Dracula continues to get more and more interesting, and several issues during this time I have found to be exceptionally well written.
cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer
Actually, in my previous post, I forgot to mention a specific story that I thought was really a standout issue, and that was in issue #25, where a private detective, Hannibal King, is hired by a woman, Adrianne Walters, whose husband, Fred was murdered by Dracula. This particular story was top notch, and a bit of a departure from the rest of the series where Dracula is constantly dealing with Frank Drake, Quincy Harker and the rest of the Vampire Hunters. The gist of this story is that King discovers who the Fred’s killer is, and convinces his client that it was a vampire. He also uncovers the reason for the murder as well as other secrets of the Count.
The story line then goes back to Harker and the Vampire hunters, some going their separate ways, convinced that Dracula has been destroyed, with Drake being lured to Brazil by a long time friend, while Taj returns to India to deal with his own past, and we get a great deal of his backstory, during this time.
cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer
Meanwhile Quincy Harker is pretty much left alone to deal with Dracula, while Dracula is trying to determine why his powers are weakening. Yep, Doctor Sun is in the background here and there. Much intrigue, larger body count, and we learn that Harker’s mansion was designed to be a death trap to destroy Dracula. There are some some interesting tools used in this section, including Saint’s color having numerous silver crosses embedded in it, Saint being Harker’s faithful German Shepard dog. That last bit reminds of one thing I learned in Creative Writing classes in college – if you present the reader with a loaded gun, you better use it. Inn this case, the loaded gun is Saint. Good doggie. Woof! I admit I am a sucker for dogs. Just ask my wife.
Although Harker has Dracula on the ropes, it comes as no surprise that Dracula had an Ace up his sleeve as a hold card, which he does play. Not going to say what that is, as that would be too much of a spoiler. Also during these several issues we get a good look into Harker’s backstory, including some history of his wife and why he is bound to a wheel chair.
All of the issues in this current run are really darn good, and well worth reading. I
did miss out on this series growing up, although if I had read them as a kid, some of them may have given me nightmares.
Creative talents include Marv Wolfman, who continues to tell darn good stories, and artists include Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, John Costanza and many others, with Roy Thomas as editor.