NIGHTSTALKERSNIGHTSTALKERS
Membership: Blade (Eric Brooks), Frank Drake,
Hannibal King
Purpose: To combat supernatural beings
Aliases: Borderline Investigations (the group
used the name of their original partnership as a cover for their
Nightstalkers activities)
Affiliations: Aleister, Artie, the Blood
(Caretaker, Embyrre, Foundry, Raydar), Jonas Bruckman, Imei Chang, Domini, Fenry, Janus, Jinx (William Hastings), Georgianna LaFountaine, Michele
Lidofsky, Maria, Marlene McKenna-Drake, the Midnight Sons
(John Blaze,
Sam Buchanan, Dr. Strange/Stephen Strange, Ghost Rider/Dan Ketch/Noble Kale, Prof. Louise
Hastings, Victoria Montesi, Morbius/Michael Morbius),
Modred the Mystic, Punisher (Frank Castle), Richard Regent, Keith
Roberts, "Silicon" Valle, Vengeance (Michael Badilino), Sgt. Walkerton,
Wong
Enemies: Bloodstorm (Vlad Dracula clone), Adam Casim, Rene Giscard,
the DOA
(Lt. Gregory Belial, Dennis Bronskon, Innards/Rupert Helona, Madame Jasmine/Jasmine Gobaj, Malpractice/Josef Pohlmann, George Moorek, Pyre/Alizon Baunacha, Rotwrap/Ayla Ranefer), the Fallen (Atrocity, Metarchus, Patriarch, Ranter, Rubach, Salomé), Hydra (Baron Strucker, Dreadnoughts, Garrote, Romulus, Saltz, others), Lilith, the Lilin (Bad Timing,
Blackout, Bloodthirst, Doc,
Fang, Meatmarket, Nakota, Outcast, Parasite, Pilgrim, Scatter, Sister Nil), Taj Nital, Paralyzer (Randall Darby), Shiv,
Short Circuit, Vic Slaughter, Spider-X (Brian Kornfield), Stonecold (Johann Bessler), Varnae, Zarathos, Zzzax
Base of Operations: The Borderline Investigations offices, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
First Appearance: (seen in a vision): Ghost
Rider III#28 (August, 1992); (fully seen): Nightstalkers I#1 (November,
1992)
History: (Ghost Rider III#28 - BTS) - Ghost Rider received a vision of future events including the assembled Midnight Sons group, which counted the Nightstalkers among its number.
(Nightstalkers I#17 (fb) - BTS) - Sensing the demon
Lilith was about to be reborn, Dr. Strange began manipulating events to
renew the partnership between Dracula's descendant Frank Drake, vampire
hunter Blade and vampiric detective Hannibal King.
(Nightstalkers I#1) - When some of his former
vampiric tendacies began to resurface, Hannibal King met with Dr.
Strange at the Borderline Investigations offices in Boston, where
Strange essentially told him that he would have to learn to live with
the cards the occult had dealt him. Heavily drinking, King was
subsequently met by his former partners Blade, who had recently been
released from a mental institution by a disguised Dr. Strange and had
broken into the Borderline
offices, and Frank Drake, whose wife Marlene had become temporarily
comatose thanks to a spell cast by Dr. Strange in an effort to secretly
manipulate Drake into joining up with Blade and King. Their
reunion was interrupted when the disguised demon Lilith arrived at
their offices and gave the group a false story about her husband being
supernaturally rendered comatose by the "demons" Ghost Rider and Johnny
Blaze. Unaware of Lilith's deception, Ghost Rider and Blaze traveled to
Boston in hopes of recruiting Blade, King and Drake against Lilith
while the trio of supernatural investigators visited a Boston cemetary
and decided to reinstate their formal partnership in order to stop not
only vampires (as they once had focused on) but all supernatural
beings. In order to prepare themselves against their upcoming battle
against the supernatural, Hannibal King halted resisting his vampiric
urges and gathered an army of vermin to aid him while Frank Drake
visited MIT and completed work on an "Exorcist Gun" (which he called
"Linda" after Linda Blair, the actress from "the Exorcist" movie)
capable of harming supernatural foes. After King and Drake retrieved
the Exorcist Gun, they regrouped with a newly-equipped Blade at a local
warehouse. Shortly thereafter, Ghost Rider and Blaze arrived at the
Borderline Investigations offices and found a note on the door stating
"Old North Church." The Nightstalkers then waited at the Church for
Ghost Rider and Blaze to arrive, hoping to ambush the two Spirits of
Vengeance, still unaware of Lilith's full deception. Attacking Ghost
Rider and Blaze when they arrived at the Church, the two groups fought
fiercely until the Lilin Meatmarket arrived to ensure the Nightstalkers
finished their job for Lilith. Seeing the rotting Meatmarket and
realizing they had been duped, Hannibal King ordered his swarm of rats
to eat at Meatmarket and when Lilith had the Lilin Pilgrim open a
portal to check on Meatmarket, Meatmarket's severed head was thrown
through the portal. With the battle over, Johnny Blaze admitted that,
while he didn't appreciate almost being killed by the Nightstalkers, he
was glad they came to their senses and realized their mistake. Blade
quickly replied that it was no mistake and King reminded Blaze that as
long as he was allied with the demonic Ghost Rider, he would be on
their hit list like any supernatural beings. When Blaze responded that
they sounded like fanatics, King merely warned that the night would no
longer be safe for supernatural creatures.
(Ghost Rider III#31) - The Nightstalkers were
attacked in their own offices. Preparing to take back their offices,
Hannibal King asked if Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun was charged and Drake
replied that it was. Annoyed, Blade told King to open the office doors,
as he hadn't cut anything in hours. As they kicked the door open, they
were bombarded with a bright light that mystically teleported them to
the Arctic Circle, where they found themselves surrounded by other
supernatural heroes including Morbius, Ghost Rider, John Blaze and the
Darkhold Redeemers. Despite some hostility, the assembled so-called
"Nine" soon noticed Lilith opening an interdimensional rift and labeled
her the immediate threat. Ghost Rider led the Nightstalkers and the
other Midnight Sons into battle against Lilith and her Lilin children
(with Blade reminding Ghost Rider not to tell him what to do). Focusing
their attack on the Lilin Meatmarket, the Nightstalkers were defeated
when Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun was knocked from his hands and
Meatmarket hurled Blade into Hannibal King. Returning to the battle,
Blade managed to stab Blackout and Drake used his Exorcist Gun,
destroying Blackout's corpse. Once Ghost Rider had defeated Lilith, the
Nightstalkers opted to take advantage of their situation and go after
Morbius and Ghost Rider as part of their quest to rid the world of the
supernatural. Before they could attack, they were once surrounded by a
bright light and teleported away.
(Nightstalkers I#2) - The Nightstalkers tracked down
the Belial-serving corrupt fortune teller Madame Jasmine and her
accomplices Bronskon and Moorek after they swindled a large amount of
money from Gregor Houghton, whom they murdered. The driving Blade
eventually managed to run their armored vehicle over Jasmine's limo and
the group exited the vehicle to take care of Jasmine and her cohorts.
