Set your mind back to Marvel Comics in 2015, during their “All New, All Different Marvel” period, wherein several legacy heroes were being replaced by younger, more diverse counterparts after the universe-altering events of Secret Wars. While many of those characters managed to make it off the ground, like Riri Williams as Ironheart or Nadia Pym as the Unstoppable Wasp, one noticeable character who very much didn’t was a daughter for the publisher’s beloved vampire hunter, Blade.
Under the simple title of Blade the Hunter, the comic would’ve focused on the Daywalker and his teenage daughter Fallon Grey, who was going to follow in her dad’s footsteps of slaying bloodsuckers, and not be too happy about it. Written by Tim Seeley (Grayson, Shatterstar) and drawn by Logan Faerber (‘Namwolf, Oh, Killstrike), the comic quietly went away after many online pointed out how it felt odd for two white guys do a comic about two black people, something Seeley himself later acknowledged in 2016. Citing the success of Black Panther’s relaunch by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze that same year, Seeley admitted to CBR that “I felt like it was me screwing up. I couldn’t help but feel like a black woman might write this stuff better than me...maybe Blade is the book they find new talent on.” But that never happened, not helped by Blade’s then-sporadic appearances in comics at the time.
All of that brings us to this weekend. Marvel recently released a promo image of a young woman named Brielle looking at a case of weapons from Blade that he gave to Safron Caulder, his on/off girlfriend (and presumably Brielle’s mother). Under the codename Bloodline, she’s set to make her official debut in a story by writer Danny Lore (Champions, Death of Doctor Strange: Blade) and artist Karen S. Darboe (Magic: The Hidden Planeswalkers, Marvel Voices: Legacy) in Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day issue, something editor-in-chief Akira Yoshida CB Cebulski teased at earlier in March on Twitter.
Since Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness brought Blade onto their current Avengers run back in 2018, the character’s had his comics presence slowly boosted up ahead of his upcoming movie starring Mahershala Ali. While we currently don’t know if the movie will bring in the idea of Blade having a kid, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start seeding that in so if Brielle does eventually make her way to the big screen, fans will have an idea of what to expect. That, and black people killing vampires is generally a pretty cool thing.
Bloodline will make her debut in Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day issue, which will release on May 7.
[via GamesRadar]
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