Dracula #4

23 Mar 1993 - 14 Apr 1993. £1.25.
36 pages. Full colour & B&W contents.
Dark Horse Comics International.

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by Mike Mignola.
r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #?

Contents:

 2 Dracula Introduction text by Dick Hansom (? uncredited) / Contents / Indicia

 3 Bram Stoker's Dracula, part four, w: Roy Thomas; p: Mike Mignola, i: John Nyberg, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Mark Chiarello.

r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #04 (Jan 1993).

17 Bloodlines text feature compiled by Dave Hughes; photographs by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

19 Vampirella Who Serves the Cause of Chaos? w: Archie Goodwin; a: Tom Sutton.

r: Vampirella (Warren) #08 (Nov 1970).

33 Inside Coppola's Dracula Untitled, part four, text feature by Gary Gerani & Dave Hughes; photographs by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

34 Salem's Slot review of Salem's Lot (1978) by Seamus Ryan; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

35 Subscribe - Comics for the '90s

36 The Galaxy's Greatest Heroes Return in... Classic Star Wars in-house advertisement

The hunt for Dracula begins, and, while Mina sees Renfield, the boxes of Dracula's home soil are purified so that they cannot be used by him. After venting his anger on Renfield for betraying him, Dracula visits Mina - who he convinces to drink of his blood. Knowing that the link between Mina and Dracula can be used to his advantage, Helsing hypnotises Mina.

Some of the colouring decisions make the art too dark in places, with reproduction struggling to cope with the almost-hidden figures on the first page, for example, though for the most part this is an artistic choice which sells the stylized mood. The page which doesn't quite work is when Mina is hypnotised, as the various blues blend into one another. For an adaptation which has, overall, been so strong, this isn't really a problem.

Bloodlines sets its sights on Academy Award nominations for the film, announcing that Bram Stoker's Dracula snagged a nomination in every category of the second Chainsaw Awards, run by Fangoria. The feature's brief, yet tantalising, coverage of Anne Rice's UK promotional tour doesn't state whether the interviews which weren't cancelled were for print or television - small details.

Night blankets a remote area of the rocky mountains, and, softly, silently snow has begun to fall. A cutting wind sends the flakes of white dancing and driving across the rugged landscape to pelt and sting a figure strangely out of place in these surroundings, a girl of unearthly beauty wandering through a winter night. A girl lost in a world not her own...

Vampirella suits the black and white presentation, though it has to be asked - was the finances stretched so tight that some colour could not have been added? After finding herself stranded on a mountain after a plane crash, Vampirella is rescued by Tyler Westron, who takes her to the safety of his retreat for the nervous rich. Vampirella discovers that Tyler is well aware of her alien origins, as she has talked while under sedation, and worse - he has had to amputate her wings. Telling her that he only wishes to aid her, Tyler convinces Vampirella to be patient.

And far from the isolated winter lodge, other events are forming that will in time touch the girl of Drakulon, for as the half-light of dusk settles gloomily over a graveyard in rural Michigan...

Conrad Van Helsing exhumes Kurt's corpse, and, seeing that it is drained of blood, puts a stake through the heart of his dead brother.

Vampirella may not be the most original series ever written, but the effect of so many influences upon this plot assists in creating a larger canvas upon which to paint her adventures. A cult which worships ancient gods, the isolated "hospital" where events play out, a staking in a modern cemetery, a strange monster kept caged in the basement - all of the elements are familiar, yet when woven together in this manner build into something greater than the pieces themselves.

It isn't perfect, however. There are panels which don't work, especially those in which close-ups of major characters don't look like those characters, and the ending trails off, when it should end on a more dramatic note.

No matter the film, reading of the rush to get a completed product in the can in time for its release date, and as Inside Coppola's Dracula makes clear, Bram Stoker's Dracula. had quite a few challenges to overcome. Most interesting of the comments, is mention of the deleted scenes:

Certain elements were lessened or dropped, others amplified. Early test screenings suggested that a little blood goes a long way. Some very sexy scenes were deleted altogether.

So... More deleted scenes than there was on the two-disc DVD release?

