Blade: Red Band #3 Review

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Blade: Red Band is a five-issue miniseries and a continuation of the events of Blood Hunt, a Marvel event comic featuring crossovers with over a dozen other titles. Blade: Red Band has introduced Pontius Van Helsing, a vampire cult leader who recruits children and other victims of traumatic violence, The Spellguards, a magic-wielding cult worshipping the idea of balance, and Elena, a vampire hunter with a metal, mechanical arm. Blade: Red Band #3 is written by Bryan Hill, who also wrote Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt. It has art by C.F Villa, who drew the previous two issues, and Federica Mancin.

Throughout this miniseries, Hill and the rest of his creative team have successfully introduced the attitude, personality and psychology of the character of Blade to new readers while also giving seasoned fans something new to chew on. Blade: Red Band #3 is a genuinely unsettling horror comic proceeding two issues that were slower-paced and much lighter in their horror elements. Nevertheless, the sealing of Blade: Red Band issues in closed polybags with red warning labels, which Marvel does with all of its Red Band comic books, feels more like a gimmick than a necessity.

Blade: Red Band Provides Enjoyment for New Readers and Seasoned Blade Fans

Blade: Red Band began with Blade living in the wilderness and feasting on wild fish. After being possessed by Varnae, the first vampire, and nearly contributing to Armageddon, Blade felt this self-imposed isolation was what he had to do. However, after learning about the vicious, vampire cult leader Pontius Val Helsing from Damian, the leader of the Spellguards, Blade retreated from his extremely temporary retirement to travel to Mowloon City and get back in the anti-hero game.

Although Blade: Red Band #1 was only a 25-page comic (not counting advertisements and a page recapping the events of Blood Hunt), so many of Blade’s character traits were conveyed. Blade: Red Band #1 showed how the titular character is fearless and stands up for the defenseless. This superpowered being is self-tortured, unsure of his humanity and has been through hell and back. Blade is self-reliant and capable of fending for himself. Blade has a dim view of authority. In one panel, he sarcastically said, “Always someone new who thinks they’re in charge.”

It’s a Recipe for Conflict Between Blade and his New Vampire-Hunting Partner, Elena

Blade: Red Band #2 introduced Blade’s new vampire-hunting partner, Elena. She lives in Mowloon City, a city ravaged by war. Pontius Van Helsing is taking advantage of the carnage in Mowloon City to gain power and unleash his vampiric terror.

The similarities between Blade and Elana are stark. They’re both brooding loners. They’re both willing to kill not only vampires but humans when they deem it necessary. They’re both depicted as being underestimated by large groups of humans or vampires who mistakenly believe they can best them in combat. Elena was already planning to kill Pontius before she met Blade and discovered he was on the same mission. Blade and Elena agreed to team up because both anti-heroes believe in the motto “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Despite everything they have in common, Elena doesn’t trust Blade because she has a burning, passionate hatred for vampires. Even though Blade has told her he’s a daywalker, not a vampire, she doesn’t see a difference between the two. Additionally, when Blade expresses his weighing guilt for past indiscretions, she believes him.

Marvel Red Band is a Cool Gimmick but a Gimmick Nevertheless

Marvel Red Band was launched in the summer of 2024. Red Band comic books are usually additional printings of new issues of Marvel with added, R-rated violence. While Blade: Red Band is considered a part of Red Band, there isn’t any non-Red Band version of the comic. Instead, it’s akin to the M-rated Marvel Max comics of the 2000s that brought us Punisher Max and the creation of Jessica Jones in Alias.

Marvel is creating mystery and intrigue for their Red Band titles. Like all of Marvel Red Band, Blade: Red Band #3 is sealed shut inside a polybag with a red warning label stating “Reader Discretion Advised.” This means a curious customer browsing their local comic shop has to buy the Red Band comic book to see what’s inside. Shop owners or employees can’t either without damaging the product.

Marvel Red Band is cool but it seems to be more of a gimmick than anything else – especially if Blade: Red Band is being carried by the same comic shops carrying horror comic books from publishers like Image Comics, AfterShock Comics, Zenescope Entertainment and Vault Comics. Even if Marvel didn’t hide the contents of Blade: Red Band #3 behind a sealed polybag and red warning label, it would already have an M rating. Parents would already be alerted that the comic book might not be appropriate for children under 18. It isn’t uncommon for comic shops to organize their M-rated comic books into their own section of the store. If sealing up issues of Blade: Red Band was about protecting kids or sensitive adult readers, drawing the line at this book is short-sighted.

