Writer: Marc Guggenheim

Art Team: Dave Wilkins, VC’s Travis Lanham

Release Date: July 10, 2019

Cover Price: $5.99

Who’s in the mood for Blade and Wolverine cutting up some vampires, then cutting up each other, than going back at some vampires again? If that’s you then Marvel pulled a special out of the vaults for your viewing and reading pleasure, that is a violent throwback to yesteryear. So lets not waste any more time and lets discuss the events at hand here.

The book doesn’t pull any punches about what its contents will be right from the get go. This is a title about Wolverine and Blade taking on hoards of Vampires, then each other for a bit, before we get back to the mission at hand and its unapologetic in its approach. The art is over the top, gory, and violent which is one of the appeals of this title because much like a 90’s rap album, with a parental advisory label on the front cover, that bad boy is there for your attention.

So as I mentioned, the story begins with Blade and Wolverine back to back, fighting tooth and claw, as they take down a hoard of Vamps calling themselves the Creed. Eventually our heroes are it seems successful, despite some notable wounds, and head off on their separate paths, once they burn the Creed’s joint down to the ground. Again the art is brutal and violent every step of the way, its very well suited for this type of story featuring these characters and a bit over the top but in a fun way. Theres nothing ground breaking occurring on the pages but nothing bad like you may fear from something that is pulled from a vault after not seeing the light of day for a long time.

Speaking of the story, we jump back into events six months later as Wolverine is chasing down Dargoness, a Mutant Liberation Front veteran. After a quick battle between the two, a cut wing eventually leads to the death of Dargoness’, but when she dies in a very vampire type way, it raises concerns for Wolverine. A strange glow catches his attention where he ironically stumbles upon an ancient relic, he assumes Dragoness must have been looking for, then its off to Dr. Strange to figure it all out. Likewise for Blade, who after a fight with a mutant powered Vampire raises his own concerns about what he’s suddenly dealing with. From here it’s all how Blade and Wolverine misunderstand the message and advice they’re given which leads us to the versus portion of our issue.

The book is titled Wolverine vs Blade after all, so the inevitable fight comes about the three-quarter mark of our issue, but doesn’t last long at all. The fight between the two heroes is plenty brutal, but I believe the title is simply Wovlerine vs Blade, because Wolverine and Blade Team Up Vs Super Vampires doesn’t sound quite as sexy. In the end we get to see our heroes kick butt, a few nice twists and turns to an otherwise predictable story, and some pretty excellently art that has a bit of an throwback feel to it. This package and story maybe would have been more appropriately priced at $4.99, unless it comes in a prestige type bound format, which I am unsure of due to only digital copies being supplied for review.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Wolverine vs. Blade is a predictable, yet exciting, crazy violent, action romp featuring two of Marvel’s most brutal heroes. The art by Dave Wilkins is enjoyable, detailed, and definitely not for kids … plus he scores bonus points for his ability to draw some of the craziest Wolverine hair I’ve seen in a bit. While the price tag makes one do a double take, if you have some extra cash laying around, and a penchant for violent comic fun this could fill your void.