As a lifelong Stephen King fan, Salem's Lot always felt like a poor adaptation, whether in its film edit or as a mini-series. Seamus Ryan provides a brief recap of its development, first as a film, then as the eventual mini-series it became, and its sequel. There isn't enough to convince me to give it another chance, and I'm not sure why it is included. Had there been more a involved history of the book and its adaptation it might have been a really useful primer, though without a wealth of detail it merely points to the video's existence.

Stealth marketing at work.

03

Dracula

#05

Dracula #2

09 Feb 1993-01 Mar 1993. £1.25.
40 pages. Full colour contents.
Dark Horse Comics International.

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Painted cover by John Bolton.

Contents:

.2 Dracula introduction text (uncredited). / Contents / Indicia

.3 Bram Stoker's Dracula, part two, w: Roy Thomas; p: Mike Mignola, i: John Nyberg, lettering by John Costanzac, colouring by Mark Chiarello.

r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #02 (Nov 1992).

20 Bram Stoker's Dracula glossy full color film poster.

35 Inside Coppola's Dracula The Players, part two, text feature by Gary Gerani.

37 Bloodlines text feature compiled by Dave Hughes.

39 Subscribe - Comics for the '90s

40 Even in Your Dreams, You Can't Escape... Aliens in-house advertisement.

John Bolton's cover injects a cinematic feel to the title's appearance, utilizing a visual cue from Nosferatu, which was based upon the same source novel. It's slightly in-jokey, but he gets away with it thanks to sheer skill. There's an introduction to the adaptation, covering the basics, which is a delight to see, before the adaptation resumes. Truly excellent artwork from Mignola, and despite drenching the pages in black, this never looks muddy or difficult to read - even images coloured dark blue seem to be balanced.

The work really benefits from a larger page size, and is much more attractive than the Topps version.

I'm not entirely sold on the inclusion of the film poster (which has a decidedly rough and ready appearance), but it shouldn't be the primary reason people would want to pick this issue up. It isn't a brilliant design, using far too many filters over the selected images, and the much more effective red logo poster is likely to be better remembered after all these years. Still, it is free...

Inside Coppola's Dracula, Gary Gerani's text feature, covers the cast selection with an eye for minor details. As there isn't much room to play with, he wisely gives a brief account of the preparations Coppola made to get his actors prepared, then moves on to individual pieces on Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Tom Waits, and Sadie Frost. It is a very varied cast, and the disparity in the quality of each performance isn't addressed, but we do get an insight into why they were selected.

Following this, Dave Hughes' Bloodlines, which is general vampire news rather than focusing on Dracula, feels slightly out of sequence. While there are plenty of reference guides to Dracula, relating the important points in the character's history, there hasn't been a proper step-by-step history which takes in everything. By skipping straight to then-current cinematic outings, much of the interesting and odd footnotes are brushed aside.

Can't we get comics which contain features which challenge magazines and websites for their quality of research? It isn't difficult to pull together a truly important and worthwhile history on a character as comprehensively covered as Dracula.

The mention of Cure, a film about AIDS which Coppola was hoping to direct after Dracula is another in a long list of films which never appeared, though yet had people excited at the prospects. It is one which still sounds interesting, and hopefully hasn't been completely forgotten. I've always been interested in medical-themed films, and it has much promise.

Worth picking up for the cover alone, but Mignola's work demands attention.

Dracula #1

Dracula

Dracula #3

Scream!

Scream!

24 Mar 1984 - 30 Jun 1984 (15 issues)
B&W with color cover and center pages
IPC Magazines Ltd.

01 (24 Mar 1984; cover price 22p) Free cover-mounted Dracula fangs. The Dracula File, Monster, The Thirteenth Floor, Tales from the Grave, Fiends and Neighbours (reprints from Cor!), Library of Death and The Terror of the Cats begin. Scream cover poster, part one.

02 (31 Mar 1984) Scream cover poster, part two.
03 (07 Apr 1984) Scream cover poster, part three.
04 (14 Apr 1984) Scream cover poster, part four.
05 (21 Apr 1984) Scream cover poster, part five.
06 (28 Apr 1984) Scream cover poster, part six.
07 (05 May 1984) Wraparound cover poster. The Nightcomers begins.
08 (12 May 1984) Beware the Werewolf begins.
09 (19 May 1984) 'Faces of Fear' wraparound cover poster.
10 (26 May 1984) Uncle George full-color pin-up.
11 (02 Jun 1984)
12 (09 Jun 1984) 'Library of Death' wraparound cover poster.

