Blade: Trinity is on its way to movie theatres in December, which means it's time for another well-intentioned (but probably doomed) attempt at making the character as cool in comics as he has been on the screen. The last time Blade was cool, of course, was when he was first introduced in the pages of the classic Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan Tomb of Dracula, and Marvel has taken that name for this new miniseries, which turns out to be surprisingly readable. Neither Rodi nor Jones have done a lot of work recently that I've liked, but the script here does capture the feel of the Blade films, with plenty of action and a sense of looking in at an underground culture. The real star of the show, however, is new artist Jamie Tolagson, who really impresses with his work on this book.
Tolagson's work, inked by Palmer and Leisten, reminds me of any number of artists. There are elements of Phil Hester's style, especially in the way he draws some of his characters and in his skill at staging action sequences. I'm also reminded of the pencil work of horror comics maestro Dan Brereton, especially in regard to Hector the vampire, and of the shadowy, exaggerated look that Kyle Hotz brings to his work. At any rate, the artwork looks terrific here, and really sets the mood and keeps the story moving. I was surprised that Studio F was credited for coloring, as this looks less like their bright, eye-popping colors and more like the moody work of a Lee Loughridge or a Matt Hollingsworth. At any rate, while the colors did tend to get a little monochromatic, overly focused on red or brown or green, they do evoke the darkness of the setting and generally work pretty well with the artwork in setting the tone.
One of the sequences that made Blade a memorable flick was the opening sequence wherein Blade takes on a group of vampires in an underground nightclub. Rodi's script captures that sensibility in his opening, as Blade takes on a couple of vampires in an underground club. OK, yeah, it's maybe a little too on the nose, but there's a relatively slick misdirect as to the identity of the vampire and a pretty spectacular (if brief) fight scene that establishes Blade as a badass with a dark sense of humor, more inspired by Wesley Snipes than by Marv Wolfman.
As much as the opening sequence is inspired by the original Blade film, the rest of the book seems to be aiming for the style of the third, if the trailers for that film are anything to judge by. That is, rather than focusing strictly on Blade, Rodi has come up with an ensemble cast of vampire fighters. The introductions, done as one-page vignettes with narration over them, are a little repetitive in structure, but they do give us a pretty good sense of these characters, and I'm pretty happy with the cast that Rodi has assembled. I'm particularly happy that the legacy of Tomb of Dracula lives on in this series beyond Blade and Dracula as the nemesis, and while I had guessed the identity of the woman that Blade followed early on, I was pleased to see it confirmed. One of the other benefits of an ensemble cast in a book like this is that it means you can actually kill some of them off, and hopefully Rodi will pull the trigger on that when he gets more into the story.
There are some weird elements to the storytelling here that might be a result of two writers combining on the project, or they might just be missteps. I've noted the repetitive and awkward nature of the introduction of the ensemble cast, but I'm also somewhat puzzled by the decision to hang the cliffhanger on the revelation of something that is given away by the very title of the book. Perhaps it was meant to be a stunning splash, but while it is a solid piece of art, it's hardly so eye-popping as to leave the reader gasping for breath waiting for the next issue. At any rate, though, this is a stronger than expected opening... time will tell if Rodi can keep the momentum going in future issues. 7/10
