Nightstalkers (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Nightstalkers is a fictional
trio of preexisting characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics
. A team of occult
experts, they reluctantly banded together to fight supernatural
threats.
It was composed of the vampire
-hunter
s Blade
and Frank Drake
(who had fought Count Dracula
in the 1970s series Tomb of Dracula
); and, also from that series, private detective
Hannibal King
, a "neo-vampire" with vampiric abilities but only a craving, not a need, for drinking blood. They were gathered by Doctor Strange
in Nightstalkers #1 (Nov. 1992) to battle an immediate threat, but under his larger, hidden agenda.
(April 1972 - Aug. 1979) where the three protagonists had first appeared.
The series' initial creative team was writer
D. G. Chichester, penciller
Ron Garney
and inker
Tom Palmer
, reprising his role from Tomb of Dracula. After 11 issues, Steven Grant took over scripting, with Frank Lovece
in the final three wrapping up the fates of some of the 1970s series' characters. Artists included Mark Pacella, Kirk Van Wormer and Andrew Wildman
.
to fight supernatural threats, Hannibal King
, Frank Drake
, and Blade
had founded the detective agency King, Drake, and Blade, later renamed Borderline Investigations.
After Strange manipulated the trio into forming the Nightstalkers, the team fought the many supernatural enemies that were emerging, including the Lilin; Meatmarket; HYDRA
's Department of Occult Armaments (DOA) and its renegade Dracula clone
, Bloodstorm, who slaughtered that division, including its chief, Lt. Belial; and, ultimately, the one-time Lord of Vampires, Varnae
.
In the final arc (#16-18, Feb.-April 1994), King's house, including Borderline's office, was destroyed in a fire begun by a HYDRA Dreadnought (see cover at right) stealing Drake's anti-occult nanotech
gun, the Exorcist. The team disbanded, and at a brief regathering at Blade's home at Strange's urging, was contacted by Domini, Dracula's "widow", who needed their help finding her and Dracula's kidnapped son, Janus
(retrieving threads from Tomb of Dracula).
Strange finally revealed that the "Montesi Formula", which had eradicated and prevented further vampires in the Marvel universe, was weakening. In response, he had gathered the three most experienced vampire-hunters so that they could hone their skills and teamwork before Dracula, the lord of vampires, might return. Since all three Nightstalkers had been highly 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 — took psychic control of King and directed him to kill his comrades. King sacrificed himself instead. Drake, deep in anger and depression, then attempted to sacrifice his own life to kill Varnae, engineering an Exorcist-powered explosion. Blade in self-defense already had staked his old comrade Taj Nital, from Tomb of Dracula, who between these two series had been turned vampiric.
An anguished Blade survived, and with Domini — whose son remained missing — attended his teammates' funeral. He noted "all they found was a charred body that crumbled when they touched it, and Frank's hand, still clutchin' the Exorcist's trigger". Blade would, however, encounter King again in New Orleans, in the subsequent series Blade; there he learned that 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 informed Blade that Drake was left scarred and crippled in both body and mind. Whether Varnae or Bloodstorm had survived, and whose charred body had remained, was left uncertain.
starring Wesley Snipes
as Blade, Jessica Biel
as Abigail Whistler and Ryan Reynolds
as Hannibal King. In the movie, 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 the comic, there were several lesser members who, being unsuited for physical action, stayed at headquarters in supporting roles.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
trio of preexisting characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. A team of occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
experts, they reluctantly banded together to fight supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
threats.
It was composed of the vampire
Vampire (Marvel Comics)
Vampires are fictional characters found in the Marvel Universe.-History:They were created roughly 15,000 years ago when a small band of sorcerers from the legendary city of Atlantis discovered a book known as the Darkhold, an indestructible text filled with arcane lore and dark magic written...
-hunter
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
s Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade 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 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
and Frank Drake
Frank Drake (comics)
Frank Drake is a fictional character appearing in publications from Marvel Comics, most notably the Tomb of Dracula series created by Gerry Conway....
(who had fought Count Dracula
Dracula (Marvel Comics)
Dracula is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He is based on the vampire Count Dracula from the novel of the same name by author Bram Stoker, and is also influenced by Universal Studios' version of the character.-Publication history:A...
in the 1970s series Tomb of Dracula
Tomb of Dracula
The Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...
); and, also from that series, private detective
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
Hannibal King
Hannibal King
Hannibal King is a fictional character, a supernatural detective appearing in publications from Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book The Tomb of Dracula.-Fictional character biography:...
, a "neo-vampire" with vampiric abilities but only a craving, not a need, for drinking blood. They were gathered by Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
in Nightstalkers #1 (Nov. 1992) to battle an immediate threat, but under his larger, hidden agenda.
