Source: marvel.wikia.com

10. Vampire State, Prologue

Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Leonard Kirk

This is absolutely the best issue of the series so far, hands down. Dracula shoots Vampire Missiles at Earth from his Moon castle. He also makes racist comments to Doctor Doom in front of the Moon Lander. How dare this comic be this incredibly good?

So Dracula is back, and he wants to take back control of the Vampires. He’s also a very old man who’s really racist, and that’s a great premise for a joke. Meanwhile on Earth, sexual tension is building between Faiza and Dane, as well as Blade and Spitfire. Honestly, this is the first time in a long time that Blade has felt like an actual character and not a plot prop. I really like it.

In the cameo department, we have some good, good Doctor Doom and Storm!! This was back when Storm was queen of Wakanda, so she’s here to hand over the real Ebony Blade to Black Knight. This fantastic issue is a kick-off to a great story arc.

All things considered, this was a great comic, and a real high point of late 2000s Marvel comics. Cornell can really write these characters, and Kirk draws some damn fine superhero comics. This might be my second-favorite work that  I’ve covered for this column, with Mister Miracle in the top spot. But yeah, it’s well worth your time if you can find it collected. Happy reading, Anglophiles!!

And I have come around on the costume. Still not my fave, but not the worst.