Nightstalkers (comics)

Nightstalkersis an American comic book series published byMarvel Comicsfrom 1992 to 1994, featuring a trio ofoccultexperts reluctantly banded together to fight supernatural threats. Operating under the business name Borderline Investigations, the team was composed ofvampirehuntersBladeandFrank Drakeand private detectiveHannibal King,all of whom had foughtCount Draculain the 1970s seriesThe Tomb of Dracula.They are gathered byDoctor StrangeinNightstalkers#1 (November 1992) to battle an immediate threat, but under Strange's larger, hidden agenda.

Nightstalkers
Nightstalkers#1 (Nov. 1992) Cover art byRon GarneyandTom Palmer
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Ghost Rider(vol. 3) #28 (August 1992)
In-story information
Base(s)	2180 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
Member(s)	Blade Frank Drake Hannibal King Abraham Whistler Abigail Whistler

The Nightstalkers appeared in the filmBlade: Trinity(2004).

Publication history

The team of vampire-hunters Blade and Frank Drake and vampiric private detective Hannibal King first reunited inGhost Rider(vol. 3) #28 (cover datedAugust 1992).They subsequently starred in their own series,Nightstalkers,which ran 18 issues (November 1992–April 1994). It incorporated story threads from previous Marvel Comics supernatural series, primarilyThe Tomb of Dracula(April 1972–August 1979) where the three protagonists hadfirst appeared.

The series' initial creative team was writerD. G. Chichester,pencillerRon GarneyandinkerTom Palmer,reprising his role fromThe Tomb of Dracula.After 11 issues,Steven Granttook over scripting, withFrank Lovecewrapping up the fates of some of the 1970s series' characters in the last three issues. Artists included Mark Pacella, Kirk Van Wormer andAndrew Wildman.

Fictional team history

Before being formally gathered byDoctor Strangeto fight supernatural threats,Hannibal King,Frank Drake,andBladehad founded the detective agency King, Drake, and Blade (later renamed Borderline Investigations).

After Strange manipulates the trio into forming the Nightstalkers, the team fights many emerging supernatural enemies. These includeLilith,Mother of All Demons;HYDRA's Department of Occult Armaments (DOA), led by Lt. Belial, and its renegadeDraculacloneBloodstorm;and the one-time Lord of Vampires,Varnae.

The Tomb of Draculathreads

Blade (standing), King (background) and Drake (foreground):Nightstalkers#16 (February 1994): Cover art by Bill Wylie and Frank Turner.

In the final arc (#16–18, Feb.-April 1994), King's house, including Borderline's office, is destroyed by aHYDRADreadnoughtstealing Drake's anti-occultnanotechgun, the Exorcist. Doctor Strange reveals that the Montesi Formula, which had eradicated and prevented further vampires, was weakening. In response, he explains, he had gathered the three most experienced vampire-hunters so they could learn to function as a team before Dracula, the Lord of Vampires, returned. Since all three were traumatized by their early vampiric battles, Strange held off informing them of vampires' possible return until necessary.

In a final battle, Varnae, a previous Lord of Vampires who had already returned, takes psychic control of King and directs him to kill his comrades. King stakes himself instead. Drake attempts to sacrifice his own life to kill Varnae, engineering an Exorcist-powered explosion. Blade, in self-defense, has already staked Taj Nital, his old comrade fromThe Tomb of Dracula(who had been turned vampiric between the two series). Blade survives and attends his teammates' funeral but encounters King again in the subsequent seriesBlade.There he learns King's plunge into a metal pole (rather than silver or wood) had fortuitously not killed him and that he had escaped the explosion. King also informs Blade that Drake was left scarred and crippled in both body and mind.

Avengers Assemble

Following the "Blood Hunt"storyline, which resulted in major rise in the vampire population who are now immune to sunlight, fanatical vampire hunter Abby Morris reorganizes the Nightstalkers, now consisting of pseudo-vampiresBloodscream,Coma, and Voracious and the reanimated body of Frank Drake, who is under Bloodscream's control. The new Nightstalkers target a community of peaceful vampires and their human families living onNorth Brother Islandand proceed to massacre them.Avengers Emergency Response SquadmembersShe-Hulk,Lightspeed,Lightning,andWonder Manarrive to save the vampires from the Nightstalkers. Drake regains his senses and turns on his former team before dying while the other members are defeated and arrested. The AVENG.E.R.S. decide to leave to the Nightstalkers at the mercy of the Vampire Nation to be tried for their crimes in Vampyrsk when it's sheriff's arrive.

Membership

• Hannibal King
• Frank Drake
• Blade
• Abby Morris
• Bloodscream
• Coma
• Voracious

In other media

A revised version of the Nightstalkers was depicted in the 2004 filmBlade: TrinitystarringWesley SnipesasBlade,Jessica Bielas Abigail Whistler, andRyan ReynoldsasHannibal King.In the film, Blade was not a Nightstalker himself but allied with them, albeit reluctantly, as they were younger and, in his eyes, less experienced. In contrast to the more mature and reserved Hannibal King depicted in the comics, Reynolds' revision of the character was in keeping with his history of humorous, extroverted characters. Abigail Whistler was the leader of the group. Unlike in the comic, there were several lesser members who, being unsuited for physical action, stayed at headquarters in supporting roles. The rest of the members consist of Dr. Sommerfield (portrayed byNatasha Lyonne), Hedges (portrayed byPatton Oswalt), Dr. Sommerville's daughter Zoe (portrayed by Ginger "Halli" Page), and Gedge (portrayed by Scott Heindl). Most of the lesser members were killed by Drake except for a recuperating King and Zoe who were taken captive by Drake by the time Blade and Abigail returned.

External links

• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators