World Famous Comics: Essential Tomb of Dracula, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)
Essential Tomb of Dracula, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)
By: Marv Wolfman Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 592 Publication Date: May 05, 2004 Studio: Marvel Comics
Hundreds of pages of solid gothic horror for a few bucks ^ 500-plus pages of enjoyable Dracula tales from 1970's-era Marvel, though perhaps not the head-and-shoulders improvement over the tales in "Essential Tomb of Dracula Volume 1" that I was expecting. Plusses include the usual sharp Gene Colon/Tom Palmer artwork and the variety of different genres explored (horror, high adventure, even science fiction). The big minus is the inclusion of several "Giant-Size Tomb of Dracula" tales. This companion magazine to the regular "Tomb of Dracula" title was clearly a training ground for Marvel's upcoming writers and artists, and it shows. The stories are readable but not much else.
But the good stuff includes a multi-part rematch with the disembodied brain known as Dr. Sun (probably the most unusual comic-book villain ever); a knock-down/drag-out battle between Dracula and Quincy Harker in Harker's booby-trapped mansion (complete with flying wooden stakes and squirting holy water); and some funny supporting characters who lighten the mood without going overboard doing so.
The volume's closing tales put it over the top, though: Dracula gets married, and both his motivations and his bride's in the relationship demonstate subtlety, complexity, and genuine mystery. I'll need to pick up "Essential Tomb of Dracula Volume 3" to see where that storyline goes, but I'm happy to do so.
But for now, I'd give most of the tales in this book a solid "good", with a small peppering of "fair" and "very good/excellent" stories rounding out the mix. The thing to remember is, "Tomb of Dracula" was an ongoing title about an out-and-out evil character (subtle character traits aside, writer Marv Wolfman never let readers forget Dracula's evil nature) and that unusual premise always resulted in stories that were, at the very least, somewhat interesting. And often more than that, as this entertaining reprint collection reminds us.
Who Mourns For Dracula? ^ Without question, this volume contains the very heart of the series, which to my mind, represents Marvel Comics at her best: with strong characters, beautiful artwork and the guts to take chances! Writer Marv Wolfman had been on the series for about a year and was comfortable with putting the characters through their paces-- and in this volume, they were put through a meat grinder!
The main plot deals with the ramifications of the events in the previous volume. As Dracula's plots and schemes begin to come to fruition, he notices a change within himself. Hannibal King, a reluctant vampire and detective (ala ANGEL) had blatantly defied him (in volume one); Drac's finding it difficult to make his transformations and little-by-little, his strength is fading. He comes to the conclusion that he's losing his powers! It's a mad dash as the Lord of The Undead tries to find the answers to his dilema, realizing that if his powers vanish, can a final death be far away? And as for Quincy Harker, Blade and the rest of our vampire hunters, don't think they cut Vlady-Baby any slack--this is the opportunity they've been waiting for! Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows, is the mastermind behind it all who awaits the outcome--while making his or her own plots for world conquest!
This is a "danse macabre" that is screaming for a full color edition. Artist Gene Colan is the undisbuted master of shadows, equalled only perhaps by "Ghastly" Graham Ingels, and in this story, Colan never disappoints. Colan's high caffeine "camera angles", chirascuro lighting and careful rendering give each character a human dignity that is often missing from the work of other mimetic artists; on these pages, Colan demonstrates the true meaning of "realism". Aiding and abetting Colan's pencils, are the inks of Tom Palmer, whose warm yet icy coloring is painfully missed in this black and white edition.
Besides all of this hype, is it good? It's simply MAGNIFICENT! Unlike lesser efforts by others, Wolfman tried to make each chapter as exciting and interesting as his well-developed subplot! There's action, mystery and horror galore in addition to many stand-out minor stories that give us thrills, laughs and a few tears; "Battleground of Blood" (the showdown between Dracula and Harker) and "Hell Hath No Fury" are but two of such efforts while we are delighted by the introduction of two "comic relief" characters: Harold H. Harold (who may be loosely based on Mr.Wolfman, himself) and Aurora Rabinowitz, who would play a key role later in the story. If that isn't enough, we later meet one of the most complex and fascinating characters in comic-book history, Domini--The Bride of Dracula; she who would love a vampire. (Paging Wynona Ryder!)
The only thing stopping this book from receiving a five star rating from me is this: it's in black and white and printed on newsprint! Oh, the horror-- the horror!
Graphic SF Reader ^ There is some classic work here, as the team of vampire hunters is working solidly together, and Dracula runs across some powerful antagonists of his own, in the weird Dr Sun, and the powerful sorceror Dr Strange. Rachel Van Helsing, Quincy Harker, Frank Drake and others are still trying to put wooden arrows into him, giving him further problems to deal with, as he runs into more Marvel characters, including the Silver Surfer.
