Review: Tomb of Dracula Artists Edition

“…I speak as one who died and still defies the grave.” – Dracula

Synopsis:

When I opened my folder to look at the new Comics that Comic Crusaders wanted me to review, my heart leapt! One of the inspirations for my own title of Karl Vincent: Vampire Hunter was Tomb of Dracula! I opened the folder with passion and read Marv Wolfman’s introduction with joy! Not only was I getting a collection of this title but never before seen pages too! Too explain what a Gene Colan fan I am, back in the day I didn’t read much from DC comics, only the Batman titles. But when I saw that Gene Colan drew a Superman Phantom Zone miniseries I grabbed it up! I always loved the character of Superman and watched the TV shows and movies, but his comics back then were a little too silly for my tastes. But with Gene Colan art, I had to have it. This volume serves up the art in its raw form, as storyboards, not the actual pages, and it’s all the better for it!

The Creative Team:

Marv Wolfman claims in his introduction to this title that he learned how to write, not just stories, but characters, from his experience with Gene Colan. I must say that the Wolfman learned expertly! The first story is from Tomb of Dracula # 25 Night of the Blood Stalker. This story opens in true noir style, complete with narration and the mysterious lady in black approaching vampire detective Hannibal King! She wants his help to track down her husbands killer…Dracula! The first appearance of Hannibal King. Then we come to issue # 28 Madness in the Mind. which takes us to Jaipur India. Father and son clash over family in this tale of David Eshcol who was driven mad by members of his own family. Another Quincy Harker tale as only marvelous Marv Wolfman can imagine it. This volume then takes us to issue #36 and #37 Flight of Fear. This tale opens with Inspector Chelm listening to the testimony of William Perry, who is afraid he might wind up in the Looney Bin after his story about meeting the Dark Prince. In a highlight of this story Dracula hi-jacks a plane to Boston. Then we find issue # 46 and Dracula is getting married! One of the coolest things about this title is that they were never afraid to show the contrast in the religion aspect. We find out why Dracula fears the cross so much. Most vampire tales don’t take on the religion aspect, we simply accept that vampires burn when they touch a cross, in this title we learn why, making it all the more fun! And here we see our caped cross-hater plotting to give birth to the antichrist! Then this volume brings us issue #48 A Song For Maryanne. This story opens with a female vampire wanting to die, then relating her tale to us. Blade and Deacon Frost are all aboard for the ride!

Gene Colan, along with Tom Palmer redefined horror comics with this title and here you can see why. As a kid I never really knew what Colan’ secret was. All I knew is that when I saw a Gene Colan cover my heart leapt and I instantly grabbed it off the rack, it didn’t matter what title it was. If Gene Colan drew it I had to have it! Marv Wolfman gives us a hint in his introduction as to why he is unique, most artists use the tip of the pencil to draw, where Colan used the flat of his pencil. His use of contrast and shadow was unique. No one drew like he did before or since his passing. It is a shame that he didn’t teach art and have his own school like Joe Kubert did, because his technique passed with him. Thanks to IDW and Marvel we can enjoy his unique talent and savor some of his unpublished work.

In Conclusion:

For those of you who are new to comics I invite you to open this volume and discover some of the most amazing stories in the history of comics, Wolfman and Colan’s style is unparalleled and will never be repeated, no matter how many try. They worked good together like Lee and Kirby, Claremont and Cockrum,Â Moore and Gibbons. For those who’ve been around the block I invite you to re-visit the magic that Marvel first introduced us to in the ’70’s, when they were king and could do no wrong. Even if you have all the issues in this collection, you don’t have them as presented here. Plus you don’t have the pages that weren’t originally published back then either. No matter what, this belongs in your collection! ***** (10 rating)

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Writer – Marv Wolfman
Art – Gene Colan, Tom Palmer
Letters – John Costanza
Publisher – IDW/Marvel

Author Profile

Kevin Given

Kevin Given has studied with â€œ Longridge Writers Group â€ and â€œ Writerâ€™s Boot Camp â€ a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the â€œ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter â€ franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of â€œ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter â€ # 1 and â€œ Files of Karl Vincent â€ # 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series â€œ Dracula Rising â€ (working title) and developing â€œ Foul Blood â€ into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given