While Hannibal King took out the surprisingly supernaturally empowered
Moorek, Frank Drake focused on Madame Jasmine herself. When Blade
nearly killed Bronskon, Hannibal King had to force Blade off of the
mystic gun-wielding criminal and Drake reminded Blade that they needed
to remember that they were the good guys. Drake then delivered Jasmine,
Bronskon and Moorek to the police, giving Sgt. Walkerton a Borderline
Investigations business card. Unaware Hydra was plotting to capture and
dissect him, Hannibal King visited a cemetary and wept at his lack of a
final rest while Blade attempted to make a mango cream pie and Drake
spent time with his wife Marlene.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited I#1/3) - When animated stone
gargoyles attacked the young Maria and her uncle Bobby as they were
preparing for Maria's role as an angel in a street celebration, the
Nightstalkers arrived on the scene to stop the gargoyles. As Maria
watched, unsure whether the gargoyles or the Nightstalkers were worse,
the Nightstalkers brutally took down the gargoyles. Maria eventually
began to root for the Nightstalkers, who ultimately had Maria turn away
while Blade killed the biggest gargoyle. Now safe, Maria went on with
her celebration dressed as an angel and, as she looked down at the
crowd, she noticed the three Nightstalkers amongst the crowd,
celebrating a triumph of good over evil.
(Nightstalkers I#3) - Blade's fanatical training was interrupted by Hannibal King, whom Blade nearly stabbed with his sword if not for King's catching of the blade. King reminded Blade that he was on his side and Blade quickly came to his senses and left, leaving King to feed on his own blood spilled by his catching of Blade's sword. While Hydra's Lt. Belial led the DOA in attacking a military unit and divining that Hydra would need to take out Blade and Frank Drake to get to Hannibal King, the Nightstalkers met with their ally Keith, who showed them footage of a military press conference in which a high-ranking official seemingly joked about created vampiric soldiers. Determined to investigate the situation, the Nightstalkers tracked 3 military personnel to a nearby hotel, where Hannibal King dusted and found an imprinted address on a notepad they found that led them to the Tropical Forest Pavilion of the Franklin Park Zoo. Finding two military men discussing the vampiric transformation project, the Nightstalkers confronted them, only to find that the military men had no reaction to their presence whatsoever. Discovering that the men were already dead and online mobile due to technology, the Nightstalkers realized they had walked into a trap and were soon attacked by the DOA. During the battle, the DOA member Pyre hit the misted Hannibal King with her heated ash, forcing King to the ground, allowing for Belial to stab King.
(Nightstalkers I#4) - Frank Drake came to following
his earlier attack from the DOA member Innards and tried to rescue
Hannibal King but Innards held Drake back using a string of intestines
while Blade fought his way to Rotwrap, only to be downed by Pyre. As
the DOA rounded up Hannibal King and departed, Frank Drake argued with
Blade, who claimed the vampiric King was not worth their trouble. Drake
managed to convince Blade to help rescue King and the two chased the
DOA as they attempted their escape. The DOA eventually managed to kill
Ben and Ally, a couple preparing for a hot air balloon ride, and
commandeered their balloon. Blade got Frank Drake close enough to jump
onto another balloon belonging to a man named Artie and promised he
would catch back up to help rescue King. As Blade grabbed the ropes
dangling from the DOA's balloon, Drake confronted Artie and his friend
inside and commandeered that balloon to pursue the DOA. Blade crawled
his way up the rope and knocked Innards out of the DOA's balloon and
disabled Malpractice's control of the reanimated limbs he manipulated.
Frank then hit Pyre with his Exorcist Gun, causing her to panic and
lose control of her fiery powers, torching the DOA's balloon. During
the scuffle, King revived, removed the stake in his chest and joined
the fight, knocking out Rotwrap and rescuing Blade from the burning
balloon. Regrouping with Frank Drake on the ground, the Nightstalkers
watched the DOA's balloon crash and later relaxed at their offices,
Blade and Hannibal King coming to an agreement with each other
concerning King's vampiric nature.
(Nightstalkers I#5) - The Nightstalkers took on a group of sacrificers, with Frank Drake venturing out alone. After he destroyed their sacrificial daggers with "Linda" and the cult pulled out guns, Drake called Blade and Hannibal King for backup. During the battle, one of the cultists attempted to use the daggers to summon forth the "lords of the pit" but Blade took down the cultist and soon, the remaining cultists bowed to Hannibal King, whom they thought was their savior. Sickened by their worship of him, Hannibal King unleashed a pack of dogs on the cultists and afterwards, asked the others what they were becoming. Drake replied that they didn't ask for their own lives to be corrupted by the supernatural but reminded King that they could continue to protect others from its influence. The cult's leader, Shiv, escaped over a nearby hill and killed the Casim family in their car but the father, Adam Casim, caused Shiv to drop a road flare onto the car's gas tank, which exploded. Alerted to the scene by the explosion, the Nightstalkers arrived to see Adam fighting Shiv, surrounded by fire. Drake quickly knocked Shiv away while Hannibal King rescued Adam. Blade then took down Shiv personally before the Nightstalkers turned both Adam and Shiv over to the authorities for medical treatment. Back at the Borderline Investigations offices, a drinking Hannibal King turned down an applicant for a phone receptionist position, who had heard about the job via a newspaper ad taken out by Frank Drake. When Drake returned, King asked why Drake had taken out the ad and Drake replied that he was attempting to give their partnership better public relations. King argued that they couldn't hire an additional employee without blowing their cover as supernatural hunters and Blade expressed a desire to forget the cover and take their war on the supernatural into the open.
(Nightstalkers I#6) - The Nightstalkers were recruited by Mrs. LaFountaine, who had been scammed by a false svengali. Blade threatened the svengali into returning Mrs. LaFountaine's money and Drake commented how it was nice of them to handle actual private investigative work instead of supernatural work for a change. He then explained to King and Blade that he had been going over their encounter with Shiv and discovered the possibility that Shiv's victim, Adam Casim, had been infected with the same supernatural energies that had empowered Shiv. Shortly thereafter, while Frank Drake and Blade gathered information about Adam Casim via reports of Casim's attack on a local psychic. After hearing from Hannibal King about Casim's recent rampage, the Nightstalkers tracked down Shiv at a local occult store, unaware that Casim was outside of the store. As the battle progressed inside the store, the Nightstalkers knocked Shiv into the alley outside, where the Punisher was confronting Adam Casim. Casim immediately attacked Shiv but Punisher warned Casim to stand down and the Nightstalkers, who emerged from the occult store, reiterated Punisher's sentiments. Refusing the vigilantes' advice, Adam killed Shiv, prompting Frank Drake, Blade and Punisher all to fire on Casim, killing him despite Hannibal King's protests that Casim's situation was not his fault. Afterwards, Punisher departed and Hannibal King asked if the shopping Mrs. LaFountaine was ok. She replied that she was and asked the same of King, who replied that he may not be.
(Nightstalkers I#7) - After Ghost Rider seemingly
attacked Frank Drake and Hannibal King at an old church, the duo
radioed for backup from Blade, who arrived and attacked, only for
Hannibal King to halt Blade's attack in an effort to hear why Ghost
Rider was there. Ghost Rider then explained that they had earlier
formed their "Nine" alliance to defend against dark forces and that
forces in Boston sought to break down the barrier preventing those
forces from invading Earth. The Nightstalkers then agreed to a truce
with Ghost Rider in order to find the dark forces Ghost Rider spoke of
and shortly thereafter, the Nightstalkers and Ghost Rider tracked down
the demonic Stonecold, who had been harvesting flesh from those he
killed. After Stonecold temporally displaced Ghost Rider to his earlier
location, he briefly disabled Frank Drake by causing him to see a
vision of the future involving a murderous Blade. While Drake was
distracted by the vision, Stonecold made his escape, leaving Ghost
Rider, Hannibal King and Blade to question why the entranced Drake let
Stonecold get by.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited I#2/3 (fb) - BTS) - The D.O.A. paid voodoo hougan Rene Discard to kill the Nightstalkers on their behalf. Suspecting that Blade would be more susceptible to his slave Angela's charms than the other Nightstalkers, Discard lured Blade to the Caribbean nation of Ile Pabo using Angela and his demon servants. Discard then had the demigod Petit Jean attempt to kill Blade but Blade managed to kill all present and leave the scene just as emergency crews were arriving.
