Review- THE CURSE OF DRACULA

THE CURSE OF DRACULA (Dark Horse, 2013; Hardcover)

Collects The Curse of Dracula Nos. 1-3 (cover dates July- September, 1998)

Writer: Marv Wolfman

Artist: Gene Colan

Colorist: Dave Stewart

Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan are best known as the creative team behind Marvel's long running Tomb of Dracula, a macabre soap opera with a backdrop of revenge and retribution. Dark Horse's The Curse of Dracula revisits this formula but uses it as a springboard for something slightly different. There is a team of vampire hunters all with their own reason for joining this crew, and this vampire has a different motive. The only thing about this book that is disappointing is that it ends rather suddenly and with a cliffhanger ending.

Some artists' work looks better in color while others, like Colan, provide so much shading with their pencils that color strips the atmosphere away. Colan is a true master of the artform. Marv Wolfman is among the top Bronze Age comic book writers. I love his splash page writing, where he sets the tone of the scene with words as much as the picture does. So many modern writers avoid this, claiming that it is “outdated”. My gut feeling is that they don't have Wolfman's ability for foreshadowing.

Colan passed away a few years ago, so now there is no way that we'll see more of this series. Those looking for more of the Wolfman/Colan collaboration are in luck, though. Marvel has issued Wolfman/ Colan's Tomb of Dracula in 3 Omnibus hardcovers, 4 Essential black and white phonebooks (long out of print), and there are also three full color trade paperbacks out there. They did not collect the full series in that format, though. DC issued a skinny quasi-trade of the first four issues of their early '80s series Night Force, with plans for a hardcover and trade paperback of the entire series scuttled due to low pre-orders. I'm still pissed off about that.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This book is a tremendous value at $14.99 MSRP.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Superb thick coated stock with the sweet toxic smell that all books printed in China seem to have.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Sewn binding, lays flat, I'm happy.

Hardback cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. The black portion of the cover has that dull matte finish coating which can be scuffed. The image and logo have that screen printed coating.

Buy THE CURSE OF DRACULA HC at InStockTrades!

Also available in softcover here.

Reviews- DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS VOL. 2 & VOL. 3

DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS VOL. 2 (Boom, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Dracula: The Company of Monsters Nos. 5-8 (cover dates December, 2010- March, 2011)

Writers: Kurt Busiek and Daryl Gregory

Artists: Scott Godlweski (Issues 5, 8) and Damian Couceiro (issues 6, 7)

DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS VOL. 3 (Boom, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Dracula: The Company of Monsters Nos. 9-12 (cover dates April- July, 2011)

Writers: Kurt Busiek and Daryl Gregory

Artists: Scott Godlweski (Issues 11, 12) and Damian Couceiro (issues 9, 10)

This is solid stuff by Busiek and Gregory. They waste no effort in hiding what they think about corporate greed or the state of the economy. The moral of this story is that there are indeed monsters in this world, and the worst of them in this book don't have fangs. I thoroughly enjoyed this series, and feel that it has a satisfying ending. 12 issues over three modestly priced trade paperbacks.

The OCD zone- Typical wax coated cardstock cover. Nice, thick coated stock paper. My only gripe is that the covers are collected in the back of the book rather than as chapter marker pages. There are pages that say “Chapter 8”, etc., but I prefer to see the issue covers there. Your mileage may vary.

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Review- TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS VOL. 3

TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Dracula Lives! Nos. 1-13, Frankenstein Monster Nos. 7-9, Tomb of Dracula (magazine) Nos. 1-6, and selections from Legion of Monsters No. 1 and Savage Sword of Conan No. 26 (cover dates 1973- August, 1980)

Writers: Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas, Steve Gerber, Tony Isabella, Doug Moench, Gary Friedrich, Gerry Conway, Gardner Fox, Len Wein, Chris Claremont, and many others

Artists: Gene Colan, Dick Giordano, John Buscema, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Bill Sienkiewicz, Rich Buckler, Jim Starlin, Mike Ploog, Dick Ayers, Alfredo Alcala, Sonny Trinidad, George Tuska, Russ Heath, Pablo Marcos, Val Mayerik, Win Mortimer, Bob McLeod, John Romita, Sr., Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, and many others

Artwork by the master, Gene Colan, with Pablo Marcos.

This book is a beast, weighing in at 5.8 lbs. (2.63 kilograms for my metric system using friends out there in the world outside of the United States) and clocking in at a staggering 944 pages. All of the issues are in black and white as originally published, with the exception of each issue's covers and the three Frankenstein Monster issues . I was glad to get the Roy Thomas/ Dick Giordano adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula here in its original black and white, since I have the recently completed and recolored hardcover. Girodano's artwork is gorgeous on that one. 

There is quite an assembly of talent here, and I bolded Wolfman and Colan's names because they did the lion's share of the stories contained herein. The roll call above is like a who's who of legendary creators from that era, and to have them all slapped between two covers is divine. While not every story is great, there is an ample amount of goodness to outweigh any so-so stories. Some of these stories are great, though, like the aforementioned Dracula adaptation, Angela from Tomb of Dracula #4, and Bounty For A Vampire from Dracula Lives! #13. The latter is especially great, with an over the hill marshal turned bounty hunter in pursuit of the lord of the vampires. It's a spaghetti western meets Horror, and it pre-dates all of these recent takes on that (i.e. American Vampire from Vertigo/DC) by decades. 