The end of Comicdom's Number 1 Fear Magazine ^ Dracula first appeared in the Marvel Universe in the early 1970s when "The Tomb of Dracula" first appeared. Penciler Gene Colan, the perfect artist for the comic book, was there from the beginning, but Tom Palmer, who would ink the vast majority of issues did not arrive until the third issue, and writer Marv Wolfman did not take over the scripting duties until the seventh issue. By that point most of the cast of characters had been established: Frank Drake, the American descendant of Dracula himself, Rachel Van Helsing, the great-granddaughter of the professor in Bram Stoker's novel, and Taj, her mute servant from India. But Wolfman immediately added the final member of the core group, Quincy Harker, the son of Jonathan and Mina Harker, now an old man in a wheelchair (because of an encounter with the Count), who brings a scientific approach to vampire slaying.
More importantly, Wolfman took the long view towards the characters and the comic book. There is an inherent problem in that your basic comic book story for "The Tomb of Dracula" requires the heroes NOT to kill the villain, otherwise the comic book turns to dust along with Dracula. Wolfman and Colan portrayed Dracula as a vampire with a plan, who was out to do more than kill the vampire slayers before they killed him. This comic book took its time, a fact that was best indicated by the Doctor Sun plotline, where for issue after issue we were treated to a page or less of scenes showing Chinese minions acting out the orders of the mysterious Doctor Sun. Wolfman milked the set up for all it was worth before finally revealing the Doctor Sun was (gasp!) a disembodied brain. Wolfman also created off beat characters for a vampire comic book, such as Hannibal King, the Vampire Detective, Blade (#58, "Undead by Daylight!"), and the quirky nebbish Harold H. Harold, author of "The Vampire Conspiracy" (#56).
In the first story in this collection, "Where Soars the Silver Surfer" (#50), we have one of the few times that Dracula interacted with other characters from the Marvel Universe. Previously it had been the Werewolf from "Werewolf by Night" and Dr. Strange, both of whom make sense for a horror comic, while the Silver Surfer is the rare exception of a more traditional superhero. However, it is his purity in contrast to the vampire's cursed soul that makes their conflict particularly dramatic. In the end, the idea that "The Tomb of Dracula" is out of the mainstream of the Marvel Universe is preserved.
The end-game for the comic book that plays out in these issues has to do with Janus, the son of Dracula born to his wife, Domini. When Dracula got married and his new bride conceived a child as a result of an arcane ritual, that was certainly strange enough. But Wolfman was interested in playing out the battle between good and evil on a larger scale, which culminated in a confrontation between Dracula and Satan himself ("Life After Undeath," #64) at which point the vampire is turned back into a human being by the Prince of Darkness. However, do not fear: the final fate of Dracula will come down to a last battle between the Lord of Vampires and the humans who have been pursuing him for a half-dozen years in the pages of these comic books.
As good as Wolfman was in plotting these tales he was helped by having the perfect artist for "The Tomb of Dracula" in Gene Colan. Nobody could have illustrated Dracula's transformations better than Colan, with his swirling lines as the vampire morphed into a giant bat. Add rain into the picture, as Colan does on the cover and throughout #60, and you ample proof of this perfection. Palmer's best ink work was done over Neal Adam's pencils, but his partnership with Colan on this comic book is a more substantial body of work and when another inker stepped in, the results were always less impressive. Fortunately, in Volume 3 the only example from this is when Bob McCleod inks Colan's pencils for a "Tomb of Dracula Magazine" story, which ends up being arguably the best of the non-Palmer inked Colan stories because it was intended for a black & white magazine.
The cover art is taken from the cover of the final issue of "The Tomb of Dracula," #70. In addition to the final issues of the comic book (#50-70), there are also stories from the black & white "Tomb of Dracula Magazine," which, the back of this collection is quick to say, were "unrated by the Comics Code Authority!" Just so you know, Volume 1 of the "Essential Tomb of Dracula" contains issues #1-25 of "The Tomb of Dracula," along with a cross-over story in "Werewolf By Night" #15 and the "Giant-Size Chillers" #1 story that introduced Lilith, Dracula's daguther. Volume 2 has issues #26-49 of "Tomb of Dracula," a cross-over with "Dr. Strange" #14, and a quartet of less than stellar stories from "Giant-Size Dracula" #2-5. You really have to get all three volumes so that you can appreciate how Wolfman, Colan, and Palmer crafted what is still from a qualitative standpoint the best "fear" comic book since the days of E.C.
One of the high points in comic book history ^ Wolfman and Colon were really at their best when they were working on this series. Marv kept the series moving with tight characterization and nobody could draw Dracula like Gene: the bat fluttering on the breeze, the bat transformations, the face foating in the mist, and the overall imperial air. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep up with the work load and the giant-size issues were handled by others and weren't quite as good.
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