(Morbius I#10) - Following a series of grisly murders, Frank Drake suggested to Hannibal King that it might be time to put Morbius on the Nightstalkers' hit list. King was reluctant, commenting that the murders did not much seem like Morbius, who usually only wanted to rid himself of his vampirism, but Blade interrupted, claiming that Morbius had to be stopped. Unwilling to jump to conclusions, King misted into another room and phoned Morbius to warn him that the vampire problem had to be taken care of before a mistake Morbius would live to regret would occur. After Morbius later woke up with what appeared to be his victims, he sought out Hannibal King at Borderline Investigations in hopes of using Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun to cure his vampirism. King admitted that he was not sure that the recent New York killings were Morbius' doing but warned that Blade and Frank Drake did not share his sympathy. Morbius then claimed he had dealt with the killings and sought King's help, warning that if King was not the key to his salvation, Morbius would not be responsible for his life-threatening actions.
(Nightstalkers I#8) - While Hannibal King fought with Morbius in a cemetary over Morbius' desire to use Drake's Exorcist Gun as a cure, Frank Drake watched as Keith Roberts filmed Blade in action. When Keith asked Blade for more emotion, Blade angrily reminded them all of the Nightstalkers' mission to hunt the supernatural. Blade's outburst reminded Drake of his earlier vision of a murderous Blade. Blade then left the room and overheard Borderline Investigations' voicemail from the brother whose anti-occult sister Samantha had received a Darkhold page. Interested in the anti-occult page, Blade secretly removed the voicemail tape and lied to the other Nightstalkers about a lack of calls to Borderline Investigations during a later stakeout. Their stakeout was interrupted when Morbius, who hoped that Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun could cure his living vampirism, attacked the Nightstalkers. After being blasted by the Exorcist Gun, Morbius realized that it did not cure him and tried to flee but Blade pursued and stabbed Morbius. Hannibal King quickly confronted Morbius and reminded Morbius of their earlier encounter in which King tried to say that the Gun would be ineffective. Morbius chose to feed on King who, in turn, fed on Morbius, both to replenish their strength.
(Nightstalkers I#9) - With King and Morbius locked
into feeding off one another, Drake and Blade became determined to
break them apart. Blade rushed at the duo with a spear but Drake
blasted them with his Exorcist Gun to break them up before Blade
brutally impaled King while trying to get Morbius. Once they had been
separated, Blade impaled the severely weakened Morbius on the spear and
King explained that Morbius deserved what he got for ignoring King's
earlier warnings. Morbius managed to break Blade's spear and flee, but
Hannibal King pursued in wolf form, only for Stonecold to enter the
fray and capture Morbius, temporally sending King back to an earlier
location with the same vision earlier glimpsed by Drake of a murdering
Blade. Drake then targeted Stonecold but he was interrupted by the
arrival of Morbius' foe, Vic Slaughter. After Slaughter was prevented
from
feasting on Frank Drake, he fled while Stonecold flew away with
Morbius. After the combatants' departures, King and Drake agreed that
Vic Slaughter and Stonecold had to be stopped but that Morbius was
off-limits, to which Blade argued that they needed to start treating
their hunt for what it was: war. Their argument eventually led to Blade
going off on his own while Hannibal King and Frank Drake tracked down
Stonecold and Slaughter on their own. After learning that Stonecold had
connected Morbius to his immortality-granting perpetual motion machine,
Drake and King was swiftly defeated by Stonecold and Slaughter, with
King briefly losing a hand to Vic Slaughter's bite. King and Drake's
distraction allowed Morbius to escape the machine, buying Drake time to
push Stonecold into his own machine, which Drake then blasted, causing
it to seemingly tear Stonecold apart and roll into the river. Following
Slaughter's escape, Morbius reminded Drake that Stonecold might not
have perished but Drake seemed content that if Stonecold had survived,
he would have to find a new way to regain his own flesh. As they
departed the pier, Blade met with the brother of Samantha Regent, who
had earlier left the voicemail that Blade had kept secret, and insisted
that he would take care of the Darkhold business that Samantha had
become involved in.
(Morbius I#11) - King, Drake and Morbius searched for Vic Slaughter. Frank Drake
barely managed to tell Morbius how lucky he was that Blade was off on
his own before Slaughter found them and whisked Morbius away. As
Slaughter and Morbius fought in the air, Drake and King could do little
more than keep up with the speedy combatants. Eventually, Frank Drake
managed to hit Vic Slaughter with his Exorcist Gun, prompting Slaughter to
riddle the Nightstalkers' vehicle with bullets before Hannibal King
turned to mist and engaged Slaughter in wolf form. Vic Slaughter then
attempted to feed on King while Morbius replenished his strength and
returned to the fight. As Morbius kept Slaughter busy, Frank Drake hit
Slaughter once more with his Exorcist Gun. Happy to see that his
tinkering with the Gun had made it effective against Slaughter, Drake
commented that he could kiss "Linda," prompting King to remind Drake
that it was a gun. Morbius then dismembered Vic Slaughter and King helped
place Slaughter's corpse in an incinerator to ensure Slaughter's
destruction. With the threat of Slaughter resolved, Morbius demanded
that Frank Drake turn the reprogrammed Exorcist Gun against him and
despite reservations at turning the Gun against an ally, Drake did so
to no avail, as the Gun had no effect. King reminded Morbius that he
had earlier tried to tell him it would not cure Morbius' vampirism.
(Nightstalkers I#10) - After learning from a
voicemail backup of the tape Blade had stolen that he was after the
Darkhold page possessed by Samantha Regent, Hannibal King and Frank
Drake met with John Blaze to discuss taking the rogue Blade down.
Tracking down Richard Regent, who had left the voicemail, Drake and
King found him speaking to Blade on the phone about his injured sister
Samantha's location. Drake warned Richard to stand down as King
intercepted the phone call, warning Blade to stop his games and come
back to his senses. Blade refused to stop, accusing his Nightstalkers
teammates of compromising themselves, prompting King and Drake to
regroup with John Blaze. The trio caught up to Blade shortly after,
where Blaze tried to destroy the Darkhold page with his hellfire
shotgun to no avail. Blade managed to escape onto a bus, where he read
the Darkhold page aloud and was offered a chance to revenge himself on
the supernatural. King, Drake and Blaze caught up once more and tried
to separate Blade from the page but despite being removed from its
presence, Blade accepted its offer and was transformed into the
supernatural-destroying Switchblade. Thinking the page had no effect,
Hannibal King ventured close to Blade to check on him and was soon
beheaded by Switchblade, who absorbed King's powers while Blaze and
Drake attempted to flee. Switchblade caught up and killed John Blaze,
absorbing his power while "reassuring" Drake that his human status
prevented him from being targeted. Switchblade then departed on Blaze's
motorcycle, leaving Drake to mourn his Nightstalkers teammate Hannibal
King and Midnight Sons ally, John Blaze. As Switchblade continued his
mission of destruction, Drake met with Ghost Rider to take Switchblade
down.
