Tomb of Dracula: October 2005 Archives

In the 1970s, Marvel’s growth was hampered by distribution problems. For years, they were distributing titles through DC Comics, which limited their output. When Marvel switched to Curtis distribution, we saw an explosion in the number of monthly comics being produced. One category for that expansion was horror. When the Tomb of Dracula became a best-seller, Marvel selected that character for their foray into black and white magazines. Dracula Lives! debuted in 1973, racked next to Warren’s Vampirella and Creepy.

The first issue with the Boris Vallejo cover had spotty distribution; I never got a copy until just a few years ago on EBay. Unlike the color comic, which took place in 1970s London, the magazine sought to distinguish itself in two ways. For the first few issues, there was one story which took place in the present-day United States. The other stories were more of an anthology, designed to pick up casual readers who usually didn’t buy Marvel comics. Dracula was a natural for this vehicle. Perhaps taking a cue from Marv Wolfman’s special diaries issue of TOD, Marvel quickly spun a mythology around the character, using him in various time periods since the events of Bram Stoker’s novel. We saw Dracula during the time of the Nazis, fighting Count Cagliostro, in Versailles at the Sun King’s court, and in the American Wild West.

One of the better time-lost stories was Dracula vs Solomon Kane, written by Roy Thomas. The latter story featured beautiful artwork by Alan Weiss (click to expand his splash page above). Kane (a creation of Robert E. Howard), a swordsman with a puritanical streak, is rescued by Dracula and receives an invitation to stay at the castle. When Dracula’s ladies of the night fail to seduce him, Kane and Dracula duel to the death. Dracula survives the encounter only by calling upon Kane's devout sense of honor.

I started collecting Dracula Lives with the second issue. The splash page to the lead story (click to expand) was unforgettable. It was the origin of Dracula, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Neal Adams. While this may be common knowledge now (this version has been ripped off many times in movies), at the time it was shocking to see Dracula, in command of his Romanian army, getting impaled on the battlefield. Torac, the Turk commander of the opposing force, brings Dracula to a gypsy healer, who turns out to be a vampire. When Dracula awakes in a prison cell, he’s unaware of what has happened to him. Torac threatens to kill Dracula’s wife (Maria) and son (Vlad JR) unless he orders his remaining forces to surrender. With a sword ready to decapitate Maria, Dracula capitulates. However, when left alone with his wife, Maria tearfully tells Dracula that she was gang-banged by Turkish soldiers while he was in a coma. The Turk storms in and throws Maria to the stone floor, killing her. Dracula snaps. Using his newfound vampiric powers, he breaks his bonds and sucks the blood out of the Turk. Again, Wolfman succeeded in writing a story where Dracula was the hero. Neal Adams rendered the story effectively (if you’re an Adams fan you will have to get this), really making you feel the shock at the death of Dracula’s wife.

Tomb of Dracula Part I: The Best Dracula Ever Made

Marvel Comics marched into the horror decade with Tomb of Dracula. At various times, this (along with Conan) was the #1 selling comic during the 70s. I would argue that Dracula has never been contemporized as well in any form of popular media.

The cover to Tomb of Dracula #1 was by Neal Adams. Gerry Conway wrote the script, and Gene Colan started a penciling run that would last 70 issues without any fill-ins. Dracula was the perfect subject for Colan. Colan was an artist with skills for drawing everyday scenes of life. He used the side of his pencil to create shades and textures unlike any other penciller before or after. When he joined up with Tom Palmer, he had an inker that was capable of rendering all these shadows with ink and color. Colan was a true original, in the vein of Kirby and Kane. His panel layout departed for the usual four, six, nine panel grid to create helter skelter movement across the page.

TOD was unique in that a villain, with plans to conquer the world with vampire hordes, was the main character. He needed a supporting cast, a group of vampire slayers who would oppose him. Quincy Harker, a descendant of Jonathan Harker from the Bram Stoker novel, had suffered a crippling accident as a result of fighting Dracula. He went around in a wheelchair armed with stakes and other gizmos. Harker was joined by his daughter, Edith; Rachel Van Helsing (a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing), his ward; Frank Drake (Dracula’s human descendant); Taj, a mute Sikh who had his throat ripped by Dracula in India. Rachel, with her blond good looks and crossbow, may have been a prototype for Buffy.

The series suffered through a succession of writers until Marv Wolfman came aboard with issue #7. With his arrival, Dracula began acting in a more intelligent manner, as did his opposition. In issue #10, there was the first appearance of Blade. This was a time when the black hero was emerging in popular culture. In the movies, we had Shaft. With Marvel superheroes, we just met Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. In this pack, Blade truly stood out, taking on Dracula single-handed, armed with a set of stakes and his instincts. At first he shunned joined Harker’s crew, and then later gave in to the inevitable.

The storyline that kicked off in issue #12, “Night of the Screaming House” was unlike any serial that I had ever read up to that point. Dracula is tired of Harker’s interference and kidnaps Edith. He lures both Harker’s crew and Blade to a deserted mansion filled with death traps. The vampire hunters survive Dracula’s attacks, only to find that Edith is now a vampire. Quincy stakes his own daughter and vows to kill Dracula once and for all.

Issue #13, “To Kill A Vampire”, continues the story. Quincy shuts down his remorse, cremates Edith, and goes back on the hunt for Dracula. In a flashback we learn of Blade’s origin: the white-haired vampire (Deacon Frost) who killed his mother when she was in labor. We also see a sub-plot forming about Dr. Sun, who wreaks havoc later in issue 20. The vampire slayers track down Dracula’s coffin and attack just before sunrise, preventing his escape. Blade gets lucky and stakes Dracula in the heart on the very last page.