Dracula Lives! Ad - Marvel

I love this ad.

That is all.

Dracula Lives! Annual #1 - Marvel

You didn't see too many Marvel b/w mags get the Annual treatment; and even though its made up entirely of reprints from previous issues its still a fun collection, and the cover by Gray Morrow is especially cool. Plus we get a plug for Doc Savage!

The editorial in this issue informs us that this is the last issue of Dracula Lives!--why they decided to go out on Annual, I don't know, but at least they told us!

Stories include:
the classic "That Dracula May Live Again!" by Marv Wolfman and an unbeliveable art job by Neal Adams
"Lord of Death...Lord of Hell!" by Wolfman and John Buscema
"Look Homeward, Vampire!" by Gerry Conway and Vincente Alcazar
"Castle of the Undead" by Roy Thomas, Alan Weiss, and the Crusty Bunkers (Solomon Kane vs. Dracula!)
"A Duel of Demons" by Conway and Frank Springer
and "Shadow Over Versailles" by Tony Isabella, Buscema, and Pablo Marcos

...a very good collection, featuring some of the best work of the series. Not a bad way to go out.

Dracula Lives! #13 - Marvel

The final regular issue of Dracula Lives! (appropriately number thirteen) features a cover by Earl Norem that both amuses and puzzles me--first off, it looks like Dracula has crossed over onto a Paperback Romance book cover. Second, it's clearly daylight in this picture! What the?!?

Anyway, after a Drac pin-up by Vincente Alcazar, we open with "Bounty for a Vampire" by our pal Tony Isabella and Tony DeZuniga. It opens up with an old-fashioned gunslinger on the hunt for a vampire, and for a moment, with the DeZuniga art and all, you think "hey! Jonah Hex vs. Dracula!"

It has a fabulous unexpected ending--a gory, nasty kick-in-the-pants one. A fun story.

Next is "Bloody Mary" by Rick Margopolous, George Tuska, and Virgilio Redondo, which opens up with the comical image of Dracula--wild cape and all--cruising at a singles' bar. Hey, is that a wooden stake in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Tuska's art doesn't add a lot of mood, but the events that transpire are so grim it sorta works anyway.

Next is "The Toad" by Tom Sutton--and when you have a piece written and drawn by Sutton, you know you're in for a weird, out-there story. A grim morality tale, where the lesson is the monsters are not always who you think they are. Sutton's work is simultaneously moody, sad, and funny.

Next is "A Dracula Portfolio" by Russ Heath, featuring three incredibly moody full-page illustrations, including this startlingly sexy/violent one of Lillith:
...I feel conflicted.

Last is "Blood of My Blood!" by Gerry Conway and Steve Gan, a flashback tale about how Dracula ended up the ruler of his land, and how he actually showed mercy to his people.

An enjoyable issue--the first and last stories are very enjoyable, and the Russ Heath portfolio is especially cool--it's a shame that Dracula Lives! ended here, and that it seems that no one at the magazine knew it was happening; there's no mention anywhere in this issue of it being the last one.

*sigh*

Dracula Lives! #12 - Marvel

Ken Bald does the cover this time around; every time I see I think Dracula and the girl are running away from the mob; then I realize, no, she's not exactly going of her own free will.

First up is "Parchments of the Damned!" by Doug Moench and Sonny Trinidad. An unusually long tale(over thirty pages) about a guy with the cojones to actually steal Dracula's diary(he keeps a diary? How cute...). It goes on a for a while then ends with a fun twist-ending. Ridiculously enjoyable.

Moench also contributes a text piece called "Christopher Lee: Hammer's Hero of Horror", and then the last feature is "The Sins of the Fathers" by Gerry Conway and Tom Sutton.

"Sins" works as a sort of thematic companion piece, where we get to see the pre-history of Van Helsing, featuring typically spooky art by Sutton, who really should've done more of these stories, come to think about it.

A good issue, definitely an improvement over the last one--Moench apparently could write anything, in any format--short fiction, long fiction, extra-long fiction, text pieces, you name it! He was Dracula's--and Marvel's--best friend.

Dracula Lives! #11 - Marvel

After many issues in a row featuring covers by Luis Dominguez(and Drac chasing that same woman, month after month) Marvel tapped Steve Fabian to do this cover painting. Not as sharp as Dominguez's work, but this is about as iconic as you can get.

