Word Balloons: In comics, Count Dracula ranges from spooky to silly

BY MATTHEW PRICE Comments 0
Published: October 30, 2009

Vampires are as hot as ever in popular fiction, with movies such as "Twilight” and shows such as "The Vampire Diaries.” Vampires have been big in comics, too, and none more so than Dracula.

Ben Templesmith’s cover to "Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” IDW PHOTO

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While the word "vampire” dates from the 1700s, the 1897 novel "Dracula” by Bram Stoker popularized the vampire. The book’s main character could have been partly based on former Transylvanian governor Vlad the Impaler.

IDW Publishing has created a new version of Stoker’s book (now in public domain) illustrated by Eisner-winning artist Ben Templesmith. Templesmith, who with Steve Niles created "30 Days of Night,” provides full-color illustrations for all 27 chapters of the novel.

Multiple movies have made Dracula the world’s most famous vampire. The 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi is a horror classic selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Longtime "Dracula” fan Mike Mignola ("Hellboy”) brought his take on Dracula to Topps Comics in the 1990s, with an adaptation of "Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” the film by Francis Ford Coppola. Mignola also was an illustrator for the film.

The most famous adaptation of Dracula in comics is the long-running "The Tomb of Dracula” series. Gene Colan was the artist for the series’ entire run, beginning in 1972. Marv Wolfman took over as writer with issue No. 7 and stayed on through the series’ conclusion in 1979.

This series introduced Blade the vampire hunter and is one of the longest-running horror series in Marvel Comics’ history. The entire run of "Tomb of Dracula” as well as the stories from "Dracula Lives” and the black-and-white "Tomb of Dracula” magazine have been reprinted by Marvel as "The Essential Tomb of Dracula” Vols. 1-4.

DC Comics also has its version of Dracula, which faced off against Batman in the story "Batman/Dracula: Red Rain,” by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones. "Red Rain” along with the two sequels, "Batman: Bloodstorm” and "Batman: Crimson Mist,” are collected in the "Batman: Vampire” trade paperback.

In "Red Rain,” Dracula comes to Gotham City. When Batman tries to stop him, he himself is bitten, becoming a vampire.

The silliest version of a comic-book Dracula came from Dell Comics in the 1960s. In 1962, Dell adapted the Lugosi feature into a comic book, but four years later, perhaps inspired by the "Batman” TV show, Dell made Dracula into a superhero.

This Dracula was a descendant of the original Dracula, who conducts medical experiments on bats, according to Don Markstein’s "Toonopedia.” When he accidentally ingests his own chemical, he gains the power of turning himself into a bat and vows to fight crime and injustice.

Columnist Chris Sims at comicsalliance.com describes the ridiculousness of the series.

"Once in America, he sets up a ‘Dracula Cave,’ adopts the secret identity of — wait for it — Al U. Card, dedicates himself to battling the rampant scourge of zeppelin crime (which actually does sound awesome, but trust us, it’s not) and even manages to rustle up a sidekick, Fleeta, whose name is short for ‘fleidermaus,’” Sims writes. "Unsurprisingly, it lasted for only three issues before it was given the ax, though his series went for another three issues of reprints that gave the world a second chance at his mind-numbing adventures. They probably shouldn’t have bothered.”