Issue(s): Nightstalkers #11
Cover Date: Sep 93
Title: "Limbus fatuorum"
Credits:
D.G. Chichester - Writer
Kirk Van Wormer - Penciler
Bill Anderson - Inker
Hildy Mesnik - Editor

Review/plot:
Midnight Massacre is over, and my fear was that the main result would be even more angsty tension between the Nightstalkers. Hannibal King and Blade certainly are not on good terms, which is understandable since Blade tried to (and from a certain point of view, did) kill him. But Frank Drake is acting as the go-between, and we see that Blade is repentant, and that Drake is pretty zen about the whole thing.

However, after Drake leaves, the angst begins.

King is also angsting. He's at the cemetary, pouring his heart out to one of the mystics, Georgianna, who the Nightstalkers saved in Nightstalkers #5-6.

That footnote was a little confusing to me (i was looking for a scene in issue #6 showing King being caught between human and vampire), but it's confirmed on the next page that she's someone that the Nightstalker's saved.

And it seems like Georgianna and Hannibal are developing a little romance, or at least a friendship.

This is her last on panel appearance, though.

Blade, meanwhile, wakes up after passing out during his screaming session, and he finds the room a mess and a mysterious knife on the floor. He recognizes it as "the Edge of Intrados" which he immediately uses to perform a ritual.

The ritual shows him the scene where Deacon Frost killed his mother, but he seems to learn new information about some bloody thing in the bed next to him.

We're told that the new memory gives Blade hope, but that's all we learn this issue.

We also see Frank Drake talking to his wife, Marlene, who is trying to convince him to get out of the supernatural stuff. And then the issue ends with DOA attacking the grave of Suze Harlow. We saw her father preparing to defend the grave in Nightstalkers #9. He's not able to put up much of a resistance.

In the grave, they are pleased to find "saliva residue".

And we learn that Suze was killed by Dracula.

I like DOA as a concept, and the Dracula build-up seems cool. But that's just the last couple of pages of the story. And if you don't remember seeing Jeb Harlow two issues ago (or, say, if you were coming to this series thanks to Midnight Massacre), his lack of introduction is a little disorienting. Similar situation with Georgianna. And i expected that this would be a mostly downtime issue after Midnight Massacre, and that it wouldn't be a good one since D.G. Chichester is pretty terrible with character, but it's bizarre to me how everything is being depicted in such a vague and confusing way. In one sense they're just reciting their backstories in lieu of character work (which isn't all that uncommon, sadly). But the story is delivered with multiple dream sequences and illusions and passing references to things that have already happened that we haven't seen (like the meeting between King and Blade mentioned in the first scan). And of course how the Edge of Intrados got to Blade is meant to be a mystery, but it's still handled in a weird way. You'd think Blade would be very against any kind of supernatural ritual after what he's just been through and i'm not sure if he's being compelled to use the knife or what, but everything is happening in ways that seem to drag out and obfuscate the plots, and it gets tiresome very quickly. For better or worse, this is Chichester's last issue. Better because duh, worse because now i'll never know what Chichester was "building" towards.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Note in the first scans that Blade responded to a call from King prior to the start of this story. Blade thought it might have been DOA or Stonecold, but it was really just a chance for King to confront Blade. I bring that up here because it shows that Blade wouldn't think it was weird to be called on a mission, indicating that the Nightstalkers may have already appeared elsewhere as a group between the end of Midnight Massacre and this issue (although it seems preferable for that to not be the case).

References:

• Drake compares Blade's guilt to what Drake feels from when he resurrected Dracula. The footnote points to "Savage Return of Dracula #1" which was a reprint of Tomb of Dracula #1-2.
  
• When Hannibal King is reciting his history, he mentioned being sired by Deacon Frost. The footnote points to Tomb of Dracula #13, but that's actually when we saw Frost killing Blade's mother (which comes up later in the story after Blade uses the Edge of Intrados). We learned that King was turned by Frost in Tomb of Dracula #45.
  
• King was cured of his vampirism when Doctor Strange wiped out all vampires. The footnote here points to Doctor Strange #14-18, when vampires were returned, which is also mentioned in the dialogue, but not at the point where the asterisk for the footnote is placed. Strange (temporarily) wiped out all vampires in Doctor Strange #62.
  
• The Nightstalkers met Georgianna in Nightstalkers #5-6.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A