After finishing my run on Werewolf by Night, I decided to go further into supernatural comics by tackling The Tomb of Dracula, another series I did not read as a kid. Fortunately, it is available on Marvel Unlimited.
Tomb of Dracula opens with Frank Drake, his girlfriend Jeanie, and his sorta friend Clifton Graves (how's that for a last name predicting the future). Frank, being the last descendent if the original Dracula, has inherited Castle Dracula and they have travelled to it in Transylvania. Graves has some grave plans for Frank and Jeanie. Any rate, as push comes to shove, Graves removes the stake from Dracula's chest, releasing Dracula from undeath. And things get dicey from there for the trio. Story by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, interior art by Gene Colan, letters by Jon Costa and also in part by Morrie Kuramoto uncredited (source Grand Comics Database). The cover art by the awesome Neal Adams.
The first issue really set the tone of the series, however the next couple of issues were, for me, a bit rocky as part of the narration was written in second person perspective, a style I really don't like. For those who do not know what second person perspective is, I'll give you a bit of an example: "You woke up after a long day's slumber, and upon exiting your coffin, you feel the thirst, the pains of The Hunger hit you full blast. You change into your bat form, and head off into the night, looking for a victim upon whom you can prey upon." That should give you an idea how that perspective works. Fortunately second person perspective in the narration is only used in a couple of issues.
There were a lot of different talent, both in the writing and art, in the next several issues until Marv Wolfman took on the writing duties beginning with issue #7. Also, Larry Lieber, Stan Lee's brother, did the pencils for the cover that same issue when Marv Wolfman took over writing the series, which he continued to do for the rest of the run of the series.
There is a lot of interesting story telling that acts as a successor to Bram Stoker's Dracula, introducing characters including Rachel van Helsing, granddaughter of the van Helsing in the original novel, Quincy Harker, son of Johnathon and Mina Harker, and his daughter Edith, and the silent vampire hunter Taj. And then, in issue #10, we meet Blade!
cover art: pencils - Gil Kane, inks/colors - Tom Palmer, letters - Gaspar Saladino
This issue really takes off with Blade being a not very friendly to Quincy Harker vampire hunter, but he is a hardcore slayer who gets the job done using his wooden knives. Blade went on to be featured in several movies starring Wesley Snipes.
Story by Marv Wolfman (right on!), pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Jack Abel, colors by Petra Goldberg, and Denise Wohl [as D. Vladimer] (source Grand Comics Database). Blade being the uncooperative type, goes off on his own to muddy up Dracula's plans to conquer the Earth, while Cliff Graves finally lives up to his last name. Sorry, a bit of a spoiler there. It was a grave situation for Clifton Graves. Pun intended, even if it was an explosive end, leaving Graves all wet.
Overall I am enjoying The Tomb of Dracula a lot more than Werewolf by Night as it is heavier on the Supernatural, which is what attracted me to both series. The Wolfman is a top notch writer, and he is really showing his mastery over this story line as the plot thickens coagulating blood. Combined with a lot of other talented artists, it makes for a great read.
If you have never read The Tomb of Dracula, then I highly recommend giving it a read, especially if, like me, you have access to Marvel Unlimited. I have no clue as to how much reading quality copies go for, but I bet some of them won't be cheap, especially key issues like #10. Plus the whole series is available via MU.
Thanks for stopping by.