My Rating
“And Unto Dracula Was Born A Son”
Several quail birds erupt from a dense shrub as a bloodcurdling scream shakes them from their slumber. This section of the remote Transylvanian Forest is historically quite but tonight the talk of witchcraft is in the air. A local woman has been accused of signing a compact with the devil and her dark magic has cursed the local livestock. The year is 1792, what would be known as a new disease to future generations, is thought of as a spell to those of this time. A large mob of angry Christians have just arrived from the local village. The only way to stop the devil’s handiwork is to burn the witch causing the turmoil.
As the angry villagers prepare to set fire to the young woman a pair of yellow eyes watch from the nearby tree line. The smell of something ancient fills the night air. The aroma is that of a recently unearthed grave mixed with rotting corpses. This creature has just ventured from the abandoned castle high up in the mountains to the west. It is a monster known in legend as Strigoi. Future historians will know him as Count Dracula.
In an uncontrolled thirst for the young woman’s blood, Count Dracula swoops in and liberates the witch from hell itself. Her destiny is motherhood, the child conceived from the vampire himself. Dracula would have a son!
The baby would not be corrupted with the teachings of vampirism. The young woman promised herself that as her belly grew. One day as Dracula slept in the crypts under the castle keep, the woman fled with the newborn in her arms. Her destination was the nearest port city. The child would grow up in the land of milk and honey. Young Adam would become an American.
The year is now 1975, the scene is a classroom at Columbia University – New York, professor Adam Lucard has just finished teaching his class in the mystic arts of the occult. A young blond named Debbie Porter rushes to the front as the students file out of the classroom. Her infatuation with Adam has been building up over the course of the year. Now is her chance to earn a little extra credit. If he would have her that is.
Can the son of Dracula survive in the modern world of 1975 without feasting on the blood of the living? Will progressive thinking Debbie get her grade changed from a C- to an A+? Has Count Dracula found the location of his long-lost heir?
Reviewer Notes
I reviewed Marvel Comics Tomb of Dracula #1, now it is time to review the Atlas/Seaboard knockoff “Fright, Featuring the Son of Dracula”. Yes, that is correct. Dracula has a son! He should be very proud, as Adam is now a tenured professor at a prominent New York university. Can you say lifetime job security? Booyah!
The history of Atlas/Seaboard is a colorful one. In a nutshell, Martin Goodman left Marvel Comics in 1972 and created the new company to compete with Marvel and DC. In 1974 Atlas Comics offered the best advertising rates in the industry. They also gave their artists better pay and allowed them to keep the intellectual rights to their characters. With this in place Martin Goodman enticed many artists and writers to defect from Marvel, DC, and Charlton.
In the case of the Son of Dracula comic, Gary Friedrich, Frank Thorne, and Larry Lieber where all former Marvel Comics artists. The quality of this book can be credited to this team of veterans. Although I’m only giving this issue a three-star rating, I would like to state it isn’t due to the writing or art. Both are very solid. The fault lies with the company itself.
During the one year that Atlas was in business, a lot of their books were rushed into production to compete with Marvel directly. The writers were given little direction for creating new characters and storylines. Martin Goodman’s business strategy was to have the artists create knockoff characters based on those of Marvel Comics.
The Son of Dracula story seems a bit generic but it is serviceable. It would have been nice to see what direction the story could have gone in, but unfortunately Atlas Comics closed its doors in 1975. The art of Frank Thone is really good. It is definitely better than some of the Charlton and DC horror comics from the same year.
If you can find a copy of “Fright, Featuring the Son of Dracula ” I recommend buying it. Anything from the defunct Atlas Comics and Seaboard publication has a small collector’s circle. This book is one of the better written and drawn concepts in the limited catalog Atlas had to offer. Go, Son of Dracula, go!
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