Writer Tim Seeley is bringing a new twist to the “Blade” series at Marvel, but the Daywalker won’t be fighting creepy evil demons and blood thirsty vampires alone. In the new series, he’s adding the energy of his long lost daughter, Fallon Grey, who, at 16 years old, will be facing a slew of immortal demons with all of the emotional ups and downs that teenagers bring.
During last week’s San Diego Comic Con, Seeley shared a few “inside” previews about the series.
AmNews: Why the new twist to the classic Blade?
Seeley: My goal is to make the monsters scary again—the way they were to me then. I think, too often, with modern horror the reader knows too many of the “rules,” and that makes vampires and zombies less frightening. Blade is going against stuff he’s never seen before, and I want the reader to be afraid to hide this under their beds.
What parts of Blade will you be exploring in the new series?
Blade to me has always been a guy with a single-minded goal: kill vampires. That’s it. He wants revenge, and lots of it. But after 50 or so years of revenge, he’s starting to lose his edge. He’s starting to forget why he hates vampires so much. Why he hates himself so much. And he’s starting to wonder if there’s more to “life” than what’s he’s been doing.
So I’m picking up on what I always found frustrating about the character and using it to go in a new direction. He’s a half-vampire who can “walk in the day,” but he hasn’t spent much time actually enjoying the sunshine.
Initially, [Blade and his daughter’s] relationship is all about what they share—a stubborn refusal to change or see new viewpoints. They’ll be completely and totally antagonistic, and the fun will be in seeing whether a guy like Blade can become a father and whether a girl like Fallon can become a student and a daughter.