Tomb of Dracula (1972) #19

Tod19

I’ve read Tomb of Dracula before, but I have an incredibly vivid memory of this issue, which has Dracula and Rachel Van Helsing stranded in the Carpathian Mountains during a days-long blizzard. Dracula’s keeping her alive as a blood bag insurance. She’s injured and too weak to try to kill him (or so he thinks). The art’s fantastic, the writing’s pretty good, and it’s a memorable, outstanding comic. I just wish I understood the nostalgia.

The issue begins with Drac and Rachel already slogging through the snow. Writer Marv Wolfman waits until the fifth page to recap what’s happened since the end of last issue, giving the duo a chance to hate banter at each other, both in the storm and then in shelter for the night. Err, day. They rest during the day because Dracula can’t be out in the sun. But he doesn’t need a coffin because he’s on his own country’s soil, which Wolfman never addresses but assumes the reader will get it. The situation drastically changes Tomb’s rules. It’s awesome.

Last issue ended with Dracula chasing Rachel in a helicopter. He’d been fighting Werewolf by Night in an underwhelming crossover—in both series—for the werewolf’s dad’s secret journal. There are anti-vampire spells in it; Rachel grabs it and makes off into the chopper and the storm. Dracula catches up, makes some bad decisions, then they crash.

They’re heading towards civilization, but Rachel knows it’s her best chance to kill him; Dracula’s keeping her on proverbial ice for a meal of last resort, meaning he’s drinking foul animal blood to avoid ruining the last meal. Dracula talks about the arrangement at length, one of Wolfman’s most successful recurring dialogue bits. There’s some awkward dialogue—Dracula’s always monologuing to himself, sometimes far less successfully than other times—but it works out. It’d be impossible for it not to work out with the gorgeous art from penciler Gene Colan, inker Tom Palmer, and colorist Glynis Wein; it’s a beautiful comic.

Wolfman checks in on a couple existing subplots—“Vampire Brand” going through his training and testing for the mysterious Doctor Sun, then Quincy Harker and Blade having an exposition dump of a conversation about how Blade’s origin reveal is going to affect things going forward. Speaking of origins, the comic—perhaps unknowingly—breaks with the historical Dracula; Tomb’s Dracula had fun winters with his parents like it was Doctor Zhivago or whatever. The real Dracula spent his childhood a hostage.

Anyway. Historical trivia.

Doesn’t matter; exceptional comic.

Werewolf by Night (1972) #15

Wbn15

I’d like to say there are a few pages where Frank Chiarmonte’s inks don’t mess up Mike Ploog’s pencils. I can’t because there’s probably only a page and a half, and not sequentially. Werewolf by Night versus Tomb of Dracula comes to its conclusion here, a better comic than the first installment, which had writer Marv Wolfman (who’s been writing both books) doing a Werewolf issue for a Dracula reader. This finish reads like a jumping-on point; the Tomb of Dracula readers need to be convinced to stay with Werewolf.

There is a bunch of Werewolf housekeeping, though. We get the secret origin of the Russoff family werewolf curse, which involves Dracula. It does not involve–breaking series continuity–a literal curse from Satan. No religiosity here, just a plain angry dude with a stake and a comely lass with a secret. It’s like an old horror comic, only perfunctorily done. Though at least a couple panels are some of the better art in the issue. Not enough of them, but the werewolf reveal is good.

Though, can’t forget… Wolfman has werewolves biting people to change them like vampires. I can’t imagine they’re going to keep that detail going for long. Though there is once again mention of Jack’s sister Lissa maybe getting the curse, which the comic’s been ignoring for a while.

Dracula’s got his own subplot about getting Jack’s dad’s diary; apparently, there are even more powerful spells in it than in the Darkhold, which I don’t think this issue even mentions. Maybe once. But Drac’s after the “Book of Second Sins” or something, which is a weird subtitle for the dad’s diary.

Frank Drake and Rachel Van Helsing also guest star; they’ve got their rental helicopter and are after Dracula. Ploog and Chiarmonte’s Frank Drake looks like Jack Russell with different hair. Rachel Van Helsing’s scar becomes her defining feature here, though maybe they wanted to keep her straight from the other blonde lady, Topaz.

Topaz’s Jack’s accessory this issue. I hope that situation improves.

Ploog and Chiarmonte do get to do a “Dracula attacks girl on countryside” panel, which Tomb of Dracula did fairly regularly for its first half dozen issues (ish). It’s a fun nod to the trope. Then there’s the cartoonish Dracula bat, which I feel Ploog would’ve done wonders with, inking himself.

