
• The Mask: Toys in the Attic #1-4 (Dark Horse, 1998)
• Superman: The Man of Steel #99, 101 (DC Comics, 2000)
• Batman #573 (DC Comics, 2000)
• Superman #158 (DC Comics, 2000)
• Adventures of Superman #580, 629 (DC Comics, 2000–2004)
• Action Comics #573 (DC Comics, 2000)
• JLA #69, 71, 73, 76, 80-83, 90-93 (DC Comics, 2002–2004)
• Outsiders #18-19, 21-23 (DC Comics, 2005)
• Stormwatch P.H.D. #5 (Wildstorm, 2007)
• Number of the Beast #1 (Wildstorm, 2008)
• Nightwing #144 (DC Comics, 2008)
• JLA: Classified #39 (DC Comics, 2008)
• Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 (DC Comics, 2009)
• Blackest Night #8 (DC Comics, 2009)
• inFamous #1-2 (DC Comics, 2011)
• Flashpoint: Frankenstein & The Creatures of the Unknown #1-3 (DC Comics, 2011)
• Green Lantern Corps v2 #1 (DC Comics, 2011)
• DC Universe Online: Legends #16-17 (DC Comics, 2011–2012)
• Green Lantern v5 #6 (DC Comics, 2012)

Notes[link]

References[link]

Jamal Igle
Jamal Igle at the 2008 New York Comic Con.
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciller, Editor
Notable works	Supergirl, vol. 4

Jamal Yaseem Igle^[1] is an American comic book artist, editor, art director and animation storyboard artist.

Career[link]

Igle at the New York Comic Con, October 9, 2010.

Igle decided he wanted to be a professional comic book artist at the age of 14.^[2] Igle attained his first job in comics at 17, as an intern at DC Comics, while still attending the High School of Art and Design. Igle attended the School of Visual Arts.^[2][3] After college, he worked as a junior art director at an advertisement agency and in a marketing company. Igle's first break as an artist was with a now-defunct publisher called Majestic Entertainment in 1993. He built his resume working for a number of small publishers for years until about 1999, when he left comics for a while to work at Sony Animation. Igle spent several months as a storyboard artist for several CGI animated series such as Max Steel and Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. It was during his time at Sony that he received a call from editor Bobbie Chase at Marvel Comics to work on New Warriors with Jay Faerber. He has been working in comics ever since.^[4][5] Igle has worked in books ranging from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the all-ages action miniseries Race Against Time as well as fill-in issues in mainstream titles such as Green Lantern, G.I. Joe, Martian Manhunter and Supergirl. With writer Jay Faerber has done several works: a four issue run on New Warriors and an Iron Fist/Wolverine miniseries for Marvel Comics, and Venture, a short-lived creator-owned series for Image Comics. He became the regular artist of DC Comics' ongoing Firestorm series, beginning with issue #8 (December 2004). In November 2006, DC Comics announced that Igle would be taking over as series artist of Nightwing.

Igle has worked on several projects outside of the United States including the Army of Angels graphic novel for Humanoids Publishing/DC Comics and Perry Rhodan for The Perry Rhodan company in Germany.^[6]

In December 2005, Jamal signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics, which was publicly announced on January 10, 2006. As part of the contract's announcement, DC Editor Steve Wacker described Jamal as a "triple threat," stating "Jamal has the best combination in an artist: he’s scary talented, super reliable, and one of the nicest guys in the business."^[7] Igle was also honored at the 40th Anniversary edition of Comic Con international: San Diego with the Inkpot Award for Achievement in Comic Art.^[8]

Igle was be the artist on a the Ray title that debuted in September 2011 as part of the DC's New 52 relaunch.^[9]

On January 2, 2012, Igle announced the end of his DC Comics exclusive contract on his personal blog.^[10]

Art style[link]

Regarding the influences on his art style, Igle has stated:

Other work[link]

According to his website, Igle is an active volunteer with the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, as well as a guest lecturer on the subject of comics and animation.^[1]

In July 2006, Jamal joined the staff of the Art Students League of New York.^[12][13]

Personal life[link]

Igle and his wife Karine have a daughter named Catherine.^[1]

Bibliography[link]

Comics work (interior pencil art) includes:

Crusade[link]