The opening story is Part 2 of "The Pit of Death" by Doug Moench and Tony DeZuniga, where we find our protagonist(who is determined to get revenger on the Count for killing his wife) realizing that said wife has returned from the dead!

Next is "The Vampire of Mednegna" by Moench and Win Mortimer, a quickie story(only two pages!). The story is pretty well undone by Mortimer's stiff and sloppy work--jeez, he only had two pages to do, he couldn'tve taken his time?

Third is "If Madness Be Thy Master..." the next chapter of the Dracula novel by Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano--as usual, tops.

Last is Lilith in "Nobody Anybody Knows" by Steve Gerber, Bob Brown, Frank Chiaramonte, and Pablo Marcos(whew!). There's a lot of space devoted to Angel O'Hara, Lilith's unaware alter-ego, and her hippie husband, and all their melodramatic goings-on. Like the second tale, the art is very sloppy and looks rushed--I think you can guess this was a last minute job by all the artist's names on the credits.

Not one Dracula Lives!'s best issues; the Thomas/Giordano stuff is of course awesome, and the first story isn't bad, but the rest is not really worthy of bearing the Prince of Darkness' name.

Dracula Reads Dracula! - Marvel

Publish PostThis photo of Christopher Lee enjoying(?) an issue of Dracula Lives! ran on the inside cover of a later issue. The guy sitting next to Mr.Lee is not a Marvel staffer; rather a reporter for NME and I guess a Marvel fan.

So, there's this photo, and the one with Boris Karloff looking at a comic book, too. Shouldn't there be one of Bela Lugosi reading a comic out there, somewhere?

Dracula Lives! #10 - Marvel

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.

Dracula Lives! #9 - Marvel

You know, it occurs to me, looking at this fine cover by Luis Dominguez, that Dracula doesn't realy need to only go after hot women to drink blood from. His drive is not, for the most part, sexual in nature, so he could be just as easily satisfied by a pimply sixteen-year-old Domino's pizza guy instead of some ravishing blonde with heaving bosoms. But I guess that wouldn't make for as exciting a cover.

On the inside cover, Tony Isabella and Ernie Chua give us some helpful tips on "How to Ward Off Vampires", and then the first story is "The Lady Who Collected Dracula" by Doug Moench, the underrated Frank Robbins, and Frank Springer.

I admit, when I was a kid I really hated Robbins work--it just looked so weird to me--but over the years I've grown to appreciate that oddness, and his wonderful sense of movement. When I opened this issue for the first time and saw he did the pencilling, I was jazzed. It's a ca-ra-zee story about a woman obsessed with collecting artifacts concerned with vampirism, and let's nothing get in her way of obtaining them, like a lot of comic collectors I know. Robbins' work is equally crazy and kinetic here, a fine job.

Next is "Scarlet in Glory!" by Moench, Paul Gulacy, and Mike Esposito, about a former victim plotting his revenge on the Lord of the Undead. Not a bad story, but you can barely see any Gulacy under Esposito's heavy inks, and the story never really takes off.

There's a text article called "The Scars of Dracula" by Gerry Boudreau, a scathing review of the same-titled Hammer film.

Next is "A Night in the Unlife!" by Gerry Conway and Alfredo Alcala, about a small-time crook who runs afoul of Dracula. Nice art by Alcala that practically drips mood off the page.

Last is "Twice Dies the Vampire!" by Conway and Sonny Trinidad, about Drac running into a mysterious garbed gentlemen whose very touch can kill! Dracula finally meets someone his own size, so to speak, and it gives him pause.

The issue wraps up with a letters page, and all in all a pretty good issue. A lot of the filler material(reprints, vampire movie stills with comic balloons dropped in) is gone, making room for more original material, which is always nice. The art in this issue is uniformily good, especially Robbins.

Dracula Lives! #8 - Marvel

More Dracula, and another cover by Luis Dominguez!

Y'know, looking over all these issues in a row, I realize that the woman in question is the same woman each time--jeez, can't Drac leave this poor woman alone for five minutes? How much blood can she have left?

First up is "Last Walk on the Night Side" by Doug Moench and Tony DeZuniga. This is Part 1 of a 2-part tale about a cop who runs afoul of Dracula on his last night on the force. We get to see Drac take on some hippies, too. Always a bonus.

Next is "Black Hand...Black Death!" by Len Wein, Gene Colan, and Ernie Chua, about a mobster that puts a hit out on...Dracula! Great, fun story, completely insane with a nightmarish, black humor ending.

