The Tomb Of Dracula - Volume One!

Tomb of Dracula was the most successful of Marvel's many and varied monster series. They tried anthologies such as Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness but those didn't really catch hold. There were werewolves, mummies, spirits, devils, and more, both in black and white and in color. But the color run of ToD stands out in my estimation as the most sophisticated horror comics of its time. It was no small challenge to make a bloodthirsty monster such as Dracula an ongoing star since his untimely demise is the goal of most of the characters in the book. The plots are great but the real key to the comics success was characterization. But it didn't happen overnight. 

The debut issue sports a Neal Adams cover and a story plotted by Roy Thomas and scripted by Gerry Conway. In this issue we meet Frank Drake, the descendant of Dracula who inherits the castle and before you know it the deadly vampire is up and at his neck-biting best. The most important part of this issue though is Gene "The Dean" Colan. Like John Buscema when he at last landed the Conan the Barbarian gig, Gene Colan was the perfect match for this material. No one ever drew Dracula like Colan and no one drew him as effectively. 

Vince Colletta joins the creative team in issue two. Normally I rather like Vince's effect on Colan pencils, but he was not ideal for this project. This issue also proved the last scripted by Conway. 

Archie Goodwin, a horror maven from his days as writer and editor at Warren Publishing steps into the scripting job. Archie will be around for two issues. His most important contribution is the addition of Rachel Van Helsing and her loyal silent partner Taj Nital. Alongside the inexperienced Frank Drake, the "Scooby Crew" for the comic begins to take shape. The other great addition was Tom Palmer on inks. It would take a few months for it to become permanent, but the Colan-Palmer team was on the job. 

Gardner Fox took over the writing for issues five and six. The Colan-Palmer team was still at work. While Gil Kane would do most of the covers for the early days of the run, Neal Adams helped out now and again. 

In issue eight the last important creative piece was put into place when Marv Wolfman took over the scripting chores.  The Wolfman-Colan-Palmer team would become eventually one of the most consistent in all of Bronze Age comics. Wolfman also introduced the veteran vampire hunter Quincy Harker and his daughter Edith, not to forget his trusty dog Saint. 

In issue ten of ToD, this one inked by Jack Abel, we meet one of the most popular characters to rise up out of the monster books, the deadly Blade the Vampire-Slayer. Wolfman really struck gold when he dreamed up this Shaft-esque hero. He was not only not afraid of Dracula, he wasn't even particularly impressed by him. 

I really liked the idea of a team of vampire hunters who are set against Dracula. His schemes and plots are too much for any single hero and having a gang of them allows for potential change in the book. When the villain never changes, the heroes must. 

Wolfman was quite clever in laying the groundwork for slowly developing storylines. Dracula seems to find limits to his powers that mystify him and to an extent us. 

The crossover with Werewolf by Night was a bit contrived but it was fun to see two of Marvel's classic monsters tearing away at one another. It evoked the classic Universal "Monster Rally" movies of the 1940's. As delightful as I normally found Ploog's work, I was not impressed with his version of Dracula especially. Seeing another talented artist falter in this regard only adds to my admiration for what Colan was able to do. And his art only seems to get stronger as the series continues. 

Dr. Sun was a properly weird opponent for Dracula. An evil brain who wants to control the world is an appropriate nemesis for a megalomaniacal force such as Dracula. 

The introduction of Lilith in Giant-Size Chillers was a great touch. I was a big fan of Marvel's Giant-Size books and this is a dandy. Frank Chiramonte's inks on Colan are pretty good. It is to be noted that the "Tomb of Dracula" applied only to the regular series. Apparently, "Curse of Dracula" was the title for all the Giant-Size misadventures. 

Speaking of Giant-Size extravaganzas, I slipped out of the Essential Dracula tome to take a glance at Dracula's appearance in the debut issue of Giant-Size Spider-Man. I like Ross Andru's take on Dracula, but truth told Drac and Spidey don't have much to do with one another. 

By the end of this first volume, Dracula has convinced his pursuers that he's no longer a menace by faking his demise when he confronted Dr. Sun. This allows him time to gather his forces and lay schemes which will bear fruit in futures issues. In the last issue in this tome we get to meet Hannibal King, the detective who turns out to be a vampire too. Always liked that character. 

Just this week Marvel issued a facsimile edition of Tomb of Dracula #1 in case you're interested. More Dracula to come next week when I take the plunge into volume two. 

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