Warning: SPOILERS for Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #1The daughter of half-human, half-vampire Blade has become the newest vampire hunter in the Marvel Universe, and her struggle to balance high school with battling the undead has strong echoes of the classic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Time will tell if Brielle Brooks ends up being as skilled a vampire hunter as her father, the Daywalker, or Buffy Summers, the Chosen One.
Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #1 by Danny Lore and Karen S. Darboe introduces readers to Brielle, a teen girl living with her mother in Atlanta. Her mother is the Safron Caulder, the one-time girlfriend of Eric Brooks aka Blade. At the start of the issue, Brielle is involved in many extracurricular activities, but as she grows older she begins to change. She dyes her hair purple and quits many of her after-school activities, which draws concern from her school because she has been such a good student. Then, when she is out at night with her mother, the two of them are attacked by a vampire.
Blade's Daughter Is A Teenage Vampire Hunter
After the two of them fight off the vampire, Brielle's mother kills it by putting a stake through its heart. Much to Brielle’s surprise, it doesn’t turn into dust. Later, the two of them sit down to have a talk and are shocked that both of them are already aware that vampires exist. Brielle then talks with her friends about her mother and the vampires at school before going vampire hunting at a spooky house that night.
It's immediately apparent that Brielle has a lot of similarities with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Besides the obvious that the two of them hunt vampires, they also have friends who are aware of the supernatural that they can confide in. There are some obvious differences, such as the relationship Brielle has with her mother compared to Buffy. For the majority of Buffy's show, Buffy's mom wasn't aware of vampires, while Brielle and her mom share this unique bond in common. However, in both instances, the relationship the vampire hunters have with their mothers are integral to their stories.
Another interesting difference is the involvement of Blade. He is largely absent from the first issue, and is only referred to and talked about in passing. He does appear in the issue's closing moments, indicating that he is going to play a larger role in the series. It will be interesting to see how the father-daughter dynamic, especially with a Daywalker like Blade, will change the comparisons with Buffy, whose father is largely absent from the show. But either way, for the remainder of her superhero career it seems that Blade's daughter will have to work extra hard in order to separate herself from the shadow of bother her father and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.