WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wolverine #1, by Benjamin Percy, Adam Kubert, Frank Martin, Viktor Bogdanovic, Matthew Wilson, VC’s Cory Petit and Tom Muller, on sale now.
Wolverine isn't usually at the heart of vampire stories, so it's no surprise that he needs a little help when it comes to the art of vampire slaying. Luckily for him, he had a brief flirtation with a girl who turned out to be the knight in shining armor the clawed damsel in distress needed. Who's the hero so capable that even Wolverine needs her help? Her name is Louise, and she's Marvel's new vampire slayer on the block.
Wolverine first meets the French heroine on the streets of Paris as he tries to track down some bloodsuckers on his own. At first she poses as a harmless girl selling flowers. She offers Wolverine her goods as he brushes her off. In fact, he only seems to notice her long enough for a little flirtation, but when he heads into a bar he doesn't pay attention when she tries to lead him away to a different one. She doesn't say it, but he's entering a vampire bar -- and she doesn't expect to see Wolverine again after that.
Luckily for Wolverine (and the readers) Louise does see the clawed Canuck again, saving his skin as she blasts away a few of the vampires going after him with her trusty UV cannon. Obviously Wolverine has some questions about where she got the perfect weapon for slaying vampires, but Louise plays up the mystery until a little later in the story. At the start, her focus is solely on killing the bloodsuckers around her, and she does so both capably and eagerly. Much of her background remains a mystery, but it's clear she was born to slay.
It turns out that Louise represents an entire faction of vampire hunters known as the Nightguard, although no other members appear in Wolverine #1. Louise is really all the help Wolverine needs in the issue, however. She reveals plenty of handy vampire-slaying tidbits that Wolverine would have never known otherwise. It turns out that the flowers she initially offered him were dogwood roses, which vampires apparently hate as much as garlic. She also offers an entire closet of weaponry to Wolverine for all his slaying needs. And before you can ask, the answer is, "Yes, of course she has a chainsaw."
Although Wolverine turns down all the ashwood crossbows and holy water hand grenades Louise has to offer, it's very likely he'll need her help again down the road. The Vampire Nation, which has evidently united the undead in a manner similar to mutants' own unity under the nation of Krakoa, has their sights set squarely on Wolverine. Wolverine's blood evidently has powerful properties when infused with vampiric magic, and by the issue's end no less than Dracula himself steps out into the sunlight, freed by Logan's blood of his weakness to daylight.
With the Vampire Nation dating back to a small handful of Captain Britain and Namor comics, and Louise and the Nightguard themselves debuting in Wolverine #1 for the first time, Marvel seems fully prepared to ramp up their vampire stories. Luckily, Marvel has created a heroine who can lead the charge against the undead army, and she could well prove to be the world's best vampire hunter yet.