Third is a Dracula prose story, "Child of the Sun" by Chris Claremont, featuring some nice spot art by Pablo Marcos, and then "Coffin Chronicles" by Carla Joseph where she reviews some more Dracula films.

Last is the fourth installment of Thomas and Giordano's Dracula adaptation, as excellent as the earlier chapters. I've found that this feature was the best thing to end the issue on, since it was so solid and well done. You'd have all these different interpretations of Dracula, and then end on the version that started it all.

While the ad content is a little higher in this issue, its still a solid one, with all the material being pretty top-notch. I'd say Dracula Lives! was really on a hot streak!

Dracula Lives! #7 - Marvel

Yet another cover by Luis Dominguez, featuring quite possibly the dumbest damsel-in-distress ever--if she snuck in to the Count's chamber and saw that the coffin was open, she should've just turned right around. If it was closed, then she went over to it, and had to open it up all the way before noticing it was empty. Sheesh, if you play a cat-and-mouse game with the Prince of Darkness, you need to play to win.

The opener is "Here Comes The Death Man" by Gerry Conway and Vincente Alcazar, where Dracula stumbles into the middle of a mysterious conspiracy going on in Washington, DC. Some sci-fi-y elements mix a little uneasily with the Dracula stuff, but overall its not a bad tale.

Part 2 of "Blood Moon", a prose Dracula story, is next, by Thompson O'Rourke and spot illustrations by Ernie Chua. Third is "Assault of the She-Pirate!" by Mike Friedrich and the legendary George Evans, someone whose artwork you didn't see in Marvel mags much. It's about a gutsy female pirate(I guess you'd have to be gutsy) who steals a beloved pendant of Dracula's, and is not even scared of him when he confronts her. But like I said before, if you plan on taking on Dracula, play to win. Nice, nice art job by Evans.

Tony Isabella provides a review of Hammer's Taste The Blood of Dracula(verdict: Thumbs Down), and then we get chapter three of the Bram Stoker adaptation by Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano, firing on all cylinders. This chapter features the memorable sequence where Dracula "feeds" his three female vampire subjects by throwing them a bag containing something moving...and wailing like an infant. Ewwww.

This issue ends with a text piece(unusual) about current appearances of Dracula in entertainment, like movies, plays, and books, by Carla Joseph.

A really solid issue, with no reprints of old Atlas/Marvel horror comics and instead featuring all new material, all of it good. One of the best of the series so far.

Dracula Lives! #6 - Marvel

Another nice cover by Luis Dominguez, and sort of a sequel to the previous issue's, profiled yesterday. Drac grabbed the girl on #5's cover, and now as he's about to drink her blood these pesky murderous dogs are trying to get in on his action!

It opens with "A Death in the Chapel!" by Steve Gerber, Gene Colan, and Ernie Chua. Drac shows up at the Vatican(!) to search and destroy a spell that can destroy vampires. And it almost works!

The first text feature is "Yes, Virgina, There Is A Real Dracula" written by Doug Moench, and then next is a reprint tale, "The Mark of a Vampire!", drawn by Mac Pakula(?). Murders occur in a small town and everyone thinks its the really weird guy who just came to town...

Next is a Dracula text story, "Blood Moon" written by Thompson O'Rourke(??) with some spot illustrations by Chua, and then is "Shadow Over Versailles" by Tony Isabella, John Buscema, and Pablo Marcos, a Drac tale set in 18th Century France. The Count is caught in the middle of the peasants revolt, and the ruling aristocracy is willing to try anything to hold onto power. A solid, clever tale, with nice work(of course) by Buscema.

Isabella contributes a movie review for Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, and then the issue wraps up with the second chapter of the Roy Thomas/Dick Giordano adaptation of Stoker's original novel. As I said yesterday, I really loved this adaptation, and Giordano does superb work here, some of his personal best and some of the best of the entire Dracula Lives! series:
Even the Prince of Darkness would say wow!

Dracula Lives! #5 - Marvel

Dracula Lives!

This is one of my favorite Dracula covers, by Luis Dominguez. Great use of color, great depth, and just enough titillation to make it the kind of lusty sexy-but-scary vampire image we all have in our collective unconcious.

First up is the opening chapter to Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano's superb adaptation of Bram Stoker's original Dracula book. Giordano did some of his best work here, and it was a dynamite addition to this series.

Next is a text feature by Doug Moench(whose writing output was not limited to writing 10,000 comics a month apparently) called "Transylvnia On A Budget", and then a movie review of Dracula, Prince of Darkness.

