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Tomb of Dracula #69: Review

Apr 1979
Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan

Story Name:

Batwings over Transylvania!

Review & Comments

Rating:
5 stars

Tomb of Dracula #69 Review by (January 25, 2022)

Review: Now that is a surprising cover: Dracula wielding a cross to fight off vampires. And that is exactly what we see: God in His wisdom putting the villain in the place of a hero, giving him the choice of whether to alter his destiny.  Dracula, forced almost against his will to risk his own life to save children. I’ll bet Drac was as surprised to see this as we were. Impressive issue with a focus on one-shot characters and a plug for God as well. Strange and moving. But haven’t got much longer to this comic….

Comments: Part two of three parts.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tomb of Dracula #69 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Once more a vampire, a weary Dracula hurries across the landscape of Transylvania until his enemies catch up to him. It is a swarm of vampires in bat form intent on killing him. He runs, then turns into his mist form to evade the bats and then into his bat form to outrun them. The people of the village hide in fear from the Dark Ones….

A farm woman named Maria Turaka, whose husband and eldest son had died the previous year, now despairs of the life of her daughter Teresa. Covering her fear of the bats with prayer, Maria tells her three younger children to wear crosses about their necks and not to let anyone in, as she takes Teresa in the wagon in search of a doctor….

Dracula flies over the town, slipping through a stable and his pursuers pause to feed on the horses there to gain strength for the chase. A storm begins, Dracula flies near Maria in her wagon and the woman brandishes a cross to drive him off. Dracula, weakened without blood, discovers a cottage and, resuming his human form, bangs at the door. It is the Turaka home and the children are conflicted over what to do but the eldest, Anton, decides to allow the man sanctuary from the pursuing Dark Ones. But Dracula is hungry and he violently refuses the offer of soup….

Maria’s wagon becomes stuck in the mud and she prays to God for help. The vampire hunters, Rachel van Helsing, Frank Drake, and Quincy Harker, discover her and abandon their search for Dracula to take her to the doctor….

Dracula reaches for the children but then discovers they are all wearing crosses about their necks and he recoils. Meanwhile, the Dark Ones have resumed their human forms and are laying siege to the cabin. A vampire breaks open a window to get at Dracula but a cross pressed to his hand forces him to retreat. The vampires batter open the door but they cannot enter without permission and so send a swarm of rats inside. Dracula fights off the vermin and tells the kids to use their crosses to protect themselves. Dracula, realizing the kids are doomed, picks up a cross, even though it burns his hands, and drives off the vampires before him. They take to the skies and Dracula pursues in mist form, with the cross….

Rachel van Helsing, volunteering to check on Maria’s children, finds the house a shambles. The children tell her that a good man was there, telling them to trust in God while he drove the Dark Ones off….



Gene Colan
Tom Palmer
Carl Gafford
Gene Colan (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
Tom Palmer (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Jim Novak.

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