• Shi: The Way of the Warrior #8 (1996)
• Shi: Kaidan #1
• Atomik Angels #1
• Tomoe/Witchblade: Fire Sermon (1996)

Dark Angel[link]

• Race against Time #1-3
• Blackjack: Blood and Honor

DC[link]

• Action Comics #900 (among other artists) (2011)
• Countdown to Final Crisis #21, 4 (2007–08)
• Countdown: Search for Ray Palmer, miniseries, #1 (2007)
• Famous first: Green Lantern (2002)
• Golden Age Secret Files (Dr. Sivana) (2001)
• Green Lantern, vol. 3, #52 (among other artists) (1994); #146, 157, 174, Secret Files #3 (2002–04)
• Green Lantern Corps #18 (2007)
• Impulse #58 (along with Grey) (2000)
• Kobalt #7 (1994)^[14]
• Martian Manhunter #36 (2001)
• Supergirl, vol. 3, #71 (2002)
• Supergirl, vol. 4, #34-40, 42-46, 50-59 (2008–11)
• Superman # 713-714 (2011)
• Superman: War of the Supermen, miniseries, #1 (2010)
• Firestorm, vol. 3, #8-10,12-21,23-32 (2004–06)
• Nightwing #129-131, 133-134 (2007)
• Teen Titans vol. 5, # 52, 55 (2007–08)
• Tangent: Superman's Reign, miniseries, #2-6 (2008)
• The Ray Miniseries, #1-4 (2011-2012)
• Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War (among other artists) (2001)
• World's Finest, miniseries,(Supergirl & Batgirl) #3 (2009)
• Zatanna #11, 13-15 (2011)

Marvel[link]

• Daredevil/Shi: Blind Faith (1997)
• New Warriors, vol. 2, #7-10 (2000)
• Iron Fist and Wolverine, miniseries, #1-4 (2000–01)
• Iron Man, vol. 3, #44 (along with Keron Grant; 2001^[15])
• Marvel Age Spider-Man #14

Other publishers[link]

• G.I. Joe #8, 10
• Noble Causes #2 (Image, 2002)
• Trinity Angels #10-11 (along with other artists) (Acclaim, 1998)
• Venture, miniseries, #1-4 (Image, 2003)
• Gateway Legends #2 (Originally penciled in 1996 for Living Legends Entertainment) (Gateway Comics, 2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jamal Igle

• JamalIgle.com Jamal Igle official website.
• comic geek speak Comic Geek Interview with Jamal Igle at the 2006 New York Comic-con
• comic geek speak Interview May 2006 With Jamal Igle
• Jamal Igle in an episode of Hero Envy
• Where Monsters Dwell interview

Blade (Eric Brooks) is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973) as a supporting character.

The character went on to alternatively star and co-star in several comic book series as well as a film and television series. Actor Wesley Snipes portrayed the vampire hunter throughout the film series while Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones took on the role for the television series.

Publication history[link]

Blade was introduced as a supporting character in Marvel Comics' The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973), written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by Gene Colan. The artist recalled in 2003, "Marv told me Blade was a black man, and we talked about how he should dress, and how he should look – very heroic looking. That was my input. [...] The bandolier of blades – that was Marv's idea. But, I dressed him up. I put the leather jacket on him and so on".^[1] Colan based the character's features on "a composite of black actors" including NFL football star-turned-actor Jim Brown.^[1] In this first appearance, he is referred to as "Blade - the vampire killer". He sported a 1970's style afro and wielded teak bladed knives.

Blade appeared in most issues #10–21, with additional appearances in #24 and 28 (altogether ranging from July 1973 – Sept. 1974). He then fought the scientifically created vampire Morbius in the latter's series in Adventure into Fear #24 (Oct. 1974), in a story written by Steve Gerber and penciled by P. Craig Russell.

Blade's first solo story came in Marvel's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Vampire Tales #8 (Dec. 1974), in an 11-page story by Wolfman and penciller-inker Tony DeZuniga. This feature continued in the following issue (Feb. 1975), with Wolfman and Chris Claremont co-scripting. Blade then appeared in a 56-page solo story in the black-and-white showcase magazine Marvel Preview #3 (Sept. 1975), written by Claremont, with two chapters each drawn by DeZuniga and by Rico Rival. A six-page backup story by Wolfman and Colan followed in Marvel Preview #8 (Fall 1976).

