For as long as their have been vampires in stories and popular culture, there have also been those who would see the undead destroyed. Vampire hunters have come in many shapes and sizes over the decades, from kick-ass men of action, to small, blonde women with superpowers, to demonic beings who may end up being just as dangerous as the very creatures they’re hunting. Then, of course, there is the greatest vampire hunter of them all. You can keep Blade and Buffy for yourself. If vampires did show up in my town, I’d want Professor Abraham Van Helsing, learned scholar, vampire expert and the arch enemy of Count Dracula himself, fighting in my corner first and foremost.

Bram Stoker’s second most famous creation (you can argue that, but you’d be wrong) may not have been the first vampire hunter the world had ever heard of, but he certainly set the template for every one which would come after. You’ll be hard pressed to find a vampire story these days which doesn’t have its very own Van Helsing figure. What else is Whistler to Blade than a modern version of Van Helsing, and in the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon gave us an entire group of Van Helsings who worked with the Slayer in the Council of Watchers.

Surprisingly, given the number of times Dracula has appeared on screen, there haven’t been anywhere near as many actors to have portrayed the good professor, and of the ones who have, a great many of them have been awful. Christopher Plummer may be a very fine actor indeed, but his turn in Dracula 2001 was… Well, he was clearly just there for the money. Thankfully, there have also been a couple of great Van Helsings, including your favourite, Peter Cushing. Next year will also see Dario Argento bringing us Dracula 3D, featuring Rutger Hauer as Van Helsing. I like Rutger Hauer, and have a feeling that, even if the film is total crap, had I written this a year later, he would have found his way onto the list.

However, I didn’t, and so, since we have to begin somewhere…

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By Odin's beard this looks worth the wait. Good to see my man Coulson getting such a prominent role.

Got a busy weekend ahead so may not be posting much apart from Something Silly of course, so to tide you over this is what I can gain from what's going on in the world of comics

According to the Hollywood Reporter there's a good chance that the Kenneth Branagh's Thor movie will have a welsh guy playing Thor's father Odin. No it's not me but someone almost as good Sir Anthony Hopkins, if you check out the image above from 1999's Instinct with Cuba Gooding Jr he certainly knows how to rock the long hair and beard combo, all he needs now is is a dodgy eye and a raven on his shoulder and he's away. How reliable this information is this information? Who knows, it was previously believed that Odin would be played by Brian Blessed (although he seems more a shoe in for Volstaag if you ask me) and both Robert De Niro and Jude Law were falsely reported to be in the flick.

Marvel have finally made their way onto the iphone according to Bleeding Cool with the inclusion of some of their titles on the comixology app. Currently you can get hold of Brubaker's run on Captain America, Astonishing X-Men, Marvel Zombies and Age of Apocalypse?! Good news for iphone owning comic book fans but bad news for any comic book company not yet on the iphone...DC...anybody?

And finally over on the Millarworld forums...

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The boys are back in town, don't know what it's about but it's certainly given me a stiffy the size of Florida.