13 (16 Jun 1984) Sea Beast begins. Monsters of the Deep poster, part one.

14 (23 Jun 1984) Monsters of the Deep poster, part two.
15 (30 Jun 1984) Monsters of the Deep poster, part three.

Note: Fourth part of poster not published., remaining incomplete.

Note: Final issue. Merged with Eagle (IPC Magazines Ltd.) Vol.21 #[128] (01 Sep 1984).

External Links:

Back from the Depths (Fansite)

Scream! #1

24 Mar 1984; Cover price 22p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
IPC Magazines Ltd.

Edited by Ian Rimmer.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Free Dracula fangs.

Contents:

.2 From the Depths... text introduction (uncredited).

.3 The Dracula File UNTITLED, part one, w: Gerry Finley Day; a: Eric Bradbury, lettering by John Aldrich.

.8 Monster What was the Terrifying Secret of the Locked Room?, part one, w: Alan Moore; a: Heinzl, lettering by Paul Bensberg.

12 The Thirteenth Floor The Thirteenth Floor Didn't Exist... Yet it was There..., part one, w: Ian Holland (Alan Grant & John Wagner); a: Jose Ortiz, lettering by Mike Peters.

16 Tales from the Grave "The Undertaker", part one, w: Tom Tully; a: Jim Watson, lettering by Tim Skomski.

19 A Ghastly Tale! w: UNKNOWN; a: UNKNOWN.

20 Fiends and Neighbours UNTITLED w: UNKNOWN; a: Graham Allen (uncredited).

r: Cor!! (IPC Magazines Ltd.) #[182] (24 Nov 1973).

22 Library of Death At Death's Door... w: Barrie Tomlinson; a: Cam Kennedy, lettering by Mike Peters.

27 The Terror of the Cats "No Harm...", part one, w: John Agee; a: Gonzalez, lettering by Peter Knight.

31 Dare You Read Scream! Next Week? (one third page) next issue information. / Advertisements (two thirds page)

32 Presented With Scream! illustration by UNKNOWN.

I vividly remember running around with Dracula fangs in my mouth when I first read Scream!, and the strange taste which they left in my mouth for a while after. Memories of this title appearing on the shelves of newsagents is still fresh in my mind all these years later, and coming to it after so long is... Well, it is weird. Separating the quality of contents from the memory of stories is an interesting experience, though mostly it holds up under scrutiny.

Although bringing the Count into a modern era had been done several times before (most memorably in Dracula A.D. 1972), The Dracula File manages to retain visual aesthetics of more traditional interpretations while staying conscious of the political landscape of mainland Europe since WWII. The strip's weak spot is a thoroughly uninspiring logo, which doesn't capture the cold war spirit to any degree.

Taking a uniform from an East German military base near the border, a defector disguises himself in order to make a run for the barbed wire on the western side. Guards fire at him as he flees, and, as mines explode around him, he stumbles to safe harbour. Taken to a British military hospital in Western Germany, the officers in charge determine that he is Rumanian, and ponder whether he might be a valuable defector. It is an opening which could have been inserted into a contemporary James Bond film without changing much.

The jacket he wore during his escape is checked, and the British see a row of bullet holes - he man should have died from his injuries. Computer analysis of medical reports show his body is of indefinable age, but before information can be passed along a fire breaks out. Thinking that they are in a Len Deighton novel, the British consider the possibility that K.G.B. agents might have attempted to kill the defector, not realising that danger is closer than they think.

There are a few places where the story attempts to make leaps it can't quite reach, and the final panel is a touch too on-the-nose, but there's more to like than dislike in the manner Gerry Finley Day brings Dracula back to Britain. There was one aspect of the story which seemed far-fetched at the time of publication, but which have been proven correct in intervening years - bats can cross the Channel. It was something that bothered me, but since it ha been verified I'll refrain from pointing out how unlikely they are to show up on radar.