Blade next came into prominence in the 1990s, beginning with Ghost Rider #28 (Aug. 1992), in the Midnight Sons imprint that included issues of Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins, Ghost Rider, Ghost Rider / Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance, Midnight Sons Unlimited, Morbius, and Nightstalkers. Blade co-starred in the 18-issue Nightstalkers, and appeared with that team in a story in the anthology Midnight Sons Unlimited #1 (April 1993). He appeared in two solo stories in Midnight Sons Unlimited #2 and 7 (July 1993 and Oct. 1994).

Following the cancellation of Nightstalkers, Blade debuted in his first color-comics series, Blade: The Vampire Hunter #1–10 (July 1994 – April 1995), written by Ian Edginton (with the last two issues by Terry Kavanagh) and penciled by Doug Wheatley. Blade next appeared in a 12-page inventory story in issue #1 (Feb. 1997) of the short-lived black & white anthology series Marvel: Shadows and Light. He then starred again in two solo one-shots: Blade: Crescent City Blues (March 1998), by writer Christopher Golden and penciller co-creator Colan, and Blade: Sins of the Father (Oct. 1998), by writer Marc Andreyko and penciller Bart Sears.

Marvel next announced a six-issue miniseries, Blade (storyline: "Blade: Blood Allies") by writer Don McGregor and penciller Brian Hagen, but only #1–3 (Nov. 1998 – Jan. 1999) were published. Marvel published a different six-issue miniseries later that year, Blade: Vampire Hunter (storyline: "Chaos (A)"; Dec. 1999 – May 2000), written and, except the last two issues, penciled by Bart Sears.

The next ongoing series, Blade vol. 2, by writer Christopher Hinz and artist Steve Pugh, ran six issues, published by Marvel MAX in 2002. Blade vol. 3, by writer Marc Guggenheim and penciller-inker Howard Chaykin, ran 12 issues (Sept. 2006 – Aug. 2007). The final two pages of the last issue were drawn by co-creator Colan.

Blade also starred in two promotional comic books: Blade ½ (1999) by writer-artist Sears and inker Bill Sienkiewicz, bundled with issues of Wizard: The Comic Magazine #2000; and Blade: Nightstalking (2005), a 22-page story by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and penciller Amanda Conner, based on New Line Cinema's Blade films, and bundled with the Blade Trinity Deluxe Edition DVD. Additionally, the second Blade movie was adapted as the Marvel comic Blade 2: Bloodhunt – The Official Comic Adaptation (April 2002) by writers Steve Gerber and David S. Goyer and penciller-inker Alberto Ponticelli.

Blade joined the cast of Captain Britain and MI: 13 beginning with issue #5 (Nov. 2008).

Fictional character biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Blade was born in a whorehouse in the Soho neighbourhood of London, England in 1929.^[2] Blade's mother, Tara Brooks, was a prostitute at Madame Vanity's Brothel. When his mother experienced severe labor complications, a doctor was summoned who was in actuality Deacon Frost, a vampire who feasted on her during Blade's birth and killed her. However, this inadvertently passed along certain enzymes in his own blood to the infant. This resulted in Blade's quasi-vampiric abilities, including a greatly prolonged lifespan and the ability to sense supernatural creatures, as well as an immunity to complete vampirism. Brooks' fellow prostitutes drove off Frost before he could kill the infant as well.

Blade grew up living at Madame Vanity's, and at age nine, returning home from school one December, he saw an old man being attacked by three vampires. Blade helped the old man, who used a silver cane to kill the vampires and fight off the attackers. The man was Jamal Afari, a jazz trumpeter and vampire-hunter who then moved into Madame Vanity's and trained the young Blade in both music and combat. Blade was soon able to defeat many of the weak, younger vampires that he and Afari found in abundance.^[2] Blade became an Olympic-level athlete and a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, with an expertise in edged weapons such as knives and daggers.

However, Blade's victories made him cocky. He joined a street gang, the Bloodshadows,^[3] headed by a much older and more powerful vampire than any Blade had met before, named Lamia. Blade barely defeated Lamia, and, in doing so, lost his girlfriend Glory. However, the tragedy of the experience left Blade more determined than ever to dedicate his life to the complete extermination of vampires.