(Spirits of Vengeance I#13) - After Switchblade
murdered several supernatural beings including other members of the
Midnight Sons, the Darkhold Redeemer Prof. Louise Hastings cast the
counter-spell to Blade's Darkhold page, restoring Blade to normal and
resurrecting those killed by Switchblade, including Hannibal King.
Another Darkhold Redeemer, Modred the Mystic, immediately went after
the weakened Blade but Ghost Rider reminded Modred of Blade's status of
one of the "Nine" and Modred agreed to spare Blade for the time being.
Severely demoralized by the Switchblade events, the Midnight Sons all
went their separate ways and the Nightstalkers dispersed along with the
others.
(Nightstalkers I#11) - After having a nightmare in
which he savagely attacked Blade for previously killing him, Hannibal
King contacted Frank Drake and even Blade himself to schedule a
Nightstalkers grouping to investigate the threat posed by Blade. Prior
to the meeting, Blade and Frank Drake met and Blade admitted that while
he did choose to use the Darkhold page, he had no idea that he would be
the Darkhold's instrument of destruction and that the destruction would
start so close to home. Drake then left to spend time with his wife,
leaving Blade alone with his guilt over his time as Switchblade. While
Hannibal King discussed his vampirism with Georgianna LaFountaine in a
cemetary, Blade picked up the vision-inducing Edge of Intrados dagger
and experienced a vision of his own origins.
(Nightstalkers I#12) - The Nightstalkers battled the living skin formerly worn by Stonecold, eventually causing it crumble to dust after hitting it with Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun. Following the skin's defeat, Frank Drake briefly experienced intense pain he described as if death had walked through him and laughed. The next day, Frank and Hannibal King discussed the previous day's incident before being interrupted by Michele Lidofsky, who offered the Nightstalkers a case involving strange goings on at a Nebraska prison housing her brother. While Frank Drake checked her story via news report, King and Blade argued over whether they should take the case and whether it had to do with the supernatural. Drake soon learned that there was a supernatural connection, based on the reports, and asked Michele for more information. Upon hearing that a priest had made it out of the prison and was ranting about Lilith, the Nightstalkers officially took the case. Once the team had arrived at the Nebraska prison, they found the ground covered in corpses and the inside of the prison much the same. The surviving inmates broke out of their cells and attacked the Nightstalkers in a crazed state, soon overwhelming the trio. Drake eventually managed to scare the inmates away with a blast from the Exorcist Gun before the three Nightstalkers all experienced the pain Drake had felt the previous day. When prison doors continued to open, the Nightstalkers ventured further inside, knowing full well that were likely walking into a trap. On their way in, Blade found an eyeless man ranting about how they had killed a man via electric chair, only for the man to laugh. Continuing their trek into the prison, Hannibal King scouted ahead and was downed by electricity from the killed man, now calling himself Short Circuit. Thinking King dead, Frank Drake fired off blasts from his Exorcist Gun despite Blade's protests that the Gun was electrical and merely feeding Short Circuit. Drake and Blade were then attacked directly by Short Circuit.
(Nightstalkers I#13) - Blade tended to the downed Frank Drake and hurled a knife at Short Circuit, who opened a portal that the knife went into. Realizing that Short Circuit could open doorways, Blade deduced that Hannibal King must have been transported elsewhere by Short Circuit and he picked up Drake to run. Blade's deductions were correct, as Hannibal King found himself on Earth-931113's Manhattan. After seeing the eyeless man (actually the prison's former warden) futilely attack Short Circuit, Blade got himself, the man and Drake into a nearby room and demanded Short Circuit's whole story from the former warden. Frank Drake soon regained conscious and explained that Short Circuit had not left the prison because he was feeding off of its energy. Drake then announced plans to take Short Circuit down but Blade interrupted, explaining that Short Circuit had teleported King elsewhere and they had to get King back first. Blade then announced that he wanted to get King back alone as payback for his earlier betrayal of King during his time as Switchblade. Shortly thereafter, while Drake modified his Exorcist Gun, Blade leapt at Short Circuit and was also transported to Earth-931113's Manhattan, where Hannibal King-931113 ruled as a vampire king. The arriving Blade interrupted King-931113, battling his vampire soldiers before being taken captive by King-931113. Blade then rescued the equally captive King-616 and the two escaped back to Earth-616 as Frank Drake cut off the electrical feed to Short Circuit, whose body began feeding on itself. Shortly after Blade and King-616 returned, Short Circuit crumbled to dust. Following the battle, the Nightstalkers discussed how Blade and Drake had seen visions of the future involving Ghost Rider and John Blaze when they attacked Short Circuit. Before they could depart, Hannibal King asked if Blade always saw him as badly as his Earth-931113 counterpart appeared. When Blade replied that King didn't want to, King grabbed Blade and ordered Blade to stake him if he ever became that. He then asked if he and Blade were friends again, prompting Blade to remind King that they were partners. The reunited Nightstalkers then departed the scene.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited I#3) - The Nightstalkers
visited a New York occult bookshop for Hannibal King to add certain
books to his collection and Blade to obtain a new knife. Frank Drake
admitted that he had accompanied the group to New York because someone
had delivered a letter mentioning an increase in crime due to the
occult. Drake further explained that the letter could not have been
delivered by accident and figured the Nightstalkers could investigate
while they were in New York. Following the bookstore, the Nightstalkers
visited the home of Brian Kornfield, the young man that had delivered
the letter. Ms. Kornfield let the Nightstalkers inside and explained
Brian had been missing all day, and how he idolized superheroes.
Unaware that the mutated Spider-X was watching their conversation with
Ms. Kornfield from outside, the Nightstalkers learned that Brian seemed
to take things personally when superheroes had not yet found Ms.
Kornfield's recent mugger. Ms. Kornfield soon noticed Spider-X at the
window, prompting Spider-X to burst through the window and attack the
Nightstalkers. Sensing Blade's recent connection to the Darkhold,
Spider-X attacked him before accusing the Nightstalkers of upsetting
the innocent Ms. Kornfield. Thinking he was protecting Ms. Kornfield,
Spider-X kidnapped her and departed the Kornfield home. Unsure whether
Spider-X was actually a Darkhold-mutated Spider-Man or something else,
the Nightstalkers followed him, arriving as Spider-X began throwing
objects at gawking bystanders who were terrified at his appearance.
Cornering Spider-X, the Nightstalkers readied themselves to destroy
Spider-X but upon hearing that the villain Paralyzer was downtown,
Spider-X fled towards downtown, leaving the Nightstalkers behind, where
Ms. Kornfield revealed that the dead body she had seen at her place was
that of her recent mugger. The Nightstalkers admitted that her mugger
seemed to have paid dearly for his crimes. The Nightstalkers eventually
met up with Ghost Rider and the other Midnight Sons in their search for
Spider-X and, together with the true Spider-Man, they battled Spider-X
at an abandoned power plant, unaware that the villain Paralyzer was
present. Paralyzer eventually unleashed the living dynamo Zzzax against
the heroes and Spider-X perished attempting to fight Zzzax, who was
overloaded by the combined power of the Nightstalkers, Spider-Man,
Spider-X, Morbius and the Darkhold Redeemers. Following the battle, the
Nightstalkers remained behind to ensure Paralyzer's surrender.
(Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#59 - BTS) -
Sensing that Lilith and her Lilin were about to invade the Earthly
realm, Doctor Strange regretted not being able to better train the
Nightstalkers and their fellow Midnight Sons against the impending
threat of the Blood.
(Nightstalkers I#14 (fb) - BTS) - John Blaze summoned the Nightstalkers alongside the other Midnight Sons to announce Lilith's death.
(Nightstalkers I#14) - Blade drew his sword on Blaze,
who warned Blade to back off despite Blade's insistence that he would
not back off until seeing Lilith's body. Hannibal King reminded Blade
that Blaze was not their enemy as Morbius arrived to their meeting as
well. The bickering amongst the Midnight Sons continued until Ghost
Rider and the arriving Darkhold Redeemers broke up the arguments. Still
angry that Ghost Rider and Blaze were not able to produce Lilith's body
as proof of her death, the Nightstalkers struck out on their to make
sure Lilith was dead. As they departed, they warned that if Lilith
wasn't dead, they would kill her, and if she was truly dead, the
Midnight Sons' alliance would no longer be needed and they would be
coming after Ghost Rider. As they drove away and into Queens, New York,
the Nightstalkers noticed an intense fog in the area.
(Amazing Spider-Man II#699.1 (fb)) - Despite how his allies reminded him of the monster he had become, Morbius fought alongside the Nightstalkers as a member of the Midnight Sons to remind himself of the humanity he had lost and what he should have left caged.
(Nightstalkers I#14) - Noticing that the people inside the fog were motionless, Hannibal King tried to help one of mist victims, only to find him seemingly faceless and crumbling apart on King's touch. Monstrous creatures soon erupted from the fog and were repelled by Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun. Before making the call to alert the other Midnight Sons, Hannibal King decided to transform into mist and fly above the supernatural mist and while he was in the air, Frank Drake and Blade were attacked by the Lilin Bad Timing. The fight was soon joined by Ghost Rider, who had come to apologize and agreed with the Nightstalkers that Lilith's death should have been assured. Regrouping with the other Midnight Sons, the Nightstalkers agreed to split up into two teams, with one team investigating Lilith's seeming death while the other investigating the supernatural mist surrounding Cypress Hills Cemetary. Hannibal King then joined Ghost Rider, Blaze, Vicki Montesi and Sam Buchanan to check the status of Lilith while Blade and Frank Drake remained with the others to investigate the mist. Once King had left, Morbius led Blade, Drake and the others into the mist, where Morbius seemingly disappeared. Blade and Drake followed, unaware that Lilith was present and had hoped for the Midnight Sons to split their ranks.
(Morbius I#16) - After Blade and Frank Drake were captured by the Lilin, the Lilin invaded Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum when the Lilin Bloodthirst influenced Morbius into betraying his Midnight Sons teammates by leading them there. Hannibal King was reunited with the captive Blade and Frank Drake when they were dragged along during the Lilin invasion. Feeling that he never should trusted Morbius earlier, King attacked Morbius before Morbius left the battle to attack Dr. Strange, who imprisoned Morbius in a mystic field. Morbius eventually regained his mind from Bloodthirst during the battle and returned to attack the Lilin holding Blade, Drake and other Midnight Sons captive, allowing them to enter the fray as well. Despite Morbius' aid, Frank Drake and Blade immediately attacked Morbius for betraying the Midnight Sons. Drake soon turned his attention to the Lilin Parasite, who was possessing the body of Morbius' lover Martine Bancroft, while Blade continued the attack on Morbius.
(Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#60) - After Dr.
Strange mystically sealed the Sanctum Sanctorum off from the Lilin,
Frank Drake asked Blade if he had seen Morbius but Blade told Drake to
keep an eye on Dr. Strange, whom Blade imagined was just as dangerous
as their enemies. When the Lilin Scatter managed to find a way into the
Sanctum, Hannibal King joined Ghost Rider, Blaze and Vengeance in going
after the Lilin but Scatter fragmented the heroes' thoughts, causing
King to become unable to change back to normal and hit the wall in his
bat form. Scatter's powers soon began to affect the others, causing
Blade to hallucinate Morbius' earlier Bloodthirst-influenced killing of
his Midnight Sons teammate Prof. Louise Hastings and attack Morbius.
Frank Drake and Hannibal King were soon affected by another Lilin,
Sister Nil, who incapacitated them by forcing the duo, along with other
Midnight Sons, to relive their worst agonies. Blade shortly after came
to his senses, allowing Morbius to take down Sister Nil. King, Drake
and Blade reunited with the other Midnight Sons following the battle
with Sister Nil and Blade accused Dr. Strange of harming his servant
Wong when Strange sent Wong away for his own protection. In an effort
to prove himself to Blade and the other Midnight Sons, Dr. Strange
announced that to wrest victory from disaster, they must force the
devastation to its completion. He then cast a spell that obliterated
the Sanctum Sanctorum, leaving the Nightstalkers and the other Midnight
Sons out in the open against the Lilin.
(Spirits of Vengeance I#17) - As the Lilin rushed to attack the Nightstalkers and their Midnight Sons allies, Caretaker found a door and used it to transport the Nightstalkers and the other Midnight Sons into the ancient Blood's Nightclub headquarters. From there, all of the Midnight Sons agreed that there was nowhere they would be safe from the Lilin and they decided on a frontal assault on Lilith's forces. During the assault, the Nightstalkers and several other Midnight Sons held back the Lilin while Ghost Rider, John Blaze and Vengeance ventured inside Cypress Hills Cemetary to confront Lilith's ally Zarathos. After Dr. Strange sealed the Lilin's Shadowside dimension from Earth, Caretaker sensed a disturbance in the dimension rift and ordered the Midnight Sons to retreat into the Nightclub. As the Midnight Sons prepared to retreat, Zarathos' ancient followers, the Fallen, emerged from the rift and captured Caretaker.
(Nightstalkers I#15) - The Nightstalkers battled the
remaining Lilin before they were banished to the Shadowside dimension
and the Nightstalkers were summoned to the rift by Dr. Strange. Annoyed
that yet another menace had sprung up in the form of the Fallen, the
Nightstalkers grumbled and John Blaze asked what was wrong with them,
as their help may be needed to save the entire planet. Hannibal King
argued that Blaze and his crew were the ones who continued to let
demons out of bottles and tried to convince Blaze that the occult was
nothing more than a booby trap, reminding him about the Nightstalkers'
mission to shut everything occult down. Blaze accused all of the
Nightstalkers of having a lousy attitude and Frank Drake replied,
threatening Blaze to make them change their attitude. Dr. Strange
quickly ended the argument, reminding all present that their focus
should be on the Fallen. Despite Strange's speech, the Nightstalkers
agreed to go off on their own, feeling that any help they provided to
the other Midnight Sons wouldn't do any good. Blaze considered going
after the Nightstalkers but Ghost Rider told Blaze to let them go,
reminding them once more of their focus on the Fallen. Shortly after,
the Nightstalkers heard sounds of the battle between the Midnight Sons
and the Fallen, who had taken Caretaker captive, and decided to rush
back to aid their Midnight Sons teammates. Upon seeing Zarathos, the
Nightstalkers opted to keep a low profile until he departed, after
which Drake had Hannibal King follow Zarathos in mist form. Zarathos
soon blasted his way underneath Cypress Hills Cemetary and the
Nightstalkers decided to follow Zarathos underground without calling in
reinforcements. Zarathos quickly noticed the Nightstalkers and
attacked, sending the Fallen after the retreating Frank Drake and
Blade. While they were distracted, Hannibal King attempted to rescue
Caretaker, who insisted King leave him there to buy the other Midnight
Sons time to mount an attack on Zarathos. Caretaker gave King vital
information to pass on to Ghost Rider, Blaze and Vengeance while Blade
and Drake battled the Fallen. Insisting that they needed to get out of
the Catacombs before they were trapped, Drake told Blade to locate King
and the other Midnight Sons while he held the Fallen at bay. Blade
reluctantly did as he was told and was soon rescued from a cave-in by
Hannibal King. Back on the surface, Blade insisted on going back from
Frank while Hannibal King left to gather the other Midnight Sons.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#146/4) - After Blade had rescued Frank Drake and the two fought off a race of Dust creatures, they made their way back to the surface to find Hannibal King, who had returned to gather them after meeting with the Midnight Sons for the impending fight against the Fallen. The three then left to regroup with the Midnight Sons.
(Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#61) - The Nightstalkers and the other Midnight Sons arrived at the remnants of Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum to find Dr. Strange engaged in battle with the Fallen Salomé. While some of the Midnight Sons tended to their teammate Vicki Montesi, who had been with Strange when the battle began, Hannibal King wondered why Dr. Strange did not appear to be fighting back against Salomé, prompting Drake to comment that maybe Strange was and they didn't know it. The Nightstalkers then watched as Salomé seemingly slew Dr. Strange, leaving only Strange's Cloak of Levitation floating in the air. When Vicki grabbed the Cloak and it disappeared, an angry Salomé blasted the Nightstalkers as well as the other Midnight Sons, forcing them to flee while Morbius attempted to hold off Salomé. Rather than flee, the team watched as a new being calling himself only Strange emerged and defeated Salomé. Unsure who this new being was and suspecting he could be a somehow resurrected Dr. Strange himself, the Nightstalkers regrouped with the other Midnight Sons and followed Strange as he departed the scene.
(Spirits of Vengeance I#18) - Traveling to Cypress Hills Cemetary, the Nightstalkers accompanied the other Midnight Sons as they argued against splitting their ranks once more to destroy Zarathos but a strange dark energy erupted from the mausoleum that prevented all except Ghost Rider, Blaze and Vengeance from entering. After Zarathos seemingly absorbed Ghost Rider's essence, the Nightstalkers joined the Midnight Sons and a freed Caretaker in confronting Zarathos, promising that their battle with him had only just begun.
(Midnight Sons Unlimited I#4) - The Nightstalkers rushed into battle alongside the other Midnight Sons against Zarathos' Fallen, with Frank Drake and Hannibal King battling Atrocity and Blade teaming with Vengeance against Metarchus. During the fight, the being known as Strange resurrected corpses to fight on the Midnight Sons' behalf and when the Midnight Sons forced Zarathos and the Fallen to flee, Strange left the agonized corpses on the ground, forcing Frank Drake to use his Exorcist Gun to put the living corpses out of their misery. The Nightstalkers then accompanied the other Midnight Sons back to the Blood's Nightclub, where they sat at the bar, King drinking and both Drake and Blade polishing their weapons. Once the Midnight Sons learned that the Fallen known as Foundry still lived, the Nightstalkers accompanied them to a South American jungle, where they forced Foundry to reveal her connection to Zarathos. After hearing her story about how Zarathos killed Foundry's son and promised to reunite her with her son if she joined him, the Midnight Sons learned that Zarathos drew power from his Fallen followers and that they could weaken Zarathos by taking the Fallen down. Foundry further revealed a sword capable of killing the Fallen but explained that it must be tempered in the blood of a member of the Blood race. When the Fallen Patriarch, Atrocity and Metarchus arrived, Blade immediately sensed their presence, as did Frank Drake's Exorcist Gun's sensors. Blaze quickly decided that Vengeance, Strange and himself would target Zarathos, leaving the Nightstalkers and the other Midnight Sons to take down the Fallen. Meeting the Fallen as they arrived on Foundry's doorstep, Blade jumped into battle against Patriarch while Frank Drake worked with Caretaker against Atrocity and Morbius teamed with Hannibal King against Metarchus. Knocked back into Foundry's temple home, Blade picked up Foundry's sword, which Foundry named Justicar and insisted Blade use against the Fallen. Despite his misgivings, Blade apologized to Foundry and plunged the sword into her body at her request, tempering the sword with the blood of a Blood. He then slashed Atrocity's eyes and killed him with the sword before tossing Atrocity's body on the ground in front of the other Fallen. Using the sword to free his captive teammates, who dogpiled on Metarchus, Blade disrupted Patriarch's teleportational field, allowing Frank Drake to hit Patriarch with a blast from his Exorcist Gun. Blade then stepped in and used Justicar to deal the killing blow to both Metarchus and Patriarch. Caretaker soon received a mental signal from Blaze that the deaths of the three Fallen were not weakening Zarathos and Morbius realized that their allies and former Fallen Embyrre and Raydar also had to die to completely weaken Zarathos. Morbius teleported back to the Nightclub but before he could reluctantly kill them, Raydar ran through one of the Nightclub's portals to oppose Zarathos, who incinerated Raydar. Sensing her father's death, Embyrre followed through the portal and sacrificed herself to both aid the Midnight Sons and reunite with her father Raydar in the afterlife. The Nightstalkers and the other Midnight Sons followed through the portal and emerged to battle Zarathos, who swatted them aside. Zarathos was soon attacked internally by the spirit of Ghost Rider, who had remained inside Zarathos since his absorption. Taking advantage of the situation, Frank Drake blasted Zarathos several times with his Exorcist Gun while the other Midnight Sons tore into Zarathos, clearing the way for Blade to plunge Justicar into Zarathos' chest, causing an explosion that left only a Zarathos transformed into stone and the empty costume of the Ghost Rider. Following the apparent demise of both Zarathos and Ghost Rider, the Nightstalkers later gathered with the other Midnight Sons at Cypress Hills Cemetary, where Caretaker suggested that the Midnight Sons mystically bond together as an official group to combat supernatural evil. After discussing the prospect, the Nightstalkers asked who would be leading the official Midnight Sons teaming now that the enigmatic Strange had replaced Dr. Strange. Before an answer could be given, Frank Drake immediately agreed to join but was told that his humanity prevented his membership into the order, prompting Blade and Hannibal King to announce that they would not join without Drake. Drake reminded them that the Midnight Sons' mission was more important and agreed to join only as a probationary member and Blade and King finally agreed to join on those conditions. After the Midnight Sons had departed, Caretaker carved an image of their founding of the team on the Cypress Hills catacombs wall.
(Nightstalkers
I#16) - Hydra's Belial sent a Dreadnought to the Borderline
Investigations offices to defeat the Nightstalkers and retrieve an item
in their possession. The Nightstalkers immediately leapt into action
against the robot, with Drake's Exorcist Gun blast diverted by the
robot's hands. The Dreadnought soon electrocuted Frank Drake,
preventing Hannibal King from getting near the robot in mist form.