With an audacious sense of black humour, Alan Moore opens Monster with twelve-year-old Kenneth Corman burying his father's corpse in his back garden is nothing compared to how he closes out this installment - the boy walking slowly up the stairs to a locked door. There's so little event, yet so much detail. While we don't get introduced to the inhabitant of the room, we get enough background to know that there is a secret here which been maintained for a very long time. There is real emotions at play, and a solidity of setting which is a step above expectation.

Three years before Robert Maxwell bought IPC, there was Maxwell Tower...

Max, the digital protagonist of The Thirteenth Floor, is Scream!'s star attraction. It is difficult to justify an in-universe reason for a screen representing the software, but the visual adds so much to Max's character - a crackling screen of static and electricity with a mind of its own. Jerry, his controller, isn't as well defined, but there is obviously a close rapport in the scenes they share.

Jerry permits Max to take care of new tenants moving in, Mrs. Henderson and her son. As they settle in to their new home, Mr. Kemp (an unpleasant debt collector) arrives to harangue the recently-widowed woman about money she owes him. Max, naturally, is less than pleased at this state of affairs, and decides to teach him a lesson. Despite being built without a thirteenth floor, the traditional image of death (a skeletal figure in robes carrying a scythe) greets Kemp there.

Now that Rebellion own the character, there exists the (remote) possibility that we might get a personal assistant based on Max. So much more interesting than Siri, who would never dare suggest that someone annoying be disposed of in a gruesome-yet-appropriate manner.

Horror anthologies need good hosts. Dry wits capable of lightening the tone between tales, stepping in and out of the narrative to address the reader with offhand commentary on the events. Unfortunately, despite the best of intentions, The Leper isn't a good host. Yes, he looks appropriately hideous, but his schtick is decidedly one-note. How many ways can a leprous grave-digger be worked into a story? That Scream! already had Ghastly McNasty able to perform a similar role, The Leper is doubly redundant.

The grave in preparation is for Joshuah Sleeth, the undertaker, was a thoroughly unpleasant individual, not above assisting people to the other side in his quest for money. There is a great sense of atmosphere in the telling, and even the slightly cartoony touch which Watson brings to the strip works well. That the story feels very familiar might be down to having read the issue on publication, but I'm certain that there is more to it than that.

A Ghastly Tale! brings to mind Future Shocks in 2000 A.D., bring a sequence which blazes through a slight premise in a single page, never explaining more than it has to. So brief is the strip's presence that we don't find out the names of either of the main characters, nor why, precisely, they are reduced to appearing in a sideshow. An interesting experiment in storytelling, though one which is likely to become frustrating in the long term.

Good reprints - and specifically ones which are well-chosen for appropriateness in a title - are always welcome, and Fiends and Neighbours is a classic.

At Death's Door feels like a cop-out thanks to the "it was all just a dream" ending, but the visual of the ghost with a stick is fabulous. Yes, the story is derivative and hokey, but horror stories don't necessarily need to operate on logical foundations, and the telling is entertaining. It would have been better with more background to the family situation (and why the parents seem so stiff), but it is a continuing story.

What is the deal with cats? Cats. Are. Not. Scary.

Was someone at IPC bitten by a cat as a child? I'm not sure why both Misty and Scream! were launched with stories about cats, but as figures of dread they are lacking. Rats can be terrifying (ask James Herbert), dogs can - when handled well - hold a few scares, but domestic cats are far too unimposing to present a credible threat.

Terror of the Cats is based on the conceit that cats have turned on people, attacking randomly. There's not much more going on, and at no point in the story is there a sense that the story is being taken seriously. To end on such a low point is unfortunate.

Dracula Lives #1

26 Oct 1974; Cover price 8p.
36 pages. B&W.
Marvel Comics International Ltd.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Free full-colour Dracula poster.

Contents:

.2 Free Karate Jiu-Jitsu Course advertisement.

.3 The Drama of Dracula! Stan Lee photo introduction.

