Count Dracula is a Total Badass.
From Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula #22, handily reprinted in Essential Tomb of Dracula v.1
Spooktoberfest Special: A Friendly Reminder From Marvel Comics
Count Dracula is a Total Badass.
From Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula #22, handily reprinted in Essential Tomb of Dracula v.1
if you invert the colors on that drawing, it looks just like a Frank Miller.
Oh my god! Frank Miller is the negative universe’s Gene Colan! It all makes sense now!
I love those ol’ Dracula comics. I think I need that Essential right there.
Yes. Yes, he is a total badass.
Don’t wimp out and settle for Essential Dracula either be a man and buy a run of the series or the new Tomb of Dracula Omnibus in shiny color.
It’s not Fletcher Hanks style until Dracula plans to bomb a city.
A city that he himself lives in.
That’s what I’m shouting at the first person to empty the coffee pot at work tomorrow.
And Gene the Dean still kicks arse.
Nobody ever drew Dracula like Gene Colan. The man’s use of blacks was sheer poetry.
I sold an entire run of TOMB OF DRACULA a few years back. I was all set to pick up the ESSENTIALS but found out that they censored out some scenes for nudity. It wasn’t blatant porn or anything,just a few nude shots, like what you’d see in Savage Sword Of Conan.
So, if Dracula is a total badass, what does that make Dr. McNinja?
I’d like to say that honestly, I couldn’t imagine seeing Gene Colan’s work in color. It looks so perfect in black and white. His use of line creates this wonderfully moody, ethereal effect that I believe works even better without the distraction of color. The four-volume Essential Tomb of Dracula is the best use of the Essential format.
I’m fond of all of the 70’s Marvel horror Essentials. Everyone knows the 60’s and my own Marvel period was later than that but so much of the seventies stuff was just dropped and forgotten. Marvel did a lot of experimentation at that time (something that probably has more to do with the revolving door on the Editor in Chief’s office than anything else) and there’s a lot that was just abandoned.
The nudity that was censored was only in volume 4 for stories that appeared in Dracula Lives! magazine. I believe the entire run of TOD is actually presented as published. Still grab the omnibus and be happy.
I think the color used in Tomb was well done and actually helped add to the experience. Also Colan drew the series knowing that color would be used and the it was pencilled reflects that fact.
Unfortunately by the early 80’s, Marvel’s horror line pretty much had dried up. Which is weird because in film and fiction, the horror boom was still quite strong. Not sure if Jim Shooter and the powers that be decided to concentrate just on traditional superhero books or what,but after a while the horror characters were shuttered away or reduced to irrelevance. Even in the 70’s, you could have Dracula show up in a cameo role in MS.MARVEL and still have it mean something. Werewolf by Night could meet Spider-Woman and it would be memorable.
But in the 80’s, one couldn’t count on Dracula meeting ROM one stormy night. Which is too bad because that would have been memorable…
What happened to Dracula? Did he just read the latest Final Crisis issue?
Has Marvel used Dracula recently? Wasn’t there some X-Men miniseries that came out in the last year or so?
The new Omnibus looks gorgeous even with the shrinkwrap on — and I think you could bludgeon a small child with it. If that were something you were interested in…
But I can’t justify the expense right now.
Q:So, if Dracula is a total badass, what does that make Dr. McNinja?
A: A Doctor who is also a Ninja.
(PS. I know you normally read ’em in trade, but you should probably read up through Dr. McNinja #8 right now.)
I broke down and I’m current on the series, actually. Stay tuned for further details.