The ending’s contrived, but so’s the entire issue; it fits. It’s fine. It’s not great, but it’s much better than the first installment. When Wolfman’s writing’s good, it’s good. When it’s not, it’s just mediocre, never worse.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #18

Tod18

This issue ought to be good. It’s Marv Wolfman writing, it’s Gene Colan, it’s Tom Palmer. Wolfman’s written Tomb; he’s written Werewolf by Night, so there shouldn’t be any problem doing a crossover. Except Wolfman’s amalgamation of Tomb and Werewolf doesn’t work. Colan and Palmer do a great job illustrating Jack Russell and his psychic girlfriend Topaz, but they do a lousy one with the werewolf. Maybe it medium long shots, but the face is terrible. It’s the first time Colan hasn’t been able to do something exquisitely.

The story has Jack and Topaz investigating his family history in Transylvania, which at one point is described as a Romanian village, another time as a country. Unfortunately, the issue often feels like it didn’t get enough editorial passes, or maybe they were focusing on the wrong things, like shoehorning Dracula into Jack’s werewolf story.

Because it’s a strange Werewolf by Night comic, not a Tomb of Dracula. Wolfman overwrites the scenes with Jack and Topaz, which doesn’t help them at all because Jack’s still a surfer bro. It’s more of a bad thing but written to be accessible for Tomb readers, so it’s all exposition dumps. Gorgeous Colan and Palmer art, lousy scenes. Over and over again.

The Dracula stuff is limited and middling. Drac’s back in Transylvania because Quincy destroyed all his coffins in England; it’s Dracula’s first time back since he left in Tomb of Dracula #2. Except he’s only staying a night, and then it’s back to England. He literally went home for long enough for there to be a bunch of editor’s notes telling you to read Dracula Lives to understand paintings and exposition, but it’s all a retcon. It’s a little bold, a little too much, but also Wolfman and company emphasizing Tomb is different now than when it started.

It’s a nice flex.

When Dracula goes out for his evening snack, he sees Topaz and Wolfman Jack—they’ve just destroyed the inn, and Wolfman Jack’s killed a rapey sailor—and Dracula attacks Topaz. Then he’s surprised when the werewolf attacks him.

The next time, Drac sees Topaz and Jack, then sees the werewolf and Jack gone, and is bewildered. He also can’t mind control the werewolf, which maybe is normal, maybe isn’t. Wolfman’s indecision hurts the already mildly grating crossover guest stars.

There are some hints for next issue, post-crossover (after it finishes in Werewolf), and it’ll be nice to have the book back on track after this unnecessary detour.o

Werewolf by Night (1972) #14

Wbn14

Marv Wolfman writes the h-e-double hockey sticks out of this issue. Unfortunately, it’s got a lousy ending as Wolfman gets stuck resolving Jack’s subplot with his step-father, Phillip, in a resolution seemingly intended to conclude the aged arc as quickly as possible. But there are some real highlights, including Jack’s moody romance narration for him and Topaz—who steal a passionate kiss before he heads to a showdown—but the best is the car chase.

Out of nowhere, Wolfman and penciller Mike Ploog do this impromptu California mountain highway car chase. It’s awesome. Since it’s mostly in long shot, Frank Chiaramonte’s inks don’t do it too much disservice either. It’s a shame Chiaramonte seems to know to give expression to the werewolf and the bad guy, Taboo, but everyone else is relatively bland. It’s not the worst Ploog inking; it’s just not… well, it’s not good Ploog inking. It’s just not blithering incompetent.

There’s a lot of plot to the issue, too, something most Werewolf writers have avoided. Wolfman resolves the cliffhanger with a fight scene, gets Jack and Topaz back to his place for some smooching, stern words from sister Lissa, and discovers step-dad Phillip’s been brain-transferred to Taboo’s monster.

So Jack’s got to go back and defeat the monster, which should cure the step-dad. But, little does Jack know, the escape was all part of Taboo’s master plan, leading to some surprises in the second half. Maybe not the most consequential surprises, but Wolfman’s generating new, contained subplots, which is nice to see. Because he writes the heck out of it. Just superb work from Wolfman.

I mean, the wrap-up’s a disappointment on a couple levels, and there are some very repetitive series elements—at one point, I was expecting Jack to get turned to stone again, just like in his second adventure—but it’s still an outstanding issue of Werewolf. The big subplot conclusion—going back to the first issue—is just too slight, too easy.

Because they’ve got to get Jack and Topaz on a plane to catch a train so they can guest star in next month’s Tomb of Dracula, which should be interesting.