Blade soon dumped a container of water onto the robot, briefly
short-circuiting it and getting Drake to safety before it began to
self-repair. Hannibal King tried to get inside the robot while it was
down but internal defenses reacted and froze Hannibal King's mist form.
Knowing when he was defeated, Blade pulled Drake away as he retreated
and Hannibal King shortly after rematerialized and thanked Blade for
checking if he was safe. Blade reminded King that he was already undead
and asked if King had retrieved Drake's Exorcist Gun. Realizing that
the Dreadnought had it when neither of them had it, the two conscious
Nightstalkers went back to battle the Dreadnought, which escaped,
leaving the Borderline Investigations offices ablaze as emergency crews
arrived. Sadly watching both their files and all of Hannibal King's
possessions go up in flames, Blade and King got Drake medical
treatment. When Drake came to, he angrily reminded King and Blade that
Hydra could now reverse engineer his Exorcist Gun and equip an army
with copies of it but Blade and King commented that for all they had
done to stop the occult, all they seemed to do was encourage it. Angry
at their self-loathing, Drake reminded King that there were plenty of
people worse off than he and admitted that he was tired of making
excuses for Blade. He then announced that he was going to get his
Exorcist Gun back with or without the help of the other Nightstalkers
and walked away, warning his teammates to stay out of his way. While
Hannibal King tried to drink away his sorrows before planning to leave
Boston, Frank Drake spent time with his wife but remained restless
about his Gun being in Hydra's hands. Marlene admitted that she wanted
Frank to quit fighting the supernatural and start a family but Dr.
Strange's astral form interrupted them, asking for Frank's help in
retrieving not only the Exorcist Gun but several of Strange's items
that were also stolen. Frank agreed to help at the cost of his marriage
and he later reunited with the other Nightstalkers at Dr. Strange's
behest at Blade's home. When Blade admitted that Strange had not
convinced him to rejoin the Nightstalkers, Strange revealed that he had
learned that Hydra was creating a cloned vampire using Dracula's DNA.
After Dr. Strange received a mystic alert from a signal he was
tracking, he decided it was time to reveal how the three vampire
hunters had become his Nightstalkers. Before he could explain, Blade
received a knock on his door and when he answered, the Nightstalkers
saw a woman claiming her son had been kidnapped, who introduced herself
as Domini, Dracula's wife.
(Nightstalkers I#17) - Seeing Domini again put Hannibal King in shock and he attacked Domini. Drake and Blade soon jumped in to restrain King, who soon transformed into wolf form. Blade quickly warned King that if he harmed Domini, he would be forced to kill King. King soon calmed down and they agreed to hear Domini out. Despite Dr. Strange's reminder of the mystic artifacts in Hydra's possession, Domini explained that her son Janus had been kidnapped by one of Dracula's old enemies. Dr. Strange interrupted, admitting that he had manipulated the Nightstalkers into forming in the first place, unaware that he was being watched by the Fallen Salomé. Strange continued, admitting that he had plagued Drake with occult visions, had released Blade from the mental institution and gave King limited information on his vampirism in an effort to band the three together as the Nightstalkers against Lilith and the crumbling Montesi Formula, which had previously destroyed all vampires. Angry that Strange had manipulated them, the Nightstalkers argued despite Strange's insistence that they did not have time to be bitter. The Nightstalkers soon calmed down somewhat and Frank agreed to help Strange in order to get the Exorcist Gun out of Hydra's hands and convinced Hannibal King to help as well since, if Hydra equipped their agents with Gun copies, they would soon be after King. Drake then announced that once the mission was completed, the Nightstalkers would be officially disbanded and Dr. Strange could have the Exorcist Gun for safekeeping. Domini protested, claiming that her son needed to be found, but Drake explained that she had no proof the occult was involved and the Nightstalkers would only get in the way of an FBI search. Unfortunately, Blade refused to go with King and Drake, revealing that he agreed with Domini that her child took precedence. Dr. Strange later returned to report that the Exorcist Gun was in the hands of the Dracula clone, now calling himself Bloodstorm. While Drake went through some of his belongings and King and Strange discussed a plan of attack on Bloodstorm, Blade visited Coney Island, the last place Domini's son Janus had been seen. After interrogating the manager of "the Sea," a Coney Island restaurant, Blade found himself surrounded by thugs, whom he easily took out. Upon interrogating the last conscious thug, Blade learned that they had been hired by an Indian man who had a kid with him and that the man was leaving town that night. Blade then ordered the thug to drive him to Kennedy Airport and call in a bomb threat to stop the plane. On the way, the thug knocked Blade out of the car window and tried to swerve Blade off of the car and into the road. After an actual bomb went off on the plane, Blade rushed to get the passengers out safely and noticed the Indian man, whom he grabbed and was stunned to learn was his old ally Taj Nital.
(Nightstalkers I#18) - Taj Nital soon revealed himself as a vampire and bit Blade, who was unaffected by the vampire bite. The police present also fired on Taj, unaware of his vampiric status, forcing Blade to dodge their bullets. Realizing that Taj should have known about his immunity to vampire bites and that Taj must be under mind control, Blade decided to allow Taj to take him to his master in an effort to learn who was behind Taj's attack and Janus' kidnapping. After an hour of flying, Blade found himself delivered to Varnae, Lord of All Vampires. Unaware that Bloodstorm was watching them in Boston, Hannibal King and Frank Drake tracked Bloodstorm via a spell cast by Dr. Strange. During their travel, Hannibal King made a cynical comment about how Drake seemed like hunting more than his wife or a family and Drake yelled for King to shut up, as the cause was bigger than that. After playing possum to learn more about Varnae's plan, Blade attacked Varnae before being recaptured and was surprised when Salomé showed up, proposing to allow Varnae reign over the vampires in exchanging for spreading fear in her name. Varnae quickly ordered the "presumptuous witch" destroyed, to which Salomé opted against sullying her own hands against Varnae in favor of allowing others to do so. As if on cue, Frank Drake and Hannibal King burst in, having tracked Bloodstorm to that location and found the captured Blade. The distraction caused Varnae to lose control of Bloodstorm, who began firing the Exorcist Gun. Seeing his old ally Taj Nital holding Blade, Frank Drake dove at Taj, only to be knocked aside, where he was able to get to his Exorcist Gun. Blade, on the other hand, distracted Taj long enough to sadly stake him. Frank then turned the Exorcist Gun on Varnae, who dominated Hannibal King's vampiric mind and tried to turn King on Drake. King then seemingly perished attempting to assert himself over Varnae, his last words telling his allies how much he loved them. Seeing that Bloodstorm was stirring once more, Frank Drake set the Exorcist Gun on overload and jumped into hand-to-hand battle with Varnae. Blade managed to escape as the entire building went up in a massive explosion. Emerging safely from cover, Blade yelled for his friends, determined to find them alive. Some time later, Blade attended Hannibal King and Frank Drake's funeral alongside Domini, whom he told that all that was left of his teammates were King's form, which crumbled to dust when touched, and Drake's hand, still clutching the trigger of the Exorcist Gun. He continued, telling Domini how good it was that Frank's wife Marlene and Hannibal's friend Georgianna LaFountaine attended the service but commented that Janus was still missing and Dracula could be alive. As they walked off, Blade wondered if it was only the beginning.
(Blade the Vampire Hunter I#1 (fb) - BTS) - With the
Nightstalkers effectively disbanded following the seeming deaths of
Frank Drake and Hannibal King, Blade moved back to New York City for a
fresh start.