Publication history
Nightstalkers ran 18 issues (cover-dated Nov. 1992 - April 1994). It incorporated story threads from previous Marvel Comics supernatural series, primarily Tomb of DraculaTomb of Dracula
The Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...
(April 1972 - Aug. 1979) where the three protagonists had first appeared.
The series' initial creative team was writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
D. G. Chichester, penciller
Penciller
A penciller 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 to showcase...
Ron Garney
Ron Garney
Ron Garney is a comic book writer/artist, known for his work on books such as JLA,The Amazing Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Hulk, Daredevil and Captain America.-Career:...
and inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
Tom Palmer
Tom Palmer (comics)
-Biography:Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work , the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker...
, reprising his role from Tomb of Dracula. After 11 issues, Steven Grant took over scripting, with Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
in the final three wrapping up the fates of some of the 1970s series' characters. Artists included Mark Pacella, Kirk Van Wormer and Andrew Wildman
Andrew Wildman
Andrew Wildman is a British artist, best known for his work in comics, mainly for Marvel Comics. Wildman cut his teeth on Marvel UK's titles in the late 1980s, including Galaxy Rangers, Thundercats, The Real Ghostbusters and, perhaps most notably, Transformers...
.
Fictional team history
Before being formally gathered by Doctor StrangeDoctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
to fight supernatural threats, Hannibal King
Hannibal King
Hannibal King is a fictional character, a supernatural detective appearing in publications from Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book The Tomb of Dracula.-Fictional character biography:...
, Frank Drake
Frank Drake (comics)
Frank Drake is a fictional character appearing in publications from Marvel Comics, most notably the Tomb of Dracula series created by Gerry Conway....
, and Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade 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 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
had founded the detective agency King, Drake, and Blade, later renamed Borderline Investigations.
After Strange manipulated the trio into forming the Nightstalkers, the team fought the many supernatural enemies that were emerging, including the Lilin; Meatmarket; HYDRA
HYDRA
HYDRA is a fictional terrorist organization in the Marvel Universe.Despite the name's capitalization per Marvel's official spelling, the name is not an acronym but rather a reference to the mythical Lernaean Hydra...
's Department of Occult Armaments (DOA) and its renegade Dracula clone
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
, Bloodstorm, who slaughtered that division, including its chief, Lt. Belial; and, ultimately, the one-time Lord of Vampires, Varnae
Varnae
Varnae is a fictional villainous vampire in the Marvel Comics universe. He has been an adversary of several of Marvel's supernatural and fantasy-related heroes, and is a major character in Marvel's Dracula mythos...
.
Tomb of Dracula threads
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
gun, the Exorcist. The team disbanded, and at a brief regathering at Blade's home at Strange's urging, was contacted by Domini, Dracula's "widow", who needed their help finding her and Dracula's kidnapped son, Janus
Janus (Marvel Comics)
Janus is a fictional comic-book character in the Marvel Comics universe.-Fictional character biography:The Golden Angel was a possessing spirit who claimed to be an angel, a messenger and warrior of God. This angel was revealed to have appeared to Dracula and thwarted his will in the past...
(retrieving threads from Tomb of Dracula).
Strange finally revealed that the "Montesi Formula", which had eradicated and prevented further vampires in the Marvel universe, was weakening. In response, he had gathered the three most experienced vampire-hunters so that they could hone their skills and teamwork before Dracula, the lord of vampires, might return. Since all three Nightstalkers had been highly 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 — took psychic control of King and directed him to kill his comrades. King sacrificed himself instead. Drake, deep in anger and depression, then attempted to sacrifice his own life to kill Varnae, engineering an Exorcist-powered explosion. Blade in self-defense already had staked his old comrade Taj Nital, from Tomb of Dracula, who between these two series had been turned vampiric.
An anguished Blade survived, and with Domini — whose son remained missing — attended his teammates' funeral. He noted "all they found was a charred body that crumbled when they touched it, and Frank's hand, still clutchin' the Exorcist's trigger". Blade would, however, encounter King again in New Orleans, in the subsequent series Blade; there he learned that 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 informed Blade that Drake was left scarred and crippled in both body and mind. Whether Varnae or Bloodstorm had survived, and whose charred body had remained, was left uncertain.
In other media
A revised version of the Nightstalkers was depicted in the 2004 movie Blade: TrinityBlade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...
starring Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
as Blade, Jessica Biel
Jessica Biel
Jessica Claire Biel is an American actress, model, and occasional singer. Biel is known for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven...
as Abigail Whistler and Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
as Hannibal King. In the movie, 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 the comic, there were several lesser members who, being unsuited for physical action, stayed at headquarters in supporting roles.