I feel like there’s some other unresolved plot thread I’m forgetting but maybe not.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #17

Tof17

This issue isn’t my favorite Tomb of Dracula (though I’m not keeping track), but I think it’s the most impressively written one so far. Writer Marv Wolfman does an espionage on a train thriller, just with Dracula and his supporting cast. And tying into the big Doctor Sun subplot he’s been working on for five or six issues at least. So Wolfman’s finally answering some of those questions, albeit guardedly, and the pay-off comes in this exceptional done-in-one.

Wolfman’s got a three-act structure for the issue, which is always impressive to see in twenty pages of story, with the plot taking full advantage of Dracula’s increased range of mobility. The issue starts in Paris, with Dracula trying to find a coffin for the night, only for Blade to attack him and reveal they’ve been cleaning out Drac’s Parisian stashes.

There’s a fight with Blade, then there’s Dracula getting to a safe place, with Wolfman changing the perspective and sticking with this French farming couple. The husband’s been Dracula’s brainwashed lackey for thirty years. It’s a great mix of text exposition and brief, suggestive art. There aren’t any particularly big set pieces for artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer this issue; instead, they’re just doing this tense, impatient story.

See, Dracula’s going back to Transylvania. No explanation why. He doesn’t deign to reveal.

So he’s taking a train home. On the train are Frank Drake and Rachel Van Helsing, whose characters have been reduced to a vampire-hunting couple; while Frank doesn’t have the chance to be racist, he does tell Dracula they’re after him for scarring Rachel. Yes, sure, killing their pal Edith, but also the scarring was just as bad. It’s a very Frank Drake moment, and it’s hard to root for this asswipe.

But also on the train are a couple secretive guys with a briefcase who are convinced someone’s out to get them. The bruiser sidekick is convinced it’s Frank and Rachel; the other guy’s convinced it’s someone else. But we don’t get to see the someone else. Because suspense.

And it’s very effective suspense. It’s just not horror suspense, except maybe when Dracula goes out looking for a snack and can’t control his urges. Wolfman shows how genre doesn’t apply to Tomb of Dracula, not with such capable artists and such a strong protagonist. Dracula’s such a good lead.

So, yeah, maybe it is my favorite issue so far.

Werewolf by Night (1972) #13

Wbn13

Has Frank Chiaramonte gotten better at inking Mike Ploog, or am I just so happy to see Ploog pencils, I’ll take whatever I get, inking-wise. The inks cut into some of the pencil’s roundness, making people more angular—Phillip Russell in particular. But the werewolf’s still nice and Ploog-y, plus there are plenty of great page layouts. Ploog’s flexing on the composition.

The story involves Jack again getting captured and held prisoner by someone out to get his werewolf magic (or something related). His captor, once again, has a comely female accomplice who gets sympathetic to Jack, putting herself in danger. And then there’s a monster guy to fight.

With minor adjustments, it’s the same story Werewolf by Night has been doing since the second or third issue. The bad guy—Taboo, an Indian mystic—is even after the Darkhold, which one of the first villains was after, though it got ingloriously destroyed ten issues ago. His pretty lady sidekick is Topaz. She’s the one with the real power; Taboo wants her to use her powers to soul-suck Wolfman Jack and put it into Taboo’s sickly son. Taboo was going to heal his son with the Darkhold twenty years ago, but Jack’s real father stole the book from him.

Or stole it back from him. Jack’s father’s history is very muddled.

Further complicating matters is Jack’s step-father, Phillip Russell, also being one of Taboo’s prisoners. Turns out Taboo hired the Committee to harass Russell on his behalf, all so Taboo could get the Darkhold. Werewolf by Night’s plotting appears to be determined by dice roll and bingo card.

Marv Wolfman’s scripting again. Instead of trying to unravel all the outstanding subplots and make sense of them, he’s bundling them together—the mysterious Committee being reduced to a proxy for Taboo, the Darkhold coming back. Jack has a little character development (he wants to be a stunt man). He’s also semi-racist to his Black neighbor again. While the neighbor’s a dick, to be sure, there’s some major subtext. Not to mention Jack’s just a bro.

No sign of his little sister, Lissa, who ought to be werewolfing out any time. The issue picks up at least a month after the previous, without addressing any outstanding plot points (i.e., also absent Buck now knowing Jack’s a werewolf).

I hope once the book loses Ploog for good, the writing somehow ups the ante to compensate because, otherwise, Werewolf’s going to be a Seventies slog.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #16

Tod16

It’s a horror mystery starring Dracula. Some skeleton is coming to life and terrorizing people, only he’s after specific people, not just everyone. Based on writer Marv Wolfman’s descriptions, it’s more a zombie than a skeleton, but there’s still such a thing as the Comics Code, so it’s a skeleton in the art. The text adds the gore.

