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Tomb of Dracula #63

Mar 1978
Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan

Tomb of Dracula #63 cover

Story Name:

The Road to Hell!


Synopsis

Tomb of Dracula #63 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Dracula senses the evil of the mansion on Satan’s Hill he has entered. The captive Topaz tells him how she was seized by the crimson tentacles and brought there to be dressed in a purple toga; she tells him the house is the doorway to Hell….

The hypnotized Frank Drake arrives at the house and enters; Rachel van Helsing, concerned about Frank, arrives but the door will not open for her. Janus too arrives and awakens Frank out of his trance and they encounter Dracula and Topaz. The house’s unseen master addresses them, telling Dracula he has blasphemed his Master too often and must now be humbled and destroyed. Janus represents all that the Master loathes, source of his hatreds and fears. Frank represents all the weaknesses of mankind. Topaz will be a threat to the Master should she learn to harness her empathic powers properly. And they are here to play a game of life and death. Suddenly they are transported to a crowded arena presided over by the red tentacled monster. The monster explains that Dracula and Janus might now fight to the death—and if Janus dies, Topaz will die with him. Instead, father and son jointly attack the monster but their powers are curtailed and they are nearly killed before they can break free. The monster surrounds them with a ring of fire; Janus reveals that the unseen Master is Satan himself and that they are being forced to fight. So, Janus attacks Dracula, professing his love for his father while apparently killing him with his eye beams. The monster is distraught as Dracula was supposed to be the victor. Janus sets it ablaze with his eyes and the illusion is dispelled, the group finding themselves back in the mansion. The enraged Dracula picks up a wooden stake and kills the burning monster. The house is ablaze and Domini has admitted Rachel and they bring Frank out while Janus transforms into the golden eagle and flies out, Topaz choosing to remain with Dracula. The rain extinguishes the fire and Dracula and Topaz find themselves in Hell. A dragon appears before them but it is an illusion which Topaz can dispel. And then they come face-to-face with Satan himself, Dracula’s creator and master, claiming the vampire shall never again leave Hell….


 

Review / Commentaries


Tomb of Dracula #63 Review by (December 14, 2021)

Review: Satan finally rears his ugly head in this issue, since apparently Drac needed someone eviler than himself to fight against. And it should have been no surprise as we were given the name Satan’s Hill to describe the location. The issue is strangely uninteresting with various characters brought in for vague reasons and a rather pointless battle scene in an arena, featuring a monster that seems to be able only to whine about its lot. I’m sure Topaz will have a part to play in the concluding issue of the arc to justify her being pulled in from the defunct WEREWOLF BY NIGHT.

Comments: Part two of three parts. The title suggests the proverb “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions” but is mainly meant literally. First appearance of Satan in this title who seems to be, according to the latest retcon, the same person as Mephisto. And for some reason, the tentacled monster has no name or other designation given to him; it is not even listed as a character in the Marvel Database.



> Tomb of Dracula comic book info and issue index

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Additional Credits
Letterer: John Costanza.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Plus: Domini, Janus Tepes (Son of Dracula), Topaz.

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