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Tomb of Dracula #31: Review

Apr 1975
Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan

Story Name:

Ten Lords a Dying!

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Tomb of Dracula #31 Review by (March 31, 2021)

Review: Enjoyable issue has a few odd points that don’t really slow us down as much as give us pause. A plot about Dracula taking members of the House of Lords into his power seems to have come out of nowhere and vanishes just as quickly. The subplot about the loss of his powers also appears mysteriously but it continues for a few issues. The ten Lords intended to kill Singleton in his office; sounds messy and the police would quickly see through it unless the Lords gave themselves and the building a thorough scrubbing. And was Dracula invited into Singleton’s office? Or does that only apply to private homes? Dunno but Dracula’s sudden appearance on page twelve is a classic. More excitement coming up with the Drac vs. Harker plot. The tale of Taj’s son is dragging on forever, having run in fits and starts since GIANT-SIZE CHILLERS #1/issue #23. Not to worry, it ends soon. 

Comments: Part one of three parts. Title refers to “Ten Lords a-leaping” from the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Frank Drake went to Brazil in issue #27. Dracula was supposed dead by the protagonists in issue #21. Chelm calls Quincy HarkerInspector Clouseau,” the bungling police detective in the PINK PANTHER movie series.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tomb of Dracula #31 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Late one night, Dracula stalks and kills teenaged Mary-Beth Singleton, whose father is Lord Arthur Singleton, having killed his wife a month earlier. Inspector Chelm calls Quincy Harker who recognizes Dracula’s ways and starts planning….

In India, Taj Nital is asked by his wife to kill their vampire son Adri before the villagers storm the house to do it. Taj tries but he can’t harm his son. The villagers arrive and Taj blocks the door, refusing to allow them entrance….

Frank Drake is in Brazil, hired by his old pal Danny Summers for a position in his mine. Frank’s job will be to manage the workers and get the business on track for a government project. The workers are strangely quiet….

Rachel van Helsing is at home and something bad happens to her, left vague until the end of the next issue….

In the Parliament offices that night, Lord Arthur Singleton is approached by ten colleagues, bursting into the room; they are under Dracula’s hypnotic control and intend to kill him. But it was a trap to identify those under the vampire’s power and Chelm and his men enter and round them up. After the police have gone with their suspects and Singleton is alone again, Dracula himself materializes in the room to confront him. But Singleton distracts his enemy with “proof that [he] shall soon be slain.” Dracula tries to force Singleton to tell him where this info comes from and threats and hypnotism do not work on the old man. Then Chelm and his men returns and shoot the vampire with silver bullets with crosses painted on them. Dracula hurls an officer out of a window but when a voice comes over the radio telling Chelm to kill Dracula, the vampire recognizes it as that of Quincy Harker and flies out of the window before Chelm can shoot again, heading for a battle with his oldest enemy….



Gene Colan
Tom Palmer
Tom Palmer
Gil Kane (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
Tom Palmer (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Ray Holloway.

> Tomb of Dracula: Book info and issue index

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