Comic Browser:

#52
#53
#54
#55
#56
#57
#58
#59
#60
#61
#62
#63
#64
#65
#66
#67
#68
#69
#70
Selector

Tomb of Dracula #57

Jun 1977
Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan

Tomb of Dracula #57 cover

Story Name:

The Forever Man!


Synopsis

Tomb of Dracula #57 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 3.5 stars

In 1792, an Englishman is told by an Indian fakir that he has been reborn endlessly and will continue to be reborn until he meets the Dead Man, who will end his life. The Englishman is killed soon after and is reborn elsewhere and the cycle of death and rebirth continues until the present day when he is Gideon Smith, insurance agent, who, like all the others, has a crescent shaped birthmark on his right cheek. On this day he and his girlfriend Glory make plans to visit her sister in Boston and Gideon sees Dracula and knows this is the Dead Man who will be his death….

In Boston, Dracula’s bride Domini confronts cult leader Anton Lupeski about his plans to kill Dracula; she threatens to expose him to her master but Lupeski tells her he would only implicate her in the plot. Assured of her silence, he has his men take her home….

Gideon and Glory arrive in Boston and meet her sister Cindy who takes her to her home, which she calls “Castle Dracula,” making Gideon shudder. As he is getting their luggage, Gideon his struck by a drunk driver and rushed to the hospital….

Nearby, Dracula is feasting on a young victim when he is interrupted by two policemen; Dracula kills the one and the other runs to his home where he locks himself in. Through the locked door, Dracula persuades him to invite the vampire in. The cop draws a crucifix and presses it against his attacker’s face, burning him, before he dies from Dracula’s grip. The vampire then staggers away and collapses in the snow. This is witnessed by an elderly nun….

Gideon awakens in a hospital bed next to an unidentified man with facial burns; two doctors come to check on their mystery patient and find he (Dracula) is no longer scarred. When Gideon sees Dracula’s face he cries out in terror; Dracula kills the doctors for their blood and turns on the panicked Gideon. But then others enter the room, responding to Gideon’s cries and Dracula fights his way through the corridors and comes upon Quincy Harker being examined by a doctor and accompanied by Rachel van Helsing and Frank Drake. The vampire hunters attack their foe but Quincy has a seizure and Dracula seizes that moment to flee. He returns to kill Gideon but the elderly nun enters and her crucifix drives Dracula to escape through the window….

Three days later, the hospital staff are still confused about the vampire in their midst but also by Gideon Smith, whose hair has been bleached white and he is in a state of shock, as though he had seen his own death and knows it is waiting for him….


 

Review / Commentaries


Tomb of Dracula #57 Review by (November 2, 2021)

Review: Another issue focusing on an unusual guest character whose path crosses that of Dracula. This one isn’t as interesting as the others as there really isn’t anything compelling about the Forever Man who is just a basic reincarnation subject, unaware of his other lives. (And kudos for Marv Wolfman making it clear that reincarnation is not a part of Jewish or Christian theology.) And Gideon Smith isn’t a particularly interesting individual and his place in the story is merely to recognize Dracula as the one who is going to kill him. And we won’t ask why Dracula and Domini were in Gideon’s hometown which was a train ride away from Boston where Dracula has been for the last several issues. So what we really have in the story is an account of Dracula tearing up a hospital. We don’t even get to Gideon’s death which was the one thing we were led to believe the story would feature. And Gideon hasn’t been seen since so for all we know he’s still in an asylum in Boston, waiting for Dracula who has forgotten all about him by now.

Comments: The name of Christopher Lee is mentioned. Gene Colan is back to his old habit of drawing a cross when a crucifix is indicated.



> Tomb of Dracula comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Gene Colan
Tom Palmer
Glynis Wein
Gil Kane (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
Tom Palmer (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: John Costanza.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.8.23 (Nov 19, 2024. VS22)

Copyright © 1997-2024 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved