The Curse Of Dracula!

The Curse of Dracula is a three-part vampire tale about the the most infamous vampire of all time by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. But this one was done in the late 90's for Dark Horse Comics and bares only a slight resemblance to the Bronze Age classic. For one thing the cover above shows Dracula in his gothic finery, but the comic itself seeks to modernize him and has him wear a leather jacket throughout. It's worth noting that "Curse of Dracula" was the brand given to the Drac stories told in his Giant-Size series. Nice to see it get some cover treatment. 

This is a brutal story, free of the worries of a Comics Code. The attacks by the vampires are ferocious and there's no shortage of bloodletting or flesh rending. Dracula in this story is the lord of vampires, who even sacrifice themselves to his hunger with glee. The plot deals with Dracula trying to gain influence in the United States government by having his own candidates win elections. 

He is opposed by a doughty team of vampire hunters made up of Simon (no last name) the team's driver, Jonathan Van Helsing who leads the team organized under the Sunlight Industries banner, Nikita Kazan a former KGB agent with some psychic powers, and the utterly strange Hiroshima, a vampire/human hybrid who despite being blind is most deadly. These folks are well known as they operate a reality television show about the paranormal. They hook up with an amateur named Sebastian Seward for the battle in this trilogy. Not all these characters will survive. 

Colan artwork at this time was wildly energetic but it could also be quite confusing on the page. Wolfman's story is fine and there might be an echo of the classic series, but this one is designed to live and die on its own. Apparently after three issues the readers said enough and no more were produced though the story suggests much more could be revealed. The major sticking point for me on this series is that Dracula doesn't look all that intimidating, he in fact looks like a member of the "Lost Boys". This one is fine, but it doesn't match up to the great Tomb of Dracula run. 

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