The issue opens with the skeleton murdering someone, then running away, so it starts with the mystery, including bringing in Scotland Yard inspector Chelm for the case. Chelm’s been in the comic before, maybe a dozen issues ago; he was support for the vampire hunter plots. So now he gets to do his own investigating one—including solving the case, which Dracula can’t do on his own.

Dracula will get involved because the skeleton steals some of Drac’s snacks—disposing of a couple graverobbers who Dracula had been watching with dinner time intent. Because Dracula’s a macho asshole, the next time he comes across the skeleton, he wants to fight. Only the skeleton’s not likely anything else Dracula’s fought.

There are some late contrivances—Dracula just happens to recognize a name relevant to the story, this person just happened to want to be a Dracula groupie (but presumably remain human)—and then the mystery solution is too rushed. But it’s a good, different kind of Tomb of Dracula story. Wolfman provides an elaborate setting for artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer to play in. The skeleton is terrifying. It’s absent personality in its face—the unmoving skull—so Colan uses movement to create presence. It’s great work and helps get the comic through the rockier conclusion. Not really rocky, just not as smooth as some of the earlier scenes.

The story seems to be a done-in-one unless something happens to Dracula immediately following the finish; he doesn’t worry about daylight any time in the issue, so it’s presumably imminent. Otherwise, there’s no character or plot development. Maybe Dracula and Chelm being chill—because Chelm calls Harker, who desperately wants to tag along, but Chelm doesn’t bring him in. Oh, and then we check in with the mysterious Doctor Sun to kick the can down the road a bit more.

It’s a standard horror story, but it’s just a little different thanks to Dracula’s involvement. Really good, except for the last couple of pages, but they’re forgivable, especially after the gorgeous art.

Werewolf by Night (1972) #12

Wbn12

Don Perlin makes his first appearance in the Werewolf by Night credits, and I felt the tinge of inevitability. He’s inking Gil Kane’s pencils; about the only okay thing ends up being Wolfman Jack. Kane and Perlin’s regular people are pretty bad, Perlin’s fault, but Kane’s layouts for the action aren’t very good, not Perlin’s fault. But the real disappointment this issue is writer Marv Wolfman. He’s got absolutely nothing going with the main plot, the new villain, the Hangman. And then the subplots stumble too.

The main plot fails because the Hangman doesn’t turn out to be a very good villain for Werewolf. Since Wolfman Jack can’t understand what’s going on—he’s found a Christian fascist psychopath vigilante with kidnaps the women he saves—writer Wolfman compensates with lots of monologuing from the Hangman. It’s not good monologuing, especially since at some point the Hangman becomes afraid of the werewolf, only we never see that moment occur in the comic. Somewhere between the werewolf dodging a blow and the Hangman outrunning the cops, he becomes terrified. Only Wolfman doesn’t write the monologuing like he’s terrified, just fanatical. Maybe Wolfman thinks he’s doing a transition, but he’s not.

Of course, the Hangman monologues are much better than the regular people’s dialogue. Wolfman’s Jack Russell is an entitled white bro asshole who’s potentially racist to the first regular Black character in the book. Maybe the guy is being a dick to him, but Jack’s barbed responses don’t not seem racist. Luckily, there are two girls who think he’s hot stuff, and he spends the day flirting with them, even though—the comic reminds us—he’s technically got a lady.

Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old (or younger) sister Lissa has told mid-forties Buck about Jack’s lycanthropy, and Jack blows them off for the chicks after his fight with the Hangman in front of them. Plus, step-dad Phillip is still off being tortured. Wolfman revved all the existing subplots only to let them go cold again, an issue later. He really was just keeping the pans hot.

Strangely, Wolfman’s Jack Russell narration is fine, sometimes near good—it can’t quite get there because the plot’s failing—it’s some of the best Jack narration in ages. We also get the first mention of Marvel superheroes existing in the real world. Jack thinks about how he’s not Spider-Man.

Anyway. I was expecting the art to be the most disappointing thing, but it’s the writing. Bummer.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #15

Tod15

It only took fifteen issues (plus some Dracula Lives), but I finally get my Marvel Comics Dracula origin details. The issue’s somewhat coy about the revelations, starting with an incredibly entertaining sequence where Dracula’s journaling. A record must be kept of his thoughts and so on, as he’s Dracula. It ought to be obnoxious, but instead, it’s thrilling. He’s so wonderfully full of himself.