The second story is "A Duel of Demons" by Gerry Conway and Frank Springer, featuring the Prince of Darkness meeting and dueling with...Cagliostro!

Next there's a Dracula text story called "Demons in Darkness", also by Conway, with an amazing two-page spread opener by Pablo Marcos featuring Drac about to dine on a small child. Yeesh! Following that is another text piece called "Coffin Chronicles" about current books and films abut the Count.

"When A Vampire Dies" is a reprint tale, which is uncredited, featuring a really creepy vampire boy and the standard twist ending. There's another text feature, "The Dracula Archives", and then we wrap up with "Night Flight of Terror!" by Tony Isabella, Gene Colan, and Marcos.

Terrorists take control of a plane, one that happens to have as one of its passengers...Dracula! Of all the friggin' luck! A fun, goose-bumpy tale, and Colan and Marcos make a really nice art team. One of my favorite Dracula tales, since the setting is so unusual and there's a great what-the-heck-happens-next feel to it.

There's one last one-page feature, "The Boyhood of Dracula" by Isabella and Val Mayerik. The very title conjures up a tension in your mind, since its hard to imagine the epitome of evil ever being something as benign as a boy.

As if all this weren't enough, the inside covers feature a pin-up by Gene Colan standing over his newest conquest, a wonderfully pneumatic damsel. Nice piece, of course--it's by Gene Colan.

Dracula Lives! #4 - Marvel

It's vampire vs. vampire, in the haunted backlots of Hollywood! Hey, a vampire at least only takes 10%!

Sorry, I couldn't help doing an agent joke. Let's move on to the issue at hand, shall we?

Great cover by Earl Norem, with people dying all over the place. The main story is "Fear Stalker" by Marv Wolfman, Mike Ploog, and Ernie Chua, about a fake Dracula vs. the real one in Hollywood. Hard making the Lord of the Undead the heroic protagonist in a story, but Wolfman always managed to pull it off.

Next is a text feature, "In Search of Dracula: A True History of Dracula and Vampire Legends" by Chris Claremont, then a reprint tale, "When Calls the Vampire!" with art by Joe Maneely, about a small village plagued by some one--or some thing--that drinks human blood!

Next is "This Blood Is Mine!" by Gardner Fox and Dick Ayers, about a vain woman who is willing to make a deal with Dracula to stay young and vital. Then we get two more text features, "Yes, Marv Wolfman Is His Real Name!" and a review of the Hammer film The Horror of Dracula by Gerry Boudreau.

"Of Royal Blood!" is another reprint tale, this time drawn by Tony Mortellaro, a goofily gruesome tale of a guy who keeps offing his daughter's potential suitors because he doesn't think they're good enough. But then he hears about a Count that's interested in her...

The final tale is "Look Homeward, Vampire!" by Gerry Conway and Vincente Alcazar, about someone with the stones to break in and take over Dracula's castle! Beatiful art job by Alcazar, with lush line work and nice wash effects. It's a solid story, but one of those cases where the art for it really puts it over the top.

All in all, an ok issue--the new Dracula is good, and "Of Royal Blood!" is diverting, but the rest is a tad dull, at least compared to previous issues. Oh well, I'm sure the Count will come out swinging next issue!

Dracula Lives! #3 - Marvel

Ok, one more Dracula before we move on to something else.

Since Neal Adams did such a bang-job job in the previous issue, Marvel was smart enough to tap him to do this wonderfully dramatic, iconic cover. Just look at those gargoyles!

The magazine opens with "Lord of Death...Lord of Hell!" by Marv Wolfman, John Buscema, and Sys Shores, which is part two of the quasi "Secret Origin of Dracula" tale started last issue. Drac takes on a giant of a man named Nimrod, and when he proves to be his better, the people rise up in support of their new ruler, Dracula. Lots of blood and sex in this tale, which of course makes it so much cooler.

"The Vampire Man" is a reprint tale, uncredited, which takes the true-life Jack the Ripper story and runs with it. Doug Moench contributes an article all about Bela Lugosi--too bad poor Bela didn't live to see this huge new generation of new fans.

"Castle of the Undead" by Roy Thomas, Alan Weiss, and the Crusty Bunkers, is a Solomon Kane tale where he takes on Dracula, and features a wonderfully-executed swordfight. I always dug Solomon Kane--he seemed like a real badass, and this story underscores that.