Afari himself later fell prey to Dracula, the first occurrence in an ongoing battle between Dracula and Blade.^[4] Blade slew the vampire Afari and tracked Dracula back to Europe, Asia Minor, and Asia, staking him many times, but never completely destroying him.^[5] In China, Blade joined Ogun Strong's vampire hunters,^[4] which included Azu, Orji, and Musenda. Together, they staked Dracula again. Dracula survived, and killed all the hunters except Blade and Musenda (who eventually retired from vampire hunting). Orji had created a lasting impression on Blade with his use of wooden daggers to combat vampires, leading to Blade adopting that weapon as his preferred arms. Consumed by grief for his fallen comrades, Blade resumed his quest alone.

Quincy Harker's vampire-hunters[link]

Blade eventually located Dracula in Paris, where he first encountered the vampire hunter Quincy Harker (son of Jonathan Harker), whom he knew by reputation, and Harker's vampire hunters: Rachel van Helsing (great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing), Taj Nital, and Frank Drake.^[6] Because of his mercurial temperament, Blade had a strained but steady relationship with the group, allying himself with them on several occasions.

Later, after an unsuccessful battle with Dracula,^[7] Blade realized he was immune to turning from a vampire's bite.^[8] Armed with this knowledge, he parted company with Harker^[9] and went after Deacon Frost alone. Blade later battled Dracula in London,^[10] as well as Morbius,^[11] and the Legion of the Dead,^[12] who framed him for murder.^[2] Blade also destroyed a band of vampire children.^[13]

Blade's hunt for his mother's killer led him to Boston, Massachusetts, where he again encountered Harker's crew,^{[citation needed]} now temporarily allied with Dracula against a larger threat, Doctor Sun. Following this battle, Dracula withdrew, and Blade again set out on his own.^[14]

He eventually encountered Hannibal King, a private detective whom Deacon Frost had turned into a vampire.^[15] While initially distrusting King, Blade teamed up with him to hunt Frost. Blade and King fought together against Blade's evil doppelgänger, who absorbed the real Blade. King enlisted the help of Daimon Hellstrom, the so-called Son of Satan, who exorcised Blade from the doppelgänger and killed it with King's help. Blade and King eventually caught up with Frost, who had created an army of vampiric doppelgängers, one for each of his victims. Together, they shut down Frost for good, destroying Frost, and forging a lasting friendship.^[16]

Blade, Rachel van Helsing, and Harold H. Harold later confronted Dracula.^[17] Blade also saved Musenda's wife from becoming a vampire.^[18]

The Nightstalkers[link]

In later years, Blade, along with King and Drake, became a frequent ally of the sorcerer Doctor Strange, and the three assisted Strange in battles with Dracula and the Darkholders and assisted in the casting of the Montesi Formula, which for a time destroyed all vampires on Earth.^[19] Blade, King, and Drake then formed the private detective agency Borderline Investigations Inc., to combat supernatural threats. Alongside Doctor Strange, the three detectives battled the Darkholders again.^[20] Blade also rescued his close friend Safron Caulder from the Darkholders.^[21]

The agency discontinued after Drake left and Blade was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a battle with a temporarily resurrected Dracula. Doctor Strange later arranged the release of Blade so that he could join Drake and King in reforming Borderline Inc. as the Nightstalkers. Blade, King, and Drake were hired by the demonic Lilith to kill the second Ghost Rider and the non-powered John Blaze. The three Nightstalkers battled Meatmarket.^[22] The Nightstalkers then teamed with Ghost Rider, Blaze, Morbius, Doctor Strange, and the Darkhold Redeemers to battle Lilith and her Lilin.^[23] The Nightstalkers also battled other threats, such as HYDRA's DOA.^[24]

Upon the eventual weakening of the Montesi Formula, and the return of vampires, Blade encountered and staked a former ally, a now-vampiric Taj Nital, and survived a battle with the vampire lord Varnae in which Drake and King appeared to have been killed.^[25]

Daywalker[link]

