You probably know the story: Eric Brooks’ birth was shrouded in bloody tragedy when the vampire Deacon Frost attacked his mother, draining her of life. Eric eventually became a dhamphir – a half-vampire – possessing all of a vampire’s strengths but none of their weaknesses. Eventually he became the vampire hunter Blade, dedicating his life to wiping out every bloodsucker from the face of the Earth. But what would happen if Blade took that final step into the darkness…and became a full vampire? That’s the question What If…? Dark: The Tomb of Dracula #1 attempts to answer and for the most part it succeeds.
What If…? Dark, true to its name, takes the general premise of the What If…? series and goes to its extreme. Ben Grimm bonding with the Venom symbiote; Peter Parker dying instead of Gwen Stacy; Moon Knight dying at the hands of his perennial foe Bushman. The Tomb of Dracula one-shot is special because it marks the return of Marv Wolfman to Blade. Wolfman, best known for his work on New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths, co-created Blade with Gene Colan and gave the Marvel Universe one of its most prominent supernatural figures in the process. So on paper, this should be an extremely big deal.
However, Wolfman’s script feels a bit too light – it takes until the halfway point of the book for the big canon shift to happen. Then the rest of the book speedruns through the “Blade is a full vampire” story, meaning that some of the more emotional moments lack the punch that Wolfman intended. A major one comes when Blade succumbs to the bloodlust and bites his lover, Saffron Caulder. Given that Blade and Saffron had a loving relationship in the original Tomb of Dracula comics – which Wolfman wrote the majority of – you’d think this would warrant more than a page of exploration. Likewise, a potential conflict between Blade and his fellow vampire hunters is glossed over in a page. It feels like Wolfman should have started with the vampire bite or made this a double sized one-shot to really dig into the meat of the story.
Despite the story feeling barebones, I will give credit to David Cutler for his artwork. He manages to draw both Blade and Dracula in a wide array of looks, depicting their evolution over the years. When the two first clash, they’re in their original Tomb of Dracula costumes – though thankfully Blade’s garish outfit is updated into a army jacket and sleek red shades. Eventually the two foes settle for a more modern getup, sporting long black coats along with the dark red eyes signifying their vampirism. The book also lives up to its “Dark” subtitle, as vampires are dispatched of in increasingly gory fashion while their shapeshifting is shown to be painful; bones crack and flesh expands, leading to some nightmarish imagery. Cutler is backed by an army of inkers and colorists, including Scott Hanna and Antonio Fabela. The end result brings the moody, perpetually shadowed vibe one would expect from a horror/action comic, with red and black serving as prominent colors throughout.
What If…? Dark: The Tomb of Dracula #1 has a great setup but lackluster execution, which is disappointing. I was really looking forward to this book as both a Blade fan and a fan of Wolfman’s work. While it’s not the worst What If…? one shot I’ve ever read, it definitely needed more time to breathe.
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