Blade: Red Band is Violent for a Superhero Comic, But Not for a Horror Comic

Seven days before Marvel published Blade: Red Band #3 on Dec. 25, Vault published Lilith #2on Dec. 18. In this horror comic book written and drawn by Corin Howell, a demonic vixen ripped apart a drunk man in an alley in a gory mess and her man-eating, pet cat scraped dry the bloody leftovers of his bones. Two weeks before the Blade: Red Band #3‘s publication, Zenescope published Grimm Tales of Terror 2024 Holiday Special on Dec. 11. This comic book was filled with viscerally disturbing Christmastime violence. A man was repeatedly stabbed with a butcher knife for two pages and one of the panels zoomed into his widened eyes as he realized he was about to die.

These are new comic books distributed by Diamond that a reader could’ve bought with Blade: Blood Hunt #3 on the same monthly trip to their local shop. The violence in Blade: Red Band #3, which includes a panel of a vampire ripping a heart out of a man’s chest, is undoubtedly more extreme than what’s typically on the pages of a Marvel comic. However, compared to what fans of indie, horror comics are used to seeing, it isn’t. In fairness, Blade: Red Band #3 has a splash page with a horrific reveal that’s arguably on par with the aforementioned horror comic books – but the violence in the first two issues was significantly tamer. It doesn’t make sense why issues of Blade: Red Band are sealed behind sealed polybags and red warning labels at their local comic shop when other, M-rated non-Marvel comic books aren’t.

Blade: Red Band #3 Successfully Creates a Feeling of Dread

A good horror comic creates a feeling of dread that can only be accomplished in a visual medium where the reader decides how long they look at each panel. Blade: Red Band #3 succeeds at this.

There’s no other feeling like reading a horror comic book and gasping after turning the page to see a splash page of a bloody murder scene. Blade: Red Band #3 has one of these moments. It’s effective not only because of its vividly creepy artwork but also because of when it happens in the story. Similar to a jump scare in a horror movie, it can seem so obvious that it was coming in retrospect. However, the level of horror on this splash page was significantly greater than in the lead-up to it. In other words, the writer and artists established a feeling of relative safety, allowing the moment to garner a shocked reaction in the reader.

As a horror comic, there’s nothing groundbreaking about Blade: Red Band #3. However, given how light the horror elements were in the previous two issues, it was a nice change of pace and a pleasant surprise.

Pontius Van Helsing is a Repulsive Monster with Similarities to Real-World Abusers

While he’s been looming over the miniseries since the beginning, Blade: Red Band #3 shows how Pontius Val Helsing is a repulsive monster and a compelling antagonist to Blade and Elena. The character is more thematically aligned with a horror story than the superhero genre.

Bram Stroker created Professor Abraham Van Helsing in the original novel, Dracula. Abraham is an expert on vampires and often the character who destroys Count Dracula at the end of Dracula movies. While other members of the Van Helsing family have appeared in various horror media, Pontius Van Helsing is a new creation in Blade: Red Band. If a Blade fan were to Google “Pontius Van Helsing” days after the publication of Blade: Red Band #1, they would’ve seen only a small handful of results – and all of them would’ve been reviews of the comic book.

Pontius first appeared on the last page of Blade: Red Band #1 but Blade: Red Band #3 is the first time readers have seen him in action. Part of what makes the character scary is that cult leaders, manipulators and abusers like Pontius exist in the real world. He recruits people, including children, at their weakest moments to do his bidding. Pontius has a hold on otherwise good people in Mowloon City. Not only is he an immortal bloodsucker but Pontius is shown to wreak havoc on innocent people and spread evil in ways that only a monster can.

While this five-issue miniseries started off a little slow, readers shouldn’t quit on Blade: Red Band before checking out the third issue. Hill and the rest of the creative team have gone full speed ahead with breathtaking horror imagery, a compelling antagonist and a solid cliffhanger on the final page.

Rating: 7 out of 10

“}]] While the previous two issues of the five-issue mini-series were lighter in their horror themes, Blade: Red Band #3 creates thrills and chills.  Read More