A solo vampire-hunter once again, Blade briefly joined forces with the mystic Bible John Carik, and encountered a vampire impersonating Deacon Frost and a once-again resurrected Dracula. Later, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Blade discovered that Hannibal King had survived, and the two joined forces to defeat a genuinely resurrected Frost. Blade remained active in New Orleans, defeating the vampire Ulysses Sojourner and his own former ally, Morbius, the Living Vampire, who was under Sojourner's mental thrall. Blade followed Morbius to New York, where, while teamed with Spider-Man, Blade was bitten by Morbius.^[26] Blade's blood enzymes reacted unexpectedly with Morbius's unique form of vampirism to grant Blade many vampire strengths while eliminating weaknesses inherent to a vampire, most notably the weakness to sunlight. It was at this time that Blade assumed the unofficial title of "Daywalker" among his prey.

The United Nations-sanctioned espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. sought to use Blade's blood for Project: Silvereye, an attempt at cloning vampire operatives. Blade and the vampire-hunting twins Mosha and Mikado shut down the project. Blade later joined Noah Van Helsing (actually Noah Tremayne, Rachel Van Helsing's adopted cousin) and several vampire hunters worldwide to stop Dracula from becoming a genuinely god-like vampire lord. Blade then returned to New Orleans.

Blade reencountered Dracula, and appeared to fully destroy the vampire once again, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Pericles V. Unbeknownst to Blade, his wealthy father, Lucas Cross, had been responsible for Dracula's most recent resurrection. Cross later kidnapped Blade and attempted to force Blade to feed on a virgin girl; in an attempt to fulfill a prophecy. Blade escaped after biting through his own hand. Later, Blade would feed on a virgin after biting an evil vampire priest, Draconis.^[27]

In exchange for undertaking a time travel adventure for the supervillain Doctor Doom, Blade received from Doom an elixir that would purportedly cure a vampire of thirst for human blood but would also remove the bloodlust vampire hunters get for killing the undead. At the end of the series, Blade gave Hannibal King the elixir. During this time travel mission, Blade fulfilled another part of the prophecy by freeing his imprisoned father.

Civil War and beyond[link]

During the events of the "Civil War" over the registration of superpowered individuals, Blade registers and begins cooperating with S.H.I.E.L.D.^[28] This alliance allowed Blade access to S.H.I.E.L.D. tech, gaining himself a "gun hand" to replace his missing one. Blade completes a prophecy he believes would give all extant vampires back their souls, but which instead returns to existence every vampire that had ever been killed.^[29]

Blade next leads a group of superhuman black-ops agents funded secretly by the U.S. government, called the Vanguard,^[30] of which even the president is unaware. During his time with this squad, Blade receives a cybernetic replacement hand. The squad disbands after their cover is compromised, and Blade returns home to the United Kingdom to join MI: 13 in its fight against supernatural evil.^[31] However, he soon afterward stakes his new teammate, the vampire hero Spitfire.^[31] Soon after Blade and Spitfire clashed again with each other in a fierce battle, but the two were forced to work together and seemed to have formed an unlikely friendship. Upon completing their first mission together Blade attempts to apologize to Spitfire for trying to kill her but before he could finish she kisses him.^[32]

During the Curse of the Mutants storyline, Blade appears in San Francisco to assist the X-Men in capturing a vampire specimen for the X-Club. He confirms Dracula's death and reveals that his son Xarus is the new lord of vampires, having united all of the vampire sects under a single flag. He immediately objects to Cyclops's plan to resurrect Dracula stating "You don't dig up Hitler to get rid of Saddam Hussein".^[33] After the conflict has been concluded - with Dracula being resurrected despite Blade's objections - Blade attempts to kill the now-vampire Jubilee. He is forced to withdraw after a stand-off with Wolverine, who refuses to allow her to be staked, even as Blade warns the X-Men that they will eventually have to kill her.^[34]

Powers and abilities[link]

Comics[link]

Due to an enzyme in his blood stream resultant from his mother's being bitten by a vampire while giving birth to him, Blade is immune to the bites of typical, supernatural vampires. At certain instances he also appeared immune to vampire hypnosis as well. He lacked superhuman physical attributes, however, and relied solely on his considerable skill and determination until Morbius, an atypical, scientifically created vampire, bit him and Blade was turned into something resembling a dhampir. Blade possesses superhuman strength, stamina, speed, agility, heightened senses, and a rapid healing factor that attacks any alien substances (chemicals/viruses) in his body and eliminates any chance of him being rendered helpless or maimed from the inside and is unaffected by daylight and most other traditional vampire weaknesses. He also ages very slowly (although he's not immortal) and can preternaturally sense supernatural activity.

