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Essential Tomb of Dracula

post #1 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:05am
Thread Starter 
These books get mentioned soemtimes in other threads but I thought it would be fun to give them a chance to stand on their own.

I first encountered this Marvel "horror" title as a kid at one of my older cousin's. He had the issue that teamed up the Werewolf by Night guy and Dracula. Well, "teamed up" isn't the right word. They had a pretty great knock down fight at one point and the wolf man lost! He was the good guy! WTF! Dracula scared me shitless as a kid in this comic and he still holds up pretty well today. Sure, he's overly verbose and is a tad foppish. But there is definitely some evil shit going on in his brain.

I love the artwork and the idea of making Dracula the center of attention for the most part. Blade shows up for the first time here as well. The Dr. Sun storyline is pretty nifty and the reveal of him was bugfuck enough to make me sit up. I dig the 1970s setting and dialogue. Some of the B-stories are great. The "horror" is neutered to be sure. This is 70s era Marvel. Tales of the Zombie and Man Thing were better (and had Steve Gerber writing). But there is a charm to Tomb of Dracula that I can't deny. I may just be looking at it nostalgically but flipping htrough it takes me back to being 7 years old and reading in bed with the lamp on.

The first volume is around $15 (or cheaper online). I think it's worth a gander.
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post #2 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:09am
Love TOD. Love color. So I patiently put together the entire Tomb Of Dracula run through Ebay deals and casual hunting. Now I read them infrequently, so that I always have one to read when I want.
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post #3 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:13am
Thread Starter 
I'm torn on the color with regard to these books. I mean, yeah, that's the intended way for these comics to be seen. But the B/W reprints make them somehow grimmer and more...I dunno, horrific? Plus, I gots no money. So I take what I can get.

One day I will track down an issue of Giant Sized Man Thing, though. Fucking Mike Ploog's art rocks my world.

Edited to add: I think it's cool that you actually read your comics, Phil.
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post #4 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:18am
When I was younger, I gorged myself on what I loved. Repeat reads, viewings, listens, etc. Now I find myself with this too-big library of STUFF, and the only way to derive any pleasure from it all is to savor it, bit by bit, knowing it's all there, knowing I might not get through it all (which is maddening and comforting all at once).
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post #5 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:21am
Thread Starter 
*sigh* I know what you mean, Phil.
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post #6 of 11
10/8/09 at 11:13am
Got the omnibus of this waiting for me.

Douglas Wolk wrote interestingly about TOD in the excelent Understanding Comics.
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post #7 of 11
9/5/10 at 6:05am
I am now making my way through the series. I am only on issue #4 "Through a Mirror Darkly", but am really loving the artwork and the storyline so far.

On the other end of the spectrum though...

Has anyone seen the movie? It's a hilariously cheesy japanimated take on the series. I don't know what's worse: the voice acting, or the goofy dialogue delivered by characters going on and on with exposition as though it was their everyday speak. The shot of Dracula succumbing to a cheeseburger is top comedy indeed. Gloriously bad stuff.


ETA: Cool fansite!
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post #8 of 11
9/5/10 at 6:34am
This was probably one of my top five comics as a kid. I've been kind of afraid to revisit it for fear that it won't live up to the memories. Werewolf By Night certainly didn't, although it did have its merits (the aforementioned Mike Ploog among them).

On the other hand, looking at the incredible art of Gene Colan is never going to go out of style. One of the greatest comics artists of all time.

I'll probably succumb and order these at some point.
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post #9 of 11
9/5/10 at 11:56am
The Dracula material holds up very well. Except for Blade, he can be pretty dated at times with his jive obviously-written-by-a-white-guy-who's-seen-Shaft-one-time-too-many dialogue. Man-Thing and surprisingly many of the stories in Essential Monster of Frankenstein are still fresh and worth reading as well. Other horror titles such as the already mentioned Werewolf by Night, Brother Voodoo, the Living Mummy and Son of Satan should be left in the '70s. The Frankenstein book has an especially good story written by Doug Moench where the monster and a teenage girl stoyaway are onboard a train carrying the President and a squad of assassins. Exciting and actually moving stuff. It was done for one the horror magazine titles Marvel briefly published when they tried to muscle in on Warren's turf, so it gets away with a little more than a comic book.
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post #10 of 11
9/5/10 at 5:41pm
Blade was a soul brother to Luke Cage. Marvel had their finger solidly on the pulse of pop culture in the 70's, and were all on board the blaxploitation and kung fu phenomena. That was part of what made them so successful, and a large part of what they've lost. These days, Marvel seems to exist in their own little bubble, preaching to an ever-shrinking choir.

Yes, Marvel comics used to be hip.

Incidentally, thanks to this damn thread, I have now put down a bid on the first four volumes of Tomb of Dracula on eBay.
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post #11 of 11
9/6/10 at 4:26am
I didn't get it. Crap. It ended up going for $52, which was past my self-imposed ceiling. Now I kind of feel like I should have built a higher ceiling.

And the Seattle Public Library doesn't have them. Crap. I really want to re-read these now.
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