"I Was Once a Gentle Man" is a piece of fiction written by Van Helsing, aka Chris Claremont, and featuring lots of stills of the late, great Peter Cushing. Next is "Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble", another reprint tale, drawn by someone named C.A. Winter, and is a riff on Macbeth.

"Shadow in the City of Light!", by Gerry Conway and Alfonso Font, is a tale set in the modern day(looks weird, sometimes, to see Drac go after women in mini-skirts), and is very well-rendered by Font, in a more sketchy tale not typically seen in a Marvel mag.

All in all, a solid issue. Marvel had found its footing with Dracula Lives!, and each issue was a fun mix of gothic horror and fanboy enthusiasm, courtesy guys like Moench, Thomas, and Claremont.

Dracula Lives! #2 - Marvel

I wanna catch up a little bit with Dracula Lives! since it's been so criminally under-represented here, and I don't want the count sneaking into my house at night and putting the bite on me.

This Warren-esque cover is by Penalva, someone whose work I'm not terribly familiar with. But its got everything you need for a Dracula cover: Drac looking menacing, a sexy woman threatened...what else is there?

Like the debut issue, this second volume features an assortment of new work, reprint tales, and text features. We start out with "That Dracula May Live Again!", by Marv Wolfman and Neal Adams. And, as you can see by the astonishing splash page, Neal was, as they say, bringing it:




























...I mean, wow. And every one of the thirteen pages is as good as this one. This story is basically the Secret Origin of Dracula, and its a compelling tale, brilliantly told.

Next is a reprint tale, drawn entirely by Joe Sinnott, called "Vampires Drink Deep!", which is goofy fun, and comes as a nice change of pace from the intensity of the opening feature.

Third is a text fiction piece written by Chris Claremont, and then is "The Terror That Stalked Castle Dracula!" by Steve Gerber, my pal Tony Isabella, and the unusual art team of Jim Starlin and Syd Shores. This is another one of those stories that exemplifies, how do you write a story with Pure Evil as your main protagonist and sort-of hero? Easy, have him take on someone worse...the Nazis!

"One Corpse...One Vote!" is another reprint tale, this time by Stan "Ok, Marvin, I'll create this superhero book and then I'm outta here" Lee and Fred Kida, which features zombies eating a politician at the end...write your own joke here.

"The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Dick Giordano, is quite a sexy tale, about an old gypsy woman who becomes young and actually tried to seduce Dracula! Women were different back in the seventies.

A great, solid issue, a definite ramp up from the first--the Wolfman/Adams tale alone was worth the price. Dracula does indeed live!

Dracula Lives! #1 - Marvel

It's long past due when it comes to talking about of my favorite b/w mags, Marvel's Dracula Lives! Marvel's popular Tomb of Dracula led to this spin-off mag, and they brought some of their greatest creative people to work on it.

After the cover by Boris Vallejo, the mag kicks off with "A Poison of the Blood", by the TOD team of Gerry Conway, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer, where Drac gets messed up with a weird cult. You know you're weird when the King of the Undead looks down on you(speaking of weird, this was where Marvel would do their occasional black-and-white-plus-red printing technique, which always looked to me like it was a mistake, since it looked so odd).

"Suffer Not A Witch", by Roy Thomas, Alan Weiss, and Dick Giordano, is a tale set during the Salem Witch Trials, and like the previous story shows that Dracula wasn't always the most evil guy in the book.

"Dracula is Alive and Well and Living on Madison Avenue" is a text-piece about the new mag, something I wish modern comics did more of--talking directly to the audience, and asking them to write back. After that is "Zombie!", a reprint tale drawn by Tony DiPreta, which is about as gory as a post-Code zombie story could be...i.e., not much.

"Ghost of a Chance!" is another reprint tale, but it only goes on for two pages so it's over before you know it. Another text piece, "What Can You Say About A Five-Hundred-Year-Old Vampire Who Refuses To Die?" is by Marv Wolfman and is a nice brief history of Dracula in film.

Yet another reprint tale, "Fright!" follows...hmm, Marvel must have had a lot of inventory lying around. Luckily, the mag ends with "To Walk Again in Daylight!" by Steve Gerber, Rich Buckler, and Pablo Marcos, an original tale of Drac taking on someone who thinks he's out-thought the good Count. Turns out he's wrong.

All in all, not a bad start, even if the reprint quotient is kinda high. As we'll see as Dracula Lives! continues, Marvel would ramp up the original material, and some really fine work gets produced.