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Tomb of Dracula #1

Apr 1972
Gerry Conway, Gene Colan

Tomb of Dracula #1 cover

Story Name:

Dracula


Synopsis

Tomb of Dracula #1 synopsis by Julio Molina-Muscara
Rating: 5 stars

On a rainy night in Transylvania, Frank Drake, his girlfriend Jean, and their friend Clifton Graves drive a hilly road to a castle that was owned by Count Dracula himself. But an accident prevents them from reaching their destination. Returning by foot to a nearby village, they hire a carriage at a tavern where the locals express fear and cautious about the abandoned castle.

As the carriage leaves them in front of the castle, Frank remembers what took him there. His father, a laborious man, passed away and left him a million dollar inheritance. Frank misused it, spending it all in a few years. When his friend Cliff found out Frank was a direct descendant of Dracula and owned a castle (unsold for lack of a buyer), Cliff convinced Frank that it was a great tourist opportunity that could bring new fortunes to both of them. Researching about the matter, Frank read an old diary written by his family with stories about Dracula. The book stated that the man vampire met death at the hands of a grandson, Van “Helsing,” who stabbed him through the heart in his sleep.

Entering the castle, Frank senses he’s been there before. As Jean recovers from an attack of bats, Cliff leaves the trio to check on the castle. He falls through a rotten floor to a hidden passage, the tomb of Dracula. In a coffin lays a skeleton with a stake in the chest. Bingo! Cliff, believing the vampire legend to be scuttlebutt, now needs to steal the castle from Frank, and conquer Jean, his real agenda from the start.

Making a grave mistake, Cliff removes the stake from the skeleton, and Dracula is once more!

Horrified, Cliff removes a gun from his coat and shoots repeatedly. But his regular bullets are worthless against the revived vampire who throws him into a pit.

Meanwhile, Jean and Frank stumble upon a hole in the floor; a bat comes through it and transforms into Dracula!

Unbelieving in his own eyes, Frank holds Jean, but she walks to the Count, irresistibly attracted by him. Frank punches his girlfriend cold to save her and, using her silver compact, successfully repels Dracula, who flies away like a bat.

Thirsty after a hundred-year sleep, Dracula finds comfort in the blood of a prostitute. Villagers find her dead body and, armed with torches, march to the castle.

Back in the lair, Dracula finds Jean asleep and moves to taste her young blood. But a crucifix on her neck halts him. Frank enters the room holding the silver compact and reveals Dracula they’re relatives.

The Count knocks him out and reaches for his cousin’s neck as Jean wakes up. Following Dracula’s wish, she throws the crucifix away.

The villagers reach the castle and set it on fire. Frank wakes and carries Jean outside, but she’s dead. As the locals return to their homes, Jean, with long fangs, tells Frank that she’s alive and walks away following a flying bat.

--


 

Review / Commentaries


Tomb of Dracula #1 Review by (June 2, 2018)
In the early 70s, the Comics Code Authority (CCA) eased up on what stories were allowed in comic books. Marvel jumped at the opportunity and introduced several monsters, including the classic vampire man, Dracula. Written by Gerry Conway with art by Gene Colan, the first issue is a compelling, horror-centric tale, beautifully adorned by Colan who seems born for drawing this character. With an apt cliffhanger, the new series promised a bright future. As history would confirm, such expectation was not the stuff of legend.

Additional Review by Peter Silvestro: TOMB OF DRACULA changed my life—or at least my hobbies (c’mon, it’s only a comic book). Like most kids of my generation (the 1960s), I was raised on the classic Universal monsters and horror films in general but then I came across a coverless copy of TOD #1 at a local store (yes, I know it’s illegal to sell them like that but what did I know, I was only a dumb kid) and I was stunned! At the time, I was buying mostly DC comics I was used to getting two or three short stories to an issue; I didn’t like Marvel because we tended to get only a part of a story. [The first issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN I bought was issue #48 introducing of the second Vulture; the issue ends with Spidey being knocked to a rooftop and apparently dying. It took me literally forty years to find and read issue #49. SPOILER ALERT: Spidey survived.] But then I saw this Dracula comic; it featured one of the classic monsters but further inspection boggled my mind: an issue-length story with a complicated plot and interesting regular characters with a promise of more to come! And with that perfect art by Gene Colan! I was hooked! And at 13, I was now old enough and responsible enough to make sure I could find every monthly issue! And now I have nearly a complete set in originals and what I didn't get then, I have in reprints! And now, due to popular demand, I get to write them up for the Marvel Heroes Library!

Additional Comments by Peter Silvestro: This title, at seventy issues, is the longest-running comic series where the main character is a villain. First appearances of Frank Drake and Clifton Graves. Dracula’s skin is colored white in issues #1-3; with #4 he is given the standard Caucasian flesh tone with white highlights. This issue suggests that Dracula has been dead in his coffin since he was staked at the end of Bram Stoker’s novel at the end of the 19th century; in issue #15, this is retconned to Dracula only having been dead about three years to allow more time for adventures in the 20th century. At the end of this tale, Jeannie comes back as a vampire immediately; it is later established that a person who dies of a vampire bite returns after three days. Error: Artist Gene Colan seems to keep mixing up a cross (a cross) and a crucifix (a cross with the figure of Christ on it); all we see is the former when the latter is mentioned.  

 



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Gene Colan
Gene Colan
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Neal Adams (Cover Penciler)
Neal Adams (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Plot: . Letterer: John Costanza.
Editor: Stan Lee.

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