The Tomb of Dracula Volume 1

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #1-12

by Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Gardner Francis Fox

Dracula has haunted the Marvel Age of Comics for years - now, see his modern misdeeds from Night One! When the Prince of Darkness rises, longtime enemies are ready for a fight - and so is one of his own descendants! Undead armies, time travel, deathbed voodoo, and more! Featuring the first appearance of multi-media marvel Blade: Vampire Hunter! Collects Tomb of Dracula #1-12.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Marvel, Comic Book

268 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2010

About the author

Gerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he is known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

Reviews

[Brad Hodges · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the congressional hearings that led to censorship of comic books to the early 1970s, vampires were pretty much verboten in the form. That seems incredible now, where you can't turn around without finding vampires on TV or movies or bookshelves. But Marvel Comics started using vampires, when the Comics Code Authority began relaxing their stance, one of their successes was a series called The Tomb of Dracula, which began in 1972 and ran for 70 issues. The first twelve issues are contained in one volume, which I have read, to my delight and more than a little eye-rolling.

Bram Stoker's Dracula was in the public domain, so Marvel used him as their story. He was depicted as a square-jawed villain of the first rank, although he did occasionally let people go. But mostly when attacked he would boast things, like "Fools! No mortal can destroy Dracula!"

The series begins when Frank Drake, a descendant of the Count, visits his ancestor's castle, which he owns. His friend, Cliff Graves, thinks it will make a great tourist attraction (he's right). Graves stumbles upon Dracula's coffin, opens it, and pulls out the stake put their by Abraham Van Helsing. Undead again, Dracula starts wreaking havoc.

As the series goes on, more familiar names are added. Van Helsing's granddaughter, Rachel, joins Frank in hunting down the vampire, and Quincy Harker, Jonathan Harker's son, wheelchair bound, has been trying to find him for years. We also are introduced to Blade, vampire hunter and, in an awkward attempt to be diverse, seemingly straight off the set of Soul Train.Wesley Snipes would play Blade in three movies.

The first year of the book was scatter shot, as it deviated in tone wildly, due to having four different writers. Marv Wolfman finally settled in as the writer, and the style coalesced, but there are still some strange things going on. Mostly each issue is the hunters getting close to Dracula, failing to kill him, and then the search goes on. I finally got a little sympathetic for Dracula, who was so wearied by the chase.

There are a few comic tropes that are explored, including time travel and voodoo (tip--voodoo dolls work on you even when you're a vampire). But my favorite stuff is the exposition-heavy dialogue. Van Helsing's assistant is a very large and mute Indian man, Taj. When he follows Dracula through a mysterious mirror, she doesn't such scream "Taj!" No, she says, "Frank! Count Dracula's dragging my servant Taj into the demon mirror! Stop him!" Glad she cleared up exactly who Taj was at that point. Later, Drake will shoot a wooden arrow at Dracula, but the vampire swings Rachel in front of him. Drake let's us know exactly what happens: "He's swinging the woman into my line of fire. And it's too late to stop my trigger finger!" But it wasn't too late for him to say all that.

While this is silly fun, I'm not keen on purchasing further volumes. I had somehow been led to believe this treated the Dracula legend seriously, but really, an issue where he takes on a entire yacht full of rich people is embarrassingly bad. The Tomb of Dracula is of interest to the comic book historian, but not much else.

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Ernie Colan is probably the best artist for The Tomb of Dracula. His art is supernatural in the feel. The story written by a few different writers (with Ernie Colan) finds a way to make Dracula menacing, but also somehow Marv Wolfman made him a bit human.

The comic was popular for a long time, but horror of this style was popular in the seventies. I am not sure it would play today, the world's vampire stories have become more violent and also more friendly (think Twilight).

These stories, as I read, I realized that if Harker, Van Helsing or his descendent, Drake can never catch him, so the stories are a bit repetitive. He bites someone, they get killed after becoming a vampire, they battle Dracula and they miss killing him every time. I love the art and the feel of the book and Blade the Vampire hunter is an excellent foil, but his character has not yet been fleshed out to be the Blade that we all know.

More books to read in this series.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my humble opinion, bronze age horror titles from Marvel were spectacular. With this intense (and verbose) and chilling run from the incredible Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, we get introduced to Blade! Half human, half vampire, Blade and others try to take down the Lord of all Vampires...Dracula! And it is a wonderfully gothic and suspenseful run. Highly recommended for the spine tingling stories and the impeccable artistry of "Mean" Gene Colan!! 🦇

[Montserrat Esteban · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cómic entretenido pero sin más

[Bill FromPA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowadays it is hard to imagine any form of entertainment that does not have vampires in it, but from its inception in 1954 until 1971, the Comics Code Authority did not allow comic books with its seal to feature these creatures. With the institution of relaxed guidelines on the matter, Marvel Comics gave the count his own series, the first dozen issues of which are here reproduced.

This comic came along after my youthful days of collecting had ended, so this was my first encounter with this title. I found it quite enjoyable at first, somewhat reminiscent of the TV show Dark Shadows, but a certain sameness set in around halfway through this collection; however from the ending of issue 12, I have some hopes that writer Marv Wolfman will be able to produce some interesting variations on the formula, if not take the series in a new direction. The action is set in the then present day, as a descendant of the Dracula clan, having changed his name to Drake, purchases his ancestral castle in Transylvania. A misguided pulling up of stakes by his friend and rival in love resurrects the Count and the action begins, but doesn’t really build until the second issue. Being a bad guy, Dracula can never triumph, but as the title character, he has to survive from one issue to the next. Subsidiary vampires are introduced and done away with as a consolation prize to the readers who want to see the band of vampire hunters, which grows to include descendants of various characters from Stoker as well as the Shaft-like African-American vampire slayer, Blade, actually killing vampires. Unlike most comic book series, secondary characters do occasionally meet their deaths as the series progresses, which adds some suspense to the reading.

