Nightstalkers (comics)
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''Nightstalkers'' is an American comic book series published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
from 1992 to 1994, featuring a trio of
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
experts reluctantly banded together to fight supernatural threats. Operating under the business name Borderline Investigations, the team was composed of
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
hunters Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...
Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...
and
Frank Drake Frank Donald Drake (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) was an American astrophysicist and astrobiologist. He began his career as a radio astronomer, studying the planets of the Solar System and later pulsars. Drake expanded his interests t ...
and private detective
Hannibal King Hannibal King is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book ''The Tomb of Dracula'', issue #25 (Oct. 1974). King was played by Ryan Reyn ...
, all of whom had fought
Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...
in the 1970s series ''
The Tomb of Dracula ''The Tomb of Dracula'' is an American 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. On rare ...
''. They are gathered by
Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...
in ''Nightstalkers'' #1 (November 1992) to battle an immediate threat, but under Strange's larger, hidden agenda. The Nightstalkers appeared in '' Blade: Trinity''.


Publication history

The team of vampire-hunters Blade and Frank Drake and vampiric private detective Hannibal King first reunited in ''
Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...
'' (vol. 3) #28 (
cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
d August 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, primarily ''
The Tomb of Dracula ''The Tomb of Dracula'' is an American 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. On rare ...
'' (April 1972–August 1979) where the three protagonists had
first appeared In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...
. The series' initial creative team was writer
D. G. Chichester Daniel G. Chichester (born August 22, 1964) is an American comic book writer. His credits include ''Daredevil'' and '' Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' for Marvel Comics. Career D. G. Chichester was born in Connecticut, and studied filmmaking a ...
,
penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...
Ron Garney Ron Garney is an American 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 Garney has worked on '' JLA'', ''The Amazi ...
and
inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...
Tom Palmer, reprising his role from ''The Tomb of Dracula''. After 11 issues,
Steven Grant Steven Grant (born October 22, 1953) is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series ''The Punisher'' with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper. Biography Comic books Grant has ...
took over scripting, with
Frank Lovece Frank Lovece () is an American journalist and author, and a comic book writer primarily for Marvel Comics, where he and artist Mike Okamoto created the miniseries ''Atomic Age''. His longest affiliation has been with the New York metropolitan ar ...
wrapping up the fates of some of the 1970s series' characters in the last three issues. Artists included Mark Pacella, Kirk Van Wormer and
Andrew Wildman Andrew Wildman (sometimes credited as Andy Wildman) is a British artist, best known for his work in comics, mainly for Marvel Comics. Wildman worked on numerous Marvel UK's titles in the late 1980s, including '' Galaxy Rangers'', '' Thundercats ...
.


Fictional team history

Before being formally gathered by
Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...
to fight supernatural threats,
Hannibal King Hannibal King is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book ''The Tomb of Dracula'', issue #25 (Oct. 1974). King was played by Ryan Reyn ...
,
Frank Drake Frank Donald Drake (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) was an American astrophysicist and astrobiologist. He began his career as a radio astronomer, studying the planets of the Solar System and later pulsars. Drake expanded his interests t ...
, and
Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...
had 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 include
Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...
, Mother of All Demons;
HYDRA Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...
's Department of Occult Armaments (DOA), led by Lt. Belial, and its renegade
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
clone
Bloodstorm ''BloodStorm'' is a 1994 arcade fighting game published by Strata and developed by Incredible Technologies. It is considered a quasi-sequel to '' Time Killers''. ''BloodStorm'' was dubbed as a possible "'' Mortal Kombat''-killer" in an attempt ...
; and the one-time Lord of Vampires,
Varnae Varnae is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Perry and Steve Bissette, the character first appeared in ''Bizarre Adventures'' #33 (December 1982). Varnae is a villainous vampire who ...
.''Nightstalkers'' #18
at the Grand Comics Database


''The Tomb of Dracula'' threads

In the final arc (#16–18, Feb.-April 1994), King's house, including Borderline's office, is destroyed by a
HYDRA Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...
Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
stealing Drake's anti-occult
nanotech Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of ...
gun, 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 from ''The 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 series ''Blade''. 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.


In other media

A revised version of the Nightstalkers was depicted in the 2004 film '' Blade: Trinity'' starring
Wesley Snipes Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), ''New Jack City'' (1991), ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), ''Passenger 57'' (1992), '' R ...
as
Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...
,
Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Biel be ...
as Abigail Whistler and
Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over  billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
as
Hannibal King Hannibal King is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the 1970s comic book ''The Tomb of Dracula'', issue #25 (Oct. 1974). King was played by Ryan Reyn ...
. 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.


References


External links


The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nightstalkers (Comics) Fictional detectives Marvel Comics superhero teams Marvel Comics titles Blade (comics) Midnight Sons