Tomb Of Dracula - Volume 01 Issue 01

My Rating

“Dracula”

It was a grueling 32-hour trip from New York to the Drake family’s ancestral homeland, inconveniently located somewhere in the heart of Transylvania. The flight layovers were long, the food was terrible, and now Frank, Clifton, and Jeanie are stuck driving up a narrow mountain road in the middle of a nasty rainstorm. The jeep they rented at the airport was no more than an antique which should have been sold to the local museum decades ago. Fortune has turn on Clifton Graves, the man bankrolling this little expedition, for you see his funds are a bit low. When the money goes, so does the quality of one’s transportation.

Clifton and Jeanie Ovington wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for Frank Drake. Frank’s problem with money, or the lack of it, has set him on hard times. His father was a self-made millionaire. When he passed, Frank inherited the money as well as the title to an abandoned castle located in the old country. “Who needs that headache”, Frank asked the probate attorney. Just give him the million! It took only three years to spend what his father took a lifetime to earn. Now Frank’s friends have abandoned him.

Clifton had convinced Frank to travel to Transylvania and sell the Drake family castle for a nice profit. Frank was on the fence. They were good friends until Jeanie drove a wedge between them. Jeanie dated Clifton for a while but dumped him for Frank. Even with his financial troubles, Jeanie always got along with Frank. Clifton despised her now. Things were made worse when she insisted on tagging along.

The rain increased in volume as well as austerity. Frank swerved to avoid a fallen tree and buried the jeep in a muddy ravine. The trio had no other option but to continue on foot out in the torrential downpour. After securing a horse drawn buggy from a local village, one of the residents was brave enough to drive them to the gates of Frank’s new home. By the time they arrived at the old iron gates the rain had ceased its assault on the countryside. Frank, Clifton, and Jeanie stood there in awe. They were looking at the castle owned by the Drake family. They looked upon the towering construct of Castle Dracula.

Reviewer Notes

Halloween is almost here, and with Marvel’s release of the Tomb of Dracula #1 facsimile edition, I think it’s time to review this sucker! I will keep this short and sweet. If you want to see how comics used to be written, BUY THE FACSIMILE NOW! If you want to experience what it was like to get a ton of content for only 20 cents, BUY THE FACSIMILE NOW! If you want to see gorgeous artwork from the likes of Gene Colan, BUY THE FACSIMILE NOW!

Now that’s out of the way, yes, I really do recommend getting this comic. If you can’t find an original printing of Tomb of Dracula #1 here is your chance to get a wonderful reproduction. I have to hand it to Marvel on this one. I’ve read a lot of horror titles from that time period (the late 1960s through the 1970s) and comparing Tomb of Dracula #1 with what was being published by Charlton and DC Comics at the time, with Stan Lee in the editor seat this issue is way above the competition.

Gerry Conway did an excellent job taking elements from Bram Stoker’s story and brought Dracula into the 20th century. Even though this issue debuted in 1971 I don’t think this work will be lost on modern readers. The art style is dated compared to the work of modern artists, but that doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the book. It is great art done the Marvel Way.

I would like to point out briefly that the abilities and weaknesses of Count Dracula in this early run are somewhat different to the newer vampires of Marvel. If you’ve seen the first Blade movie, he states that crosses and running water don’t squat, so get that out of your head. Not in the case of 1971 Dracula. Gerry Conway and Stan Lee seem to have borrowed heavily from vampire movies of that era. I think the Hammer Films vampire franchises really influenced Marvel writers. Just my opinion of course. I look forward to reading the other issues in the Tomb of Dracula series. This book definitely gets five stars from me.