Blade is a master martial artist, swordsman, marksman and street-fighter. He is adept in the usage of throwing knives. He is highly knowledgeable about vampire lore.

Film and television[link]

In the films and the television series Blade originated from Detroit, Michigan. Blade is depicted as having all of a vampire's strengths and none of the weaknesses except for blood-thirst. Blade attempts to suppress the thirst with a serum, but during the first film his body develops a resistance to it. At the beginning of the second film it is stated that Dr. Karen Jenson (from the first film) improved the serum, presumably in the time between the two films. He is completely immune to silver, garlic and sunlight. Blade has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and senses. He also has a healing factor that allows him to heal completely from wounds overnight. It is also mentioned in the first film that he ages like a human, while vampires age much slower. He is a master of martial arts, practices meditation, and can speak Czech, Russian, and to a degree the vampire language, and he has a great deal of knowledge about hunting vampires. It is seen in the television series that, while he is only half-vampire, Blade's saliva still produces the enzyme that turns humans into vampires.

Anime[link]

In the fourth of four anime series of the Marvel Anime project, Blade uses the three secret techniques of the Yagyū style taught to him during his youth. These include The First Blade: Residual Moon, in which he draws a circle with his blade, creating an after-image to deliver a fatal blow, and The Second Blade: Phantom Moon, in which Blade rotates at high speed, unleashing a fast barrage of slashes. The third technique, which can only be accomplished by mastery of the first two and inner growth, is The Third Blade: Chaotic Moon. Blade use flames akin to aura which surround the target and attack from multiple directions. If one of them hits the target, it allows Blade to successfully strike with his sword. Blade can also slash the air with his sword, unleashing powerful wind blades.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Equipment[link]

Comics[link]

According to his earliest appearances in the original The Tomb of Dracula comics, Blade relied on teakwood daggers which he used to impale opponents, and a variety of mahogany stakes. He was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant and knife-fighter. Later comics upgraded his arsenal significantly over the years, including a variety of different bladed weapons ranging from long swords to katanas, as well as guns, flamethrowers, and UV and silver-based weapons. He relies mainly on a double edged sword he carries on his back. He has also had some success with improvised weapons such as stakes made from snapped brooms and, after losing his hand, a replacement appendage made from duct tape and a pointed stick. He would replace this with a new machine gun-esque firearm used in place of his missing hand, which responds to different muscle twitches as an indication of reloading and firing, among other functions (including a grappling hook, which Blade describes as his 'favorite feature'). It also uses three different kinds of ammo. This weapon was created by S.H.I.E.L.D. Blade also had an arsenal of EMP grenades.

Film and television[link]

Much in the same way as in the comics,^[35] in the movie series, Blade employs a stylized double edge sword as one of his main offense and defense tools. Although not much detail is specified in the comics about the composition of the sword, in the films, it is equipped with an acid-etched titanium blade, that has a security feature that will release blades into the wielder's hand after a set time. This is aborted by Blade, or others, who knew of the system by pushing a hidden switch in the sword's hilt. The movies also depict him wielding varieties of throwable glaives, different knives, silver stakes, firearms. He also uses specialized weapons, such as throwable injector canisters filled with anticoagulant which is explosively lethal to vampires and extendable injector spikes worn on the back of the hand.

Other versions[link]

Marvel Zombies[link]

Nick Fury explained to Blade and those who joined the resistance aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier how serious he believed the situation to be; that it was the end of the world. He also explained that whatever the histories of those assembled, they were all on the same side. However, Blade was later seen as one of the infected heroes.^[36]

Ultimate Blade[link]

An alternate universe Blade of the Ultimate Marvel imprint appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man #95, and had a cameo in Ultimate Spider-Man Special. This version, called "The Daywalker" by the Bugle, has numerous small scars across his eyes and cheeks.