.4 Dracula UNTITLED, part one, w: Gerry Conway; a: Gene Colan, lettering by John Costanza.

r: The Tomb of Dracula (Marvel Comics) #01 (Apr 1972)

17 Werewolf by Night UNTITLED, part one, w: Gerry Conway, from a plot by Roy Thomas & Jeanie Thomas; a: Michael Ploog, lettered by John Costanza.

r: Marvel Spotlight (Marvel Comics) #02 (Feb 1972).

28 Mighty Marvel Triple Action in-house advertisement.

29 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein!, part one, w: Gary Friedrich; a: Mike Ploog, lettered by John Costanza.

r: The Monster of Frankenstein (Marvel Comics) #01 (Jan 1973).

35 Next Week in-house advertisement.

36 Another Mighty Marvel First Issue Out Now! in-house advertisement for Planet of the Apes #01.

The cover makes the comic look cheap, with a lack of detail and rough colouring entirely unrepresentative of what a Dracula title should be. There's no sense that the coffin, for example, has ever been used for the intended purpose - and seems rather small, given where the top of the casket is in relation to the sitting form of Dracula. With a cover blurb which appears to have fallen off a Spider-Man reprint, any sense that terrors await inside the pages of the first issue are effectively dispelled.

If it is a fright you are after, there is a photograph to kick off proceedings. That grinning figure of terror, that unspeakable horror, that... Oh wait, that's Stan Lee. Jeez, a warning would have been nice. It's not made clear whether this was meant as our first scare or not, but I'd like to think the intention was there. Part of the fun of seeing photographs of comic-book creators is scrutinizing the backgrounds - seeing what books, records and equipment are visible. Here, Stan Lee is surrounded by impenetrable darkness - somehow both symbolic and appropriate.

The Dracula strip is, when compared against the best examples, a complete let-down. The loose brush-work, large panels (crammed with dialogue), and cheesy text combine to reduce this down to the level of the superhero comics Marvel were more interested in publishing. When a character's dialogue consists of "--BATS!" it is time to start skipping pages.

Werewolf By Night is an effective four-page story told over the course of eight pages. The artwork is much improved over that in Dracula, but there are still too many shortcuts taken for the story to be truly effective. It is a shame that the strip is so rushed as there is enough mystery in the story to warrant attention. A main character who turns into a werewolf is automatically interesting, though the telling doesn't do the concept justice.

Throwing a Frankenstein adaptation in the title is a bit obvious, but it fits. Ploog's artwork is, unsurprisingly, the best on offer here, but the reproduction suffers from being so rough - in fact, there is no reason for continued interest in a title which is presented in such a slipshod manner. If a little more time had been spent making this value for money, and in presenting the stories with some context, then it wouldn't feel like such a rip-off.

Sadly, this is entirely representative of seventies Marvel titles.

Dracula #1

19 Jan 1993-08 Feb 1993. 8⅜"x11¾". £1.25.
36 pages. Paper cover, full color contents.
Dark Horse Comics International

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by Mike Mignola.
r: cover from Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #02 (Nov 1992).

Free cover-mounted badge.

Contents:

.2 Dracula Introduction text by Dave Hansom? / Contents / Indicia

.3 Bram Stoker's Dracula part one, w: Roy Thomas. p: Mike Mignola, i: John Nyberg, c: Mark Chiarello. Lettering by John Costanza.

r: Bram Stoker's Dracula (Topps) #01 (Oct 1992).

31 Inside Coppola's Dracula Inspiration part one, text feature by Gary Gerani.

33 Bloodlines text feature compiled by Dave Hughes.
35 Bram Stoker's Dracula Official Jacket advertisement
36 Even In Your Dreams, You Can't Escape... Aliens in-house advertisement.

There is more to Dracula than the source material and Mignola's stunning artwork. The extremely dark artwork is an iconic adaptation of Coppola's films, worth reading in its own right. The high watermark of adaptations may be Nestor Redondo's classic take on the character, but it hasn't dated well; Mignola's work has a timeless feel which revels in gothic flourishes and pitch-black shadows. Each page contains details which don't necessarily add to the narrative, but add to the tone and mood in delicious ways.

Likenesses aren't Mignola's strong point, and he uses that fact to his advantage by finding the most powerful images for each scene, swapping faithfulness to the source material for artistic expression. This first issue isn't all about the comic, though...