Comments: Created by D. G. Chichester, Ron Garney and Tom Palmer.
The Nightstalkers were essentially a renamed grouping of the three supernatural hunters who originally formed Borderline Investigations. Their headquarters were the old Borderline Investigations offices and they still operated on occasion as Borderline Investigations as a cover while calling themselves the Nightstalkers for their true nature of hunting the supernatural. This entry focuses only on their time as the Nightstalkers and not as Borderline Investigations. A larger Borderline Investigations covering their pre-Nightstalkers days can wait for another writer...
While the story in Midnight Sons Unlimited I#2 was a
solo Blade story, Rene Discard mentions being hired by the D.O.A. to
kill the Nightstalkers so I chose to list it as a BTS appearance even
though King and Drake were not directly in the story.
I chose not to list the appearances of Frank Drake
and Blade as actual Nightstalkers group appearances during the
"Midnight Massacre" story, as Hannibal King had been temporarily killed
during the majority of the story and Blade acted as the villain of the
story rather than a member of the Nightstalkers. Due to these events,
the group was essentially broken up during that time and regrouped once
Blade was stopped. I did list the issues where all 3 were present,
however. Similarly, I did not list the issues of the "Siege of
Darkness" storyline in which the Nightstalkers were split up into
separate teams of the Midnight Sons, instead listing only the issues
where they were together as a group.
Oddly enough, the rendezvous that Hannibal King organized in Nightstalkers I#11 was never shown. #11 showed each of the individual Nightstalkers doing their own thing prior to the meeting and ended with the DOA furthering their own plot, then Nightstalkers I#12 starts up with the Nightstalkers already back together. I guess the change in writers from D. G. Chichester to Steven Grant left a plot hole. One can only assume that the Nightstalkers met, discussed the threat posed by Blade and decided to continue working together...
The Nightstalkers appear in a pin-up in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#59 but did not appear in-story.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Nightstalkers have no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Nightstalkers I#16, p1, pan3 (Nightstalkers in their offices, main image)
Nightstalkers I#2, p4, pan4 (Nightstalkers exiting their armored vehicle)
Midnight Sons Unlimited I#1, p36, splash page (Nightstalkers about to battle stone gargoyles)
Nightstalkers I#4, p20, splash page (Nightstalkers watching the DOA's balloon crash from a rooftop)
Nightstalkers I#6, p20, pan4 (Nightstalkers running into action in an alley)
Morbius I#10, p5, pan4 (Nightstalkers discussing their membership in the "Nine")
Nightstalkers I#9, p8, pan1 (Nightstalkers in later outfits including armored Blade & robed Hannibal King)
Nightstalkers I#12, p11, pan4 (regrouped Nightstalkers running into battle)
Nightstalkers I#15, p9, pan2 (Nightstalkers rushing to rescue Midnight Sons)
Appearances:
Ghost Rider III#28 (August, 1992) - Howard Mackie (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Joe Kubert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#1 (November, 1992) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Ghost Rider III#31 (November, 1992) - Howard Mackie (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Joe Kubert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers
I#2 (December, 1992) - D. G. "Ghoulish" Chichester (writer), Ron
"Graveyard" Garney (pencils), Tom "Terrifying" Palmer (inks, colors),
Bobbie "Boo" Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#3 (January, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Ron
Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks, colors), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#4 (February, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Ron
Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks, colors), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#5 (March, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney
(pencils), Tom Palmer (inks, colors), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited I#1 (April, 1993) - "On the Wings of Angels"
story - D. G Chichester (writer), Cynthia Martin (pencils), Joe
Rubinstein (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Nightstalkers I#6 (April, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Nightstalkers I#7 (May, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Morbius I#10 (June, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer, colors), Ron Wagner (pencils), Mike Witherby (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#8 (June, 1993) - "Chilling" D. G.
Chichester (writer), "Gargoyle" Ron Garney (pencils), "Putrefying" Tom
Palmer (finishes), "Malevolent" Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited I#2 (July, 1993) - "The Lure" story - Gary Cohn
(writer), Kevin Kobasic (pencils), Brian Garvey (inks), Hildy Mesnick
(editor)
Nightstalkers I#9 (July, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Mark Pacella (pencils), Don Heck (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Morbius I#11 (July, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer, colors), Ron Wagner (pencils), Mike Witherby (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers
I#10 (August, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Kirk Van Wormer
(pencils), Mark Badger (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Spirits of Vengeance I#13 (August, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer), Adam Kubert
(pencils), Joe Kubert, Dan Green, Klaus Janson, Frank Spinks (inks),
Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#11 (September, 1993) - D. G. Chichester (writer), Kirk
Van Wormer (pencils), Bill Anderson (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Nightstalkers
I#12 (October, 1993) - Steven Grant (writer), Kirk Van Wormer
(pencils), Vince Giarrano (pencils, inks), Bill Anderson (inks), Hildy
Mesnick (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited I#3 (October, 1993) - Mort Todd (writer,
pencils), Javier Saltares, John Czop, Dougie Braithwaite (pencils),
Vince Giarrano (pencils, inks), Ken Meyer, Jr. (art), Pat Redding, Mike
Witherby, Mark Pennington, Carl Smith (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Nightstalkers I#13 (November, 1993) - Steven Grant (writer), Kirk Van
Wormer (pencils), Bill Anderson (inks), Hildy Mesnick (editor)
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#59 (November, 1993) - Geof Isherwood
(writer, pencils), Sandu Florea (finishes), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Nightstalkers
I#14 (December, 1993) - Steven Grant (writer), Andrew Wildman
(pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Morbius I#16 (December, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer, colors), Isaac
Cordova (pencils), Andrew Pepoy (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#60 (December, 1993) - David Quinn
(writer), Melvin Rubi (pencils), Fred Harper (inks), Evan Skolnick
(editor)
Spirits of Vengeance I#17 (December, 1993) - Howard Mackie (writer),
Henry Martinez (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Nightstalkers I#15 (January, 1994) - Steve Grant (writer), Andrew Wildman (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#146 (January, 1994) - "Siege of Darkness, Part 14: Dust, Part 2 of 2" story - Steven Grant (writer), Lawrence Brown (art),
Richard Ashford (editor)
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme I#61 (January, 1994) -
David Quinn (writer), Melvin Rubi (pencils), Fred Harper (inks), Evan
Skolnick (editor)
Spirits of Vengeance I#18 (January, 1994) - Howard Mackie (writer), Henry
Martinez (pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Midnight Sons Unlimited I#4 (January, 1994) - D. G.
Chichester (writer), John Hixson, John Bridges (pencils), Bill
Anderson, Rich Rankin, Scott Koblish (inks), Evan Skolnick (editor)
Nightstalkers I#16 (February, 1994) - Frank Lovece (writer), Bill Wylie (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Nightstalkers I#17 (March, 1994) - Frank Lovece (writer), Ed Murr (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Nightstalkers I#18 (April, 1994) - Frank Lovece (writer), Doug Wheatley (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Blade
the Vampire Hunter I#1 (July, 1994) - Ian Edgington (writer), Douglas
H. Wheatley (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Chris Cooper (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#699.1 (February, 2013) - Joe Keatinge, Dan Slott
(writers), Valentine Delandro, Marco Checchetto (art), Stephen Wacker
(editor)
First Posted: 10/31/2015
Last updated: 10/23/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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