Spider-Man met Blade when he was hunting a vampire in an alley. Believing Blade to be a crazed gunman, Spider-Man webbed him and tended to a person who he thought was an ordinary civilian, until the vampire attacked him. Blade freed himself and staked the creature, saving Spider-Man from being bitten. Blade then threatened Spider-Man with his far superior strength and menacing vampiric appearance, that if he ever attacked him again, he would "eat [his] heart for breakfast!" Shaken by this encounter, Spider-Man later took Blade's discarded wooden stake as a memento of his discovery of the existence of vampires.^[37]

Blade is one of the many heroes recruited by Nick Fury in Ultimate Comics: Avengers. When vampires started infecting superheroes, going from street-heroes such as the new Daredevil, to major heroes such as Nerd Hulk, and even Captain America, Blade became the center of attention as he infiltrated the Triskelion, where he fought the vampire Captain America. After repelling Captain America, Blade was taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. and interrogated on the nature of the vampires and who was behind this. He explained that this was orchestrated by Anthony, another vampire hunter like Blade, who was turned into a vampire and put his mind and strategy into infecting the superhero community in order to dominate the world. As S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers were preparing to fight against the vampires, Blade was incarcerated below the Triskelion as he couldn't be trusted until the situation is over. When the vampires assaulted the Triskelion, Blade was let out by his handlers in confronting the vampires Daredevil and his former master Stick. He was forced to be retreat from the vampires as Stick was armed with Iron Man's armor before being subdued and prepare to be beheaded by Daredevil. Fortunately, a cured Captain America teleported the Triskelion to a daylight Iran where the vampires were incinerated, and saving Blade in the process.^[38]

Nick Fury managed to convince Blade to join his Avengers by promising to deliver the recently captured Deacon Frost, the vampire who killed his mother and is responsible for his condition, to him. While attempting to intervene on an illegal sale of S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Soldiers, the Avengers were attacked by Tyrone Cash, however Blade was able to hypnotize him before he could cause any real threat. Cash revealed that he was working for Carol Danvers. During the main battle between the Avengers and the New Ultimates, Blade managed to capture Danvers briefly before he was intercepted by the Black Widow. Iron Man intervenes to help Monica, however he crushes Blade not realizing he does not, in fact, have super-human invulnerability.^[39]

After being arrested by the New Ultimates, Blade and the rest of the Avengers take Tyrone Cash's serum and they gain massive strength and bulk bodies. When they confront Gregory Stark he easily overpowers them with his Nanite-based powers and sends them over the edge of the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter. They later join the New Ultimates on their mission to Korea to settle the civil unrest which Gregory engineered.^[40]

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• Blade appeared in the Spider-Man animated series episode "Neogenic Nightmare: Chapter 9: Blade the Vampire Hunter" voiced by J. D. Hall. He was shown in a costume based on his appearance in the Nightstalkers comic book series and with a lighter skin tone. This episode also introduced Whistler, a character (who would later be introduced into the New Line Cinema movies) not previously seen in the Blade mythos. Here Blade hunts Morbius, and in this version of his origin, he was the son of a vampire man who had fallen in love with a human woman, the mother left him in foster care before she became a vampire herself. Blade and Morbius both also appear in the following episode, "The Immortal Vampire". Blade is also shown to have a slight love interest in Terri Lee, a detective who frequently works with Spider-Man, though he usually abandons this out of his need for the hunt. In "Partners in Danger, Chapter 7: The Vampire Queen", Blade hunts the Vampire Queen, who he then learns is his mother. Blade made his final appearance in the show in the season five episode "Secret Wars, Chapter 2: Gauntlet of the Red Skull", where he teams with Morbius and the Black Cat against the Vampire Queen.

• A live-action television series based on the films aired on Spike TV and starred rapper/actor Kirk Jones as Blade. The series dealt with Blade fighting an evil vampire named Marcus Van Sciver in Detroit, which is also Blade's birthplace (in the series). As seen in the movies, Blade's birth name is Eric Brooks and his mother was named Vanessa. It is revealed that Blade's father is named Robert Brooks, and that he raised Blade until he was twelve and elements of his vampiric nature such as his "thirst" for human blood became more apparent. Conflicts often come up between Whistler's explanation of Blade's origin in the movie and the explanation of Blade's origin in the television series.

