Potential spoilers for Wolverine #11 ahead!
In a sneak preview for 30 Days of Night.
Since the publication of Tomb of Dracula #1 in 1972, vampires have been a presence in the Marvel Universe, and characters as diverse as the X-Men and characters such as Blade have become big stars in the Marvel Universe. Vampires are a constant, lingering threat for humans and mutants alike, and now Wolverine is taking the fight to them in a special look at next week’s Wolverine #11, by writer Ben Percy, artist Scott Eaton, inker JP Mayer and colorist Matt Wilson.
The preview opens with Wolverine on the hunt, going from city to city, tracking down colonies of vampires and exterminating them. As he moves in on his latest prey, a vampire colony outside of Minneapolis, Wolverine recounts the vampire’s horrific deeds, and one in particular stands out: the vampires were preying on towns located in the far northern reaches of the continent, where the nights tend to be longer. The vampires would descend on these towns, which were usually too small for anyone to miss, and massacre the population. The vampires would then take the citizens, now transformed themselves, by rail car to major cities and drop the bodies off, thus ensuring more vampires would continue to be made. The preview ends with Wolverine, claws unsheathed, ready to pounce on the vampires.
Comic fans may recognize a shout-out to 30 Days of Night, which was first a comic book that was later adapted to the big screen. Written by Steve Niles with art by Ben Templesmith, the 2002 comic book miniseries told the story of a small Alaskan town besieged by vampires during a period of extended darkness. The town is extremely remote and because it is located so far north, the sun doesn't come up for a month. This was a clever plan by the vampire of that book as that is a perfect time to attack, and it looks like the vampires in the Marvel Universe have learned a lesson from that as well. It is also a nice homage to a classic graphic novel that was later adapted to an under-appreciated film.
There are questions that remain, such as why Wolverine was hunting the vampires to start with, and they will be answered when Wolverine #11 hits shops and digital platforms on April 14.