Gary Gerani's text feature on the inspirations for the film takes many well-known facts as a starting point, but doesn't go digging for obscure elements. A great problem when dealing with popular characters is that the majority of adaptations will be largely unknown to the casual reader, and without a list of films and television movies of note, or even a list of notable novels featuring the Count, this feels like a promo piece to get readers interested in seeing the film instead of placing it in a historical perspective.

Dave Hughes notes the success of the film at the Box Office in the US without pointing out how it is performing in other territories, which is slightly annoying. Even a great US take can result in a mediocre profit if the rest of the world shrugs their shoulders. The release of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on video is mentioned, though this seems more like contractual duty than a real love for the film, before getting to the releases which actually matter.

Dracula: The Film and the Legend, released as a tie-in to the Coppola film, really was impressive at the time. The competition is rather stingy, with only five copies being offered to readers, but at least its importance to the overall marketing for the film was acknowledged. The Illustrated Vampire Video Guide is also recommended by Hughes, though problems with the guide aren't covered. It would be interesting to see how many of the books he was pushing have managed, in his estimation, to hold the same level of quality all these years later.

And no, the Illustrated Guide isn't the greatest book about vampires on the big screen.

No comic is ever going to have text articles which even come close to a comprehensive background of the character for one simple reason: space. A list of comic appearances alone is staggeringly long, but taking into account television, film, theatre, and audio adaptations, the sheer amount of information which would need to be conveyed is immense. Had the historical article been allocated six pages in each issue, and beginning with the publication of Stoker's book, Gerani might have had a decent stab at crafting something with lasting importance.

Similarly, with so few words to play with, Dave Hughes didn't have much hope of anything other than cursory observations about the works covered.

A truly great adaptation, printed on excellent paper stock, and with a nice badge thrown in for gratis. The accompanying material may be weak, but this is far from a disappointing package.

Legend Horror Classics #1

1975. Cover price 25p
52 pages. B&W and color.
Legend Publishing.

Edited by Gent Shaw.

Cover by Kevin O'Neill. Inset photographs of Christopher Lee, Minah Bird, and Udo Kier (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 Crypt Chatter editorial by Gent Shaw; logo illustrated by JP (signed). / Indicia / Dracula Filmography (incomplete).

 3 Dracula (half page) reproduction of Dan Curtis' Dracula film poster. / Dracula w: UNKNOWN; a: Kevin O'Neill.

 6 Portrait Gallery Peter Cushing pin-up; illustrated by Steve Jones.

13 Christopher Lee poster.

19 Hammer Presents Dracula (half page) advertisement for album. / Brian Jepson Comics (quarter page) advertisement. / "Don't just stand there like a human - order now" (half page) advertisement for Planet of the Apes poster.

20 What is a Vampire? excerpts from Encyclopaedia Britannica and Chambers Encyclopaedia; Christopher Lee photograph (uncredited).

Note: Folds out into a single large page.

Alongside a very rough cover by Kevin O'Neill, surely an image he would probably not prefer highlighted, the design of Legend Horror Classics leaves a lot to be desired. A light blue background doesn't scream "horror comic" in the way dark blue, or even black, would have, which isn't assisted by the manner in which photographs have been added to the composition. First impressions of the title aren't helped by the way "Dracula" is written in a curving arc at the bottom - without an outline it blends into the image.

Whatever deficiencies are present, O'Neill's strong, distinctive style carries narratives well even here. With only ten and a half pages to play with, this isn't the most detailed adaptation, but there is enough of the plot intact to enjoy the telling. Dracula could have done with a couple more pages to play with, or for O'Neill pin-ups, but as a glimpse at his style pre-2000 A.D. this is a wonderful publication.

One side-effect of covering this title is that I am now on the lookout for Hammer audio recordings...

I'm not sure who JP is, but the skull illustration is rather effective in blue. The pen-and-ink pointillism of Steve Jones isn't quite as effective, though captures Cushing's likeness well (from a photograph?), and the poster of Christopher Lee is an impressive. Unfortunately, this is one of the titles which, due to its nature, is in a terrible condition - I'm not sure how many times it has been unfolded then refolded, but it has fallen to pieces now. The page numbering may be a tad skewiffy.