Eric Brooks has spent most of his crime fighting days as the vampire hunter Blade. Also known as the Daywalker, Blade has stepped out of the shadows donning a couple other costumes in the past. During the Marvel Comics event Infinity (by Johnathan Hickman and Jim Cheung), Thanos’ forces were attacking the streets of New York, during which Blade wore two different costumes. While most of the Avengers’ big hitters were off Earth fighting in space, it was up to Luke Cage to put together a new team of Avengers to protect the streets of Earth’s cities from the rest of the space invaders. Mighty Avengers (by Al Ewing and Greg Land) featured an ensemble of stret-level superheroes tasked with Earth bound concerns. And though they were an odd assemblage of guardians, they were a highly effective team.

Led by Luke Cage, the Mighty Avengers team consisted of some of the most recognizable street-level powerhouses of the Marvel Universe. The roster featured Doc Ock’s Superior Spider-Man, the Blue Marvel, White Tiger, and the new Power Man (Victor Alvarez), Mighty Avengers also featured the debut of Monica Rambeau as Spectrum. But the team wasn’t complete until a mysterious figure donned a throw-away Halloween costume and entered the fray as 'Spider-Hero.'

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How Blade Created the Spider-Hero Persona

During the Mighty Avengers first outing protecting New York City from Thanos’ armies, Blade showed up looking for help from Monica Rambeau on a covert mission to defeat a group called the Deathwalkers. In exchange for her help, Spectrum insists on Blade joining the battle, which he did not anticipate with a proper costume. So, to keep his identity secret during the fight, the two found a costume shop and cobbled together one of the most colorful and on-the-nose Spider-Man inspired suits in the history of homemade Halloween costumes. Thus, although seemingly absurd, the Spider-Hero moniker came into existence.

As Spider-Hero, Blade exhibited similar powers and agility akin to those of Spider-Man. In fact, some of his best scenes are with Superior Spider-Man, as Doc Ock can’t help but channel some of Peter Parker's usually witty banter, which bounces off Blade’s stoicism like he’s wearing a force field instead of a knock-off costume of Ock’s sworn enemy. There's a lot of irony considering the characters involved and an inversion of the typical Spider-Man dynamic.

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Why Blade Adopted the Ronin Identity

After the battle Blade enlisted the help of the Mighty Avengers in his plan to take down the Deathwalkers, unfortunately still stuck in the garish colors of the Spider-Hero costume. In an effort to add a bit of Blade’s usual slick and cool style, he adds his trademark black trench coat over the Spider-Hero suit. This led to a humorous moment where Luke Cage fires a shot at Blade’s attire telling him he should stop wearing his nasty coat if he doesn't want people to know who he is. Shortly after, Blade was presented with the Ronin costume and again changed identities.

The identity of Ronin has been one passed down from several characters and is somewhat complicated. It was first worn by Maya Lopez, aka Echo, during her stint alongside the New Avengers roster. It was then immediately adopted by Clint Barton in the same series. In Japanese culture, a ronin is a master-less samurai, so it’s fitting that Blade used the persona as a means to separate himself from his vampire hunter background that has defined him for most of his life. As Ronin, Blade was able to employ his standard brutal tactics, but the anonymous identity gave him less culpability and allowed him to broaden his methods in his fight against the Deathwalkers much like the other users of the Ronin identity. In comparison to Spider-Hero, Ronin was definitely the more deadly and useful of Blade’s aliases. But the left field fun and ridiculousness of Spider-Hero can’t be beat for a certain segment of fans.