A variety of writers contribute here: Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Gardner Fox, and the appropriately named Wolfman, which may add to a certain lack of momentum in the stories from issue to issue. All twelve issues were penciled by Gene Colan, assisted by various inkers. Colan’s own inking in the first issue, with its extensive use of the brush, gives an appropriately shadowy feel to the images. Tom Palmer’s inks, however, manage to get the most detail out of Colan’s drawings while not sacrificing atmosphere. Colan is at his best in depictions of people, though some characters, such as Quincy Harker, are somewhat inconsistently drawn. Most of the action is clearly portrayed, though occasionally I found the usually superfluous descriptive text box necessary to explain what was happening in the accompanying panel. The artist’s landscapes and depictions of mist-shrouded moors and foggy London streets are not as evocative as they should be. The imagery is reminiscent of Hammer films, including the décolletage of numerous heroines and female vampires; however, the CCA apparently still disallowed bloodshed so, despite the numerous vampire attacks and stakings through the heart, the action is depicted without the sanguinary fountains one would see in a Christopher Lee Dracula film.

[C.J. Edmunds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rare find of a first volume collects issues #1-#12, depicting how Dracula was resurrected in the modern age. But since these stories were first released in 1972-73, the pacing of the story and the way the characters are developed or attempted to be developed were certainly a product of its time.

While the concept of the Vampire is rich and likewise eternal, ranging from from Bram Stoker himself to Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and most recently Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and the Vampire Diaries on TV, the mythos and attention that the Vampire genre (assuming you could call it as such), seems to enjoy a resurgence from time to time only to lapse again below the radar up until one brave and creative author is able to put a new take on it.

Enjoy this first compilation as a collected of dated material and adheres to the parameters of the myth such as changing forms from a man to a bat and mist, to the fear of Crucifixes and disgust of garlic. The volume doesn't break any new ground but merely is an extension of the fascination we have with this tragic figure in literature.

[Spidey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque con unos principios algo confusos de cuál era la dirección a seguir una vez que se estabiliza el equipo creativo de Wolfman, Colan y Palmer crearon todo un clásico de los cómics de terror.
Para mi este cómic tiene 2 grandes virtudes:
- El dibujo de Gene Colan: prácticamente cada pagina es una delicia visual y su tratamiento de Dracula es mítico. Igual que Romita definió la imagen que todos tenemos de Spider-man así definió Colan la de Dracula.
- Sus personajes: la fidelidad de cada personaje es como debe ser y destaca especialmente Dracula que desde el principio demuestra ser un ser malvado al que sólo le interesan sus objetivos.

[Robert S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tomb of Dracula wasn't just a horror comic but also represented a significant break from the previous censorship of vampires in comics. It seems almost inconceivable they would be banned considering presenting vampires dominate the pop culture landscape and Scott Snyder is allowed to write American Vampire.

The first twelve issues of this series are included here in all their glory and camp. If you enjoy 70's comics or Dracula, this is worth your time.

[Jaime Guzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it came to Horror comics nothing topped Marvel's Tomb of Dracula in the 70s.
Gene Colan's art fit perfectly for the horror genre and with the addition of Marv Wolfman doing most of the writing chores really brought this title up to another level.
I totally forgot how good this comic was and I'm glad they put it out in a trade paperback to enjoy once again.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coyer Summer Bash

Coyer Scavanger Hunt. Any Type of Horror
Marvel comics was the place to be in the 70’s if you loved monster stories. This volume collects all the tomb of Dracula stories. A very nice collection

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Reading my personal single issues, so an automatic star for the musty smell and ultra-faded coloring, which enhances Colan's art, in a way.)... lotsa dialogue but the characters are interesting enough.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never heard about that comic series before so I very eagerly picked this issue up. Intriguing adventure I couldn't put down. Great illustrations, eerie moments. Yes, it never dies... Really recommended!

[Reed Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tomb of Dracula Volume 1 by Gerry Conway is a fun little read.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old school horror comic book of the kind I read as a wain.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff! Gene Colon's horror art is incredible. Stories are ok but Marv Wolfman, who I met, starts writing later on and things really get good.

[Jim Ordolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Horror Comic Book series of all time!

[David Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read somewhere that this was one of the best horror comics ever done. There must be a pretty low bar if that's the case.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few issues in this collection were really solid: nice stories by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan's art (as usual) is top notch (although he still has a couple of years from hitting his pinnacle). However, the collection suffers from rotating writers (Archie Goodwin's stories are fine, Gardner F. Fox's stories are abysmal) and the inkers they have destroy Colan’s pencil work. I hope the series gets better from here, although I didn't love Wolfman's writing. I may look at future volumes, but I may not.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my early teens, this comic was a favorite, so it was nice to revisit it 40 years later. Let's just say they don't make them like this anymore. The writing is overwrought and bombastic, the plot sometimes wacky, and the art mostly by Gene Colon has plenty of energy and seventies verve. This all combines for a fast-paced and highly entertaining if relatively bloodless read. Modern readers might find this hokey as hell, but so what?

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the concept of these comics more than the actual books themselves. The early issues are simply painful, and while Marv Wolfman's arrival as writer helps a little, it's way too little, too late for this collection.