First, he recounts his adventures after last issue. Some evangelical psychopath preacher (hashtag oxymoron) was planning on resurrecting and killing him night after night for his brethren; only Drac escaped. In the exposition last issue, writer Marv Wolfman implied Dracula was scared; that fearfulness doesn’t carry over to his journal. Rejuvenated, he went for a night flight, where some hunter shot him down in bat form. Annoyed, Dracula let the hunter think he’d bagged a giant bat, only to transform and send rats and wolves to finish the guy off.

Somehow, that recollection leads Dracula to remembering his wife’s murder in the 1400s, which leads him to an anecdote about modern marriage. Some guy kills his wife for her money, only Dracula’s there to help her get revenge.

That story then leads to something about a pool of infinite blood, leading to 1969 and the significant origin details.

Dracula and Quincy Harker have been battling since the 1910s, presumably when Quincy was in his teens. Dracula’s been building his legions around the globe, Quincy’s outfitting vampire hunters. The one who gets Drac in ‘69 is a Scotsman in a full Technicolor kilt. The Scotsman ends up in the pit where Dracula kept his snacks in the castle; Dracula ended up in the coffin, waiting three years for Tomb of Dracula #1.

It’d have been nice for these timeline details to come earlier—especially since the comic toggled between Dracula having some presence in the nearby village and the comic being a direct sequel to the Bram Stoker novel—but it’s relatively worth the wait. Wolfman and artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer turn in a fantastic anthology issue; with gorgeous art and excellent Dracula narration (both in journaling and direct address to the reader).

It’s awesome. So, worth the wait. What’s particularly impressive about the art is how well Colan and Palmer do in all the different settings; it’s a breathtaking mix of horror and fantasy. They’ve cracked Tomb of Dracula; Wolfman’s justified egomaniac Dracula is a terrifying delight.

Werewolf by Night (1972) #11

Wbn11

It took Marvel until Werewolf #11 to get Marv Wolfman writing the book. Just the credit alone is worth it, which they seem to get—the credit reads: “finally a Wolfman written by a Wolfman.” Wolfman does get to create a new villain—The Hangman; I’m pretty sure he goes on to more in Marvel. The Hangman’s a fascist vigilante who goes around with a noose and scythe, killing bad guys.

Oh, he also kidnaps all the women he saves, taking them down to his sewer lair. Presumably, a different sewer liar than the last villain in Werewolf. Thank goodness L.A.’s so big.

Gil Kane and Tom Sutton do the art; Kane penciling, Sutton inking. Wolfman Jack Russell is great. The rest varies from okay to good. Sutton inks Kane’s faces wrong. At their best, Sutton’s inks feel like they’re bundling and intensifying Kane’s pencils. At the inks’ worst… well, Sutton takes too much out of the faces. He flattens too much and leaves the eyes and mouth floating. It’d be okay a couple times, but it’s most times.

The issue opens not with Jack or the werewolf but with Jack’s kidnapped step-father, Phillip Russell. It’s a torture scene. The shadowy group of evil white men—I think the Council but so many of these comics had them—is willing to forgive Russell’s still unrevealed transgressions if he’ll just give them his stepson. We found out last issue the bad guys know Jack’s a werewolf. Also, last time they wanted Jack’s younger sister, Lissa, who hasn’t become a werewolf yet.

Russell won’t give Jack up, so they have to keep torturing him. It’s weird to have some dad getting tortured in a Bond villain lair but… fine. What’s weirder is how writer Wolfman does a bunch of work on the running subplots. The comic introduced them way back in its Marvel Spotlight days, then forgot about them until a few issues ago when original writer Gerry Conway returned. Conway lined some pieces up, and now Wolfman’s doing the finishing touches?

I don’t know if Werewolf needed a more constant writer, but it definitely needed better plotting. There’s decompressed storytelling, then there’s taking two years to get to a basic reveal.

Wolfman also gets to send Jack out on his own; he has a big scene telling Buck and Lissa he’s moving out on his own (he’s got his trust fund). Given we’ve seen Buck and Jack hanging out half a scene in ten issues, it’s not the last episode of “Friends.” Then there’s the on-the-nose moment where the Hangman sees Buck and Lissa together and is like, that old man better not be messing with that teenager.

There are a few good plot points opened up for next issue; Buck finally sees the werewolf, there’s the big cliffhanger with Hangman, and Phillip’s still kidnapped. But waiting ten issues for anything whatsoever to happen with the character arcs is way too long.

Even for the seventies.