Drac's got this same poor woman in his clutches--again!--on this cover courtesy Luis Dominguez.This issue opens with "The Pit of Death", by Doug Moench and Tony DeZuniga. A man is bent on revenge after his wife is murdered by Dracula, but that of course turns out to be a lot tougher than he imagined. This is a rare story in that its continued into the next issue--it ends just as our erstwhile revenge-seeker discovers his bride has become one of the undead!
Next is a text featue by Gary Gerani, a review of Hammer's Dracula A.D.1972--thumbs down!
Next is another chapter in Roy Thomas and Duck Giordano's excellent adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula--chapter five, "Ship of Death." This segment is devoted to Dracula's trip across the sea on the Demeter, and how it doesn't really turn out that well, for the crew at least.
Even though these segments are only ten pages long, Giordano paced this just right and still had enough room for a beautiful, gripping opening image:
...gorgeous!
Next is "The Blood Book", starring everyone's favorite daughter of Dracula, Lilith! The tale is credited to Steve Gerber, Bob Brown, and the infamous Crusty Bunkers(I can definitely see the hand of Neal Adams on some of these pages, at least).
The story opens with Lilith hanging out in a bar(!), and when some neanderthal is rude to the folk singing woman on stage, she teaches him what for. She then gets involved in some drug-dealing, and more ass-kicking ensues.
These Lilith stories remind me a bit of Vampirella, since here's this absurdly-pneumatic woman, barely dressed in a funny costume, and no one really seems to notice or care.
The issue ends with a quick little two-page story, "A Vampire Stalks Melrose Abbey", which isn't even listed on the table of contents! Its a nasty little tale of a blood-drinking chaplain, and ends with an axe to the chest and burying someone alive. Fun for all!
A very good issue; all the stories are a blast to read and the artwork is pretty top-notch. To me, any issue that featured the Thomas/Giordano stuff already had a huge leg up.
2 comments:
Boyos-
(Or should that be, "Boyars...?")
Speaking of DRAC adaptations...
If you've never heard Orson Welles' Mercury Theater on the Air adaptation (an earlier installment of the series that would bring forth the infamous WAR OF THE WORLDS), treat yourself.
As with the comics versions, captions and all, Stoker's tale lends itself well to the narrative form of audio drama (in fact, it's a little-remembered fact that this radio series was actually originally titled "FIRST PERSON SINGULAR").
Anyhoo, the Demeter's "Captain's Log" sequence is one of the highlights of the show, with a tour-de-force performance by Ray Collins.
Great weekend, all-
-Craig W.
i have the Mercury Theater version of Dracula; it is a lot of fun!
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