Who Is Deacon Frost?
Deacon Frost first appeared in TOMB OF DRACULA (1972) #13 by Gene Colan and Ron Wilson. Described as a tall man with slicked-back white hair and eyes that glowed red in even the dullest light, Frost immediately struck an imposing profile. Blade revealed Frost to be the vampire who attacked and killed his mother, Tara Brooks, as she was giving birth to him in a UK brothel. Already showing a penchant for duplicity and guile, Frost posed as Brooks’ doctor just to get close enough to feed on her when she was at her most vulnerable.
Fortunately, Blade survived the ordeal. Ironically, thanks to Frost’s attack, he was born a Dhampir: a human blessed with immunity to vampire bites. He was also gifted a few other diluted vampire abilities, like enhanced strength and reflexes. Unfortunately, Blade also lost his mother to Frost’s bite and entered life as an orphan. As is the case with most familial Super Hero tragedies, he later pivoted his thirst for vengeance into crime fighting and launched a successful career as Marvel’s deadliest and most effective vampire slayer.
Despite Blade’s skill, Frost continued to lurk unfettered in the background of the TOMB OF DRACULA series. He haunted the memories of not just Blade, but his greatest vamp-hunting ally, Hannibal King, who the Daywalker met in TOMB OF DRACULA (1972) #44 by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer. As it turns out, in addition to being the progenitor of Blade’s lifelong misery, Frost was also responsible for transforming an unwilling King into a vampire. As such, King—a one-time private investigator—swore his own revenge on the silver-haired bloodsucker.
With Blade and King busy hunting Frost—and TOMB’s titular Dracula otherwise beset by challenges from demon cults, a particularly vexing picture of Jesus Christ, and the Silver Surfer, of all people—Frost quietly set into motion his most ambitious scheme: to dethrone Dracula and claim the title of Lord of the Vampires for himself. His plan, however, wasn’t just different; it was downright bonkers, thanks mostly to a very, very weird vampire superpower.