The Tomb Of Dracula - Volume Two!

After something of a slow start with several writers taking a shot at the venerable Count, the eventual team of Wolfman, Colan and Palmer are in firm control of the comic Tomb of Dracula. The stories are character rich and Dracula himself is well realized as a proper villain with more than the usual depth. We get a neat range of stories, from the melodramatic to the ghastly to the humorous. Marvel will slap the label of "Comicdom's Number 1 Fear Comic" on the book by the end of the run in this Essentials volume and the book will fully deserve that designation. 

This collection kicks off with a story Giant-Size story by Chris Claremont, Don Heck and Frank McLaughlin which has the duo of Kate Fraser and Inspector Chelm of Scotland Yard following up on Dracula's latest victim which leads them to an ancient cult. Kate falls under their spell and even has a chance to end Dracula bit falls short. 

This is one of my favorite Dracula covers. Gil Kane really outdid himself on these but this one in particular really pops. 

For his part Dracula seeks the power of an ancient charm called the Chimera. He's not the only one searching for its power. He comes into contact with two innocents, a naive young woman and a brave but foolish young Jewish man, who work with him for a time but of course that proves tragic for them both. 

Also unknown to the reader at the time the gang which has chased Dracula for so many issues is split apart due to Dracula's plotting. Taj Natal goes home to deal with is wife and son. Frank Drake is given a chance by an old colleague to take up a job in South America. 

In the Giant-Size book, again drawn by Heck but now written by David Kraft we get a tale of ancient revenge when a woman long ago hurt by Dracula seeks revenge with a deadly cost to those around her. She comes close to ending him but falls short as do most of his opponents. 

Blade returns to the book after his misadventures in Vampire Tales and allies himself with what remains of Harker's team. Dracula meanwhile plays a gambit which he thinks will gain him vast power through dominating the will of those in England's House of Lords. 

We travel back in time for another tale by Kraft and Heck when Dracula must confront an evil which is literally a giant evil heart which spreads its influence among the innocent. 

We learn that Taj Natal's son is a vampire and has been one for five years, protected by his estranged wife. Finally, they find the strength to do what must be done and they are able to find some healing in that. Sadly Taj will be mostly written out of the book after this solo adventure. 

As Frank Drake runs into trouble in Brazil and Taj must confront the evil which has afflicted his son, Dracula chooses this as an apt time to attack Quincy Harker but fails to reckon which his many traps. 

Dracula only escapes when Harker is forced to release to save Rachel Van Helsing from Dracula's agents. We learn some of Harker's history with Dracula and see their first conflict 

Inspector Chelm and his agents keep the pressure on Dracula as his plot to take over British government falls short. 

It turns out that Frank Drake has been sent to a next of zombies and it takes the powers of Brother Voodoo to keep him alive. It's a harrowing experience but Drake emerges from this threat a stronger-willed man eager to confront the threat of his ancient ancestor. 

In the final Giant-Size "Curse of Dracula" story we get a particularly good one. The art by Virgil Redondo is adequate but David Anthony Kraft's story of a psycho aboard a dirigible is excellent. 

The title gets a nifty shake-up when Dracula foiled in England decides to move his operations to Boston. The story of how he gets to America is a harrowing one we learn in flashbacks. We are reminded that Dracula's plots are many and his agents are everywhere it seems. 

Dracula finds America much to his liking. The taste of new blood is refreshing to the old vampire it seems land he's full of evil ideas. 

Two new characters add some needed spice when Harold H. Harold, hapless writer of the supernatural and the bombshell secretary Aurora Rabinowitz join the cast. We also learn that Dr. Sun is not quite as dead as was previously imagined. 

It should be noted that Gene Colan and Tom Palmer took over the cover chores on the book for the most part. As excellent as most of Gil Kane's Dracula covers had been, it's nice to see the same team as inside the book handling the outside. And an important point is that their credit for their work only indicated both as "artists" and didn't designate penciler and inker. 

It is a most loathsome moment when the reassembled vampire hunters (Taj had stayed with his wife for now) are able to at long last dispose of Dracula. But the threat from Doctor Sun makes them reconsider that victory. 

Dracula is definitely the guy you want to open the door when you are out trick or treating. Particularly after he's just been killed again. 

Blade is back on the attack as Dracula uses his powers to combat the mind-controlled forces of Doctor Sun. 

Under a nifty Berni Wrightson cover we get the story of Paul Butterworth - the Night Staker. This gentle ribbing of the Night Stalker series and Kolchak himself is exceedingly well done. The story is told in the same style as an episode of the show and the evidence of the supernatural is just as elusive at the end. 

In a rare crossover Dracula mixes it up with Doctor Strange. As is often the case with these kinds of events, Dracula seems to have the upper hand in his book though Doctor Strange proves to be the winner in his. That victory though is ultimately an illusion as we'll learn in the very next issue. Steve Englehart wrote the Doc Strange issue. 

Blade hooks up with the vampire Hannibal King (after some disagreements) and the two decide to work together to attack the vampire Deacon Frost who was responsible for both their conditions. 

In the meantime, Dracula begins another of his elaborate schemes as he takes a wife and seeks to take over a Satanic cult. This begins arguably the best Dracula story told by Marvel, a true epic which will span many issues to come with many twists and surprising turns. 

Underneath an excellent cover we get the tragic tale of a woman who encountered Dracula three times in her life, all with tragic outcomes. 

This volume closes out with the bizarre story of Dracula being drawn into a strange world which is occupied by famous literary characters. Since he's more than just the product of Bram Stoker's imagination, he doesn't quite fit in. The ultimate secret of his strange world is quite provocative. 

And that wraps up the very excellent second Essentials volume dedicated to Tomb of Dracula. The story will roll right along in the third tome which will be focus next time. 

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