• Blade appears as the main character in Marvel Anime: Blade, voiced by Akio Ohtsuka in the Japanese version and by Harold Perrineau in the English Dub.^[41]

Films[link]

• In 1998, the New Line Cinema film Blade starred Wesley Snipes in the title role; Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler, Blade's mentor; and Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost. The film was written by David S. Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington. The film diverges almost entirely from prior comic representations of Blade, completely revamping the character's demeanor, powers and weaknesses. Traditionally, Blade was often presented as loquacious and boastful, yet in the film he is stoic and nearly silent. Rather than a normal human with immunity to vampirism and vampire hypnosis solely reliant on skill and ruthlessness, he is a superhuman with vampiric powers but none of the inherent weaknesses, with the exception of their thirst. To suppress his thirst, Whistler developed a serum, the original version being implied to be based on garlic and silver. The movie version of Blade is portrayed as an African American born in Detroit, Michigan, whereas the comic-books placed his birth in England. In the Blade TV series, his activities take place in Detroit.

• Written by Goyer and directed by Guillermo del Toro, a sequel followed in 2002: Blade II. Blade joins forces with vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos to defeat a powerful new breed of vampire called Reapers led by Jared Nomak, revealed over the course of the film to have been the result of Damaskinos attempting to create his own 'Daywalkers'.

• The 2004 film Blade: Trinity, written and directed by Goyer, introduced heavily modified versions of Hannibal King (played by Ryan Reynolds) and the Nightstalkers. Blade reluctantly joins forces with the group of vampire hunters led by Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), the estranged daughter of his old mentor, to destroy the first vampire, Dracula, who goes by the name "Drake" (Dominic Purcell), simultaneously using him to disperse a vampire "cure" that apparently destroys every vampire in the local area.

• In July 2011, Marvel's CEO Joe Quesada revealed that the rights to the character had reverted back to Marvel Studios.^[42]

Video games[link]

• Blade is playable in Blade (for the PlayStation) and Blade II (for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox). A Game Boy Color game was also produced titled Blade.

• Blade is an unlockable character in the action role-playing game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Khary Payton.^[43] He can be unlocked by playing the crane game in Murderworld which Blade is trapped in.

• Blade is an unlockable character in the movie-based Ghost Rider video game, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. He is unlocked after the game is beaten on the "forgiving" difficulty level.^{[citation needed]}

• Khary Payton reprises his role of Blade in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. He is seen in a costume similar to that in the live-action Blade TV series. Spider-Man encounters him in Stokerstov, Transylvania decimating the P.H.A.N.T.O.M. troops. Upon joining up with Spider-Man, Blade tells Spider-Man that Venom is guarding the Meteor Shard.^{[citation needed]}

• Blade appears in the PS2, PSP and Wii versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced again by Khary Payton.

• Blade appears in the video game Marvel Pinball on Xbox 360 (within Pinball FX 2) and PlayStation 3.^[44]

• Blade appears in Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds in Jill Valentine's ending, teaming up with her against an army of monsters.

• Blade is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Khary Payton.

Action figures[link]

Blade has been featured several times in different action figure toy lines.

• Blade is the sixth figurine in the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection.

• Blade appears in the series 5 of the Marvel Legends Series based on his Blade 2 movie counterpart.

Books[link]

• Blade briefly appears in the Anno Dracula series story "Andy Warhol's Dracula: Anno Dracula 1978-1979".^[45]

Reception[link]

IGN ranked Blade as the 63rd greatest comic character stating that Blade is the most iconic hero to spring from the period of monster-themed stories.^[46] UGO Networks placed Blade as one of the top heroes of entertainment quoting that "Blade has to get props for being the most obscure Marvel character to ever get a film deal... and television deal, too!"^[47]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Blade at Marvel.com
• World of Black Heroes: Blade Biography
• Blade at the Internet Movie Database
• Comicmonsters.com: Blade Timeline
• Crossbow at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Blade at the Grand Comics Database
• Blade: The Vampire Hunter at the Grand Comics Database
• Blade: Vampire Hunter at the Grand Comics Database
• Blade (2006) at the Grand Comics Database
• Blade at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• Blade at the Marvel Directory
• Blade at the Comic Book DB
• Blade at the Big Comic Book DataBase