Blade's Best Team-Ups (So Far)

As the half-human, half-vampire super hero known as Blade, Eric Brooks keeps the Marvel Universe safe from the armies of ravenous vampires lurking in the shadows. Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan in THE TOMB OF DRACULA (1972) #10, Blade takes down monsters and other creatures of the night with his bevy of weapons, masterful combat skills, and superhuman abilities. 

Of course, monster hunting is serious business, and even Blade occasionally needs some help vanquishing supernatural evil every now and then. From team-ups with heroes like Spider-Man to alliances with teams like the X-Men, Blade has a surprisingly extensive history of being a team player despite his bloody work. Here are some of the vampire hunter's best team-ups so far.

BLADE & PETER PARKER

Peter Parker and Blade have crossed paths on plenty of occasions, but one instance in particular led to long-lasting consequences for the Daywalker. In PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN (1999) #7, Spider-Man started investigating a strange murder that veered sharply into the supernatural as he delved into New York's shadowy underworld. Meanwhile, Morbius went rogue under the spell of the vicious vampire Ulysses Sojourner, leading Blade to track the Living Vampire to New York.

After a bloody battle against several vampires, during which he unveiled his extended arsenal, Blade was bitten by Morbius. Blade's unique physiology as a dhampir caused him to react differently to Morbius' vampire bite and, as a result, he gained many of the superhuman abilities of a vampire without any of their overt weaknesses. This inspired Blade's nickname as a Daywalker, someone similar to vampire who is capable of surviving openly in the sunlight.

BLADE JOINS CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI:13

Formed at the height of SECRET INVASION (2008), the covert British agency MI:13 rallied the United Kingdom's greatest heroes—including Captain Britain—to defend their home from evil. After repelling the Skrull attack, the team faced a very different kind of invasion with the arrival of Dracula and his army of vampires in CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI:13 (2008) #10, where the undead decided to conquer Britain to form a vampire state. Fortunately, Blade had recently joined MI:13 to help them with a separate supernatural menace, and he proved invaluable in the subsequent confrontation with Dracula.

The resulting conflict was an intense game of chess. Dracula maneuvered his magically enhanced vampires into the British government and personally targeted the MI:13 heroes through their families. With Dracula erecting magical barriers that blocked help from the outside world, MI:13 stood as Britain's only hope against complete subjugation by the vampire onslaught. 

Fortunately, Blade and the heroic vampire Spitfire had plenty of experience in vampire slaying. They took point in averting an all-out war with the undead, which resulted in Blade killing Spitfire's villainous son Baron Blood. Victorious, Blade and Spitfire struck up a romance as they commiserated about the steep cost of their conflict with Dracula.

BLADE AND THE X-MEN

After Dracula was killed by his son Xarus, the new King of Vampires decided he was sick of hiding in the shadows with his fellow monsters. As part of his plan for global domination, Xarus detonated a blood bomb over San Francisco, which transformed anyone who got caught in the cursed blood rain into a vampire. 

Among those afflicted was Jubilee, who had relocated to the Bay Area with the rest of the X-Men shortly before Xarus enacted his grand plan in X-MEN (2010) #1. With one of their own running the risk of becoming permanently undead, the X-Men join forces with Blade to take on Xarus.

Blade and the X-Men battled vampires throughout San Francisco and in the nearby ocean, as several Atlanteans had been changed into vampires by Xarus' escalating scheme. Desperate, Cyclops resurrected Dracula to deal with his wayward son, brokering a secret non-aggression pact between the mutants and Dracula in the interim. 

As a result, Blade and Cyclops came to blows after Xarus' destruction, with the mutant leader physically defending Dracula to honor his agreement. Between this and Wolverine preventing Blade from putting down the now-vampiric Jubilee, the Daywalker left the X-Men on shaky terms despite their recently successful alliance.

ULTIMATE BLADE JOINS ULTIMATE AVENGERS

The main Marvel Universe isn't the only place where Blade has had memorable team-ups; the Ultimate Universe also featured appearances by its own version of the Daywalker. The most epic Ultimate Blade story saw the vampire hunter join up with the Ultimate Avengers, the premier super hero team in the Ultimate Universe, in ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS 3 (2010). 

Though vampires had appeared sporadically across the Ultimate Universe before, the undead decided that the most logical way to attain global domination was to add heroes to their growing ranks before launching a full-scale war on humanity. After the vampires transformed the new Daredevil, a hyper-intelligent version of the Hulk, and the Russian hero Perun, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers found themselves on the defensive. 

However, Captain America—who was converted into a vampire for his tactical genius—reverted back to his normal human state thanks to the Super-Soldier Serum. Working with Blade, he rallied the heroes to repel the vampire attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, turning the tide of battle by wielding Perun's hammer. As S.H.I.E.L.D. picked up the pieces from the nightmarish ordeal, Blade agreed to stay on with Nick Fury's latest black ops team as they engaged in a secret war against Iron Man's villainous older brother Gregory Stark.

BLADE AND MILES MORALES

Peter Parker isn't the only Spider-Man who teamed up with this legendary monster hunter to battle things that go bump in the night. Recently, Miles Morales joined forces with Blade and his daughter Brielle Brooks in MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN (2022) #11. This hard-hitting trio rooted out a vampire coven in Brooklyn that kept their nocturnal hunts to neighborhoods neglected by local law enforcement.

To give Miles an edge in fighting against the undead and prevent him from being turned, Blade gave the web-slinger a magical costume covered in protection spells that enhanced his webs. As the team confronted an ancient vampire called R'ym'r that had established its nest in the Brooklyn subway system, the situation became even more complicated when a speedster named Hightail interrupted the battle at a crucial moment to capture Miles. Taking advantage of the confusion, R'ym'r transformed Hightail into a vampire, putting Blade, Brielle, and Miles on the defensive.

Catch Blade's latest, greatest team-up in MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #11, on sale now!

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