There are so many good stories and creators involved that I cannot possibly list them all. Let me just add that it pleases me to no end that Dark Horse gave Marvel permission to reprint the two stories featuring Solomon Kane here for completion's sake, since Marvel no longer holds the license for the Robert E. Howard characters. Kudos to Dark Horse! I hope that there can be more cooperation between all of the companies when it comes to comprehensive reprint projects like this. When issues are omitted due to licensing rights, it's a like a smile that is missing a tooth.

Did Steve Ditko bring The Question to Marvel?? Nope, it appears that he just liked drawing faceless characters with that style of hat. Rorschach who?

The OCD zone- The restoration is generally excellent. The problem lies with the super high gloss paper, which is much, much glossier than any stock that Marvel has used in years. While it feels great, and I am admittedly partial to coated paper stock with a slight sheen, the black and white material contained in this book is difficult to read under both CFLs and incandescent light bulbs. The only comfortable, glare free reading that I had was in natural light with no other lights on. This book boasts wonderful sewn binding, and like all post-2007 Marvel Omnibus hardcovers, lays flat from the first page to the last. I just wish that the paper wasn't so damned shiny. 

Gene Colan- one of the absolute masters of the art form.

Reviews: Dracula; Witch Doctor #1; American Vampire Vol. 1

DRACULA (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Dracula Nos. 1-4 (cover dates July- September, 2010)

Writer Roy Thomas and artist Dick Giordano's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula has had a long, storied road to completion. It started out in chapter form in Marvel's '70s magazines. The stories from issues 1 and 2 first appeared in Dracula Lives! Nos. 5-8, 10, 11, and Legion of Monsters No. 1 (cover dates March- September, 1975). The project was cancelled, and editor Mark Beazely got the ball rolling to see it completed in 2004. This must have been a pet project for him, as he got Tomb of Dracula reprinted in Essential phone books and later in 3 gorgeous Omnibus editions (which I am proud to own).

This 2010 hardcover edition collects the colorized version from 2010. I am usually a purist, preferring things as they were originally presented, but for some reason my OCD permitted me to buy this version. The computer coloring over Giordano's greyshade '70s pencils has a scratchy look to it, like an old movie, and looks wonderful. His pencils from 2004 were not as heavy handed. It's pretty easy to spot where the original material ended and the 2004 picked up, because his art choices became slightly different, and he utilized full bleed pages versus the traditional bordered panel pages. I wish that he would have stuck with the bordered panel look for consistency's sake. Most people probably wouldn't notice, but I have an eye for detail for stuff like this. This was a better adaptation than Dynamite's recent Complete Dracula series. While that series was a more comprehensive adaptation and excellent in it's own right, this was a better read as a comic book.

Production quibbles: Like all Marvel Premiere Edition hardcovers, this has glued binding. The book is thin, so it's not too bad. The problem is that this format is designed for comic book width. The material in the first half of this book is shrunk down from the wider magazine size, so the gutters get a bit tight for my tastes. Sewn binding, like that found in the same size Marvel Premiere Classic hardcover format would have helped rectify this to a degree. Another problem is that some of the hand lettering can be difficult to read, like the journal portions. This has been recently solicited in Marvel graphic novel-TP format for the mass book market, and I am not sure how well it will read in that format. The Vampire Tales GN-TPBs are in that format and read fine, but certain lettering in portions of this story may prove otherwise for this title. Your mileage may vary. This is most definitely worth a read in some format.

Witch Doctor #1 (Image, June, 2011)

Say what?? A first issue that tells a complete story? Writer Brandon Seifert will never make it in this business of padded, talking head, made-for-the-trade comic books. I for one am wholly impressed by this bold move...let's call it storytelling...where there is a beginning, middle, and end. Where there is an underlying, ongoing plot line laid out, but things just don't go SPLAT and the issue stops. I thoroughly enjoyed the supernatural with a wink aspect of this title, and will be back for more when the inevitable trade paperback is released.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE VOL. 1 (Vertigo/ DC, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects American Vampire Nos. 1-5 (cover dates May- September, 2010)

The comic book press and community hyped this series as the second coming of the Horror genre when it first came out. I picked up the floppy of issue one, flipped through it, and put it back down. Still, the name Stephen King was attached to it, so I was a little curious. Time passed, this hardcover came out, and I didn't bother buying it. I have too many irons in the fire as it is, and won't add more unless the quality is there. My local library has been expanding their graphic novel section. I am "friends" with them on Facebook, and they listed their latest additions. I took a peek at what they had and saw this on the shelf, along with a few other things that I will check out in due time. 

Reading things for free kicks ass. I have three criteria which determine if I will read a title. Time, space and money. My space is limited, as my house is small and I have a wife and 2 kids. I also have too many books. Money...well, that doesn't grow on trees, and it is that which determines the bulk of my purchases. The library removes 2 of the 3 factors which determine if I will read something. I only had to invest my time in this book. So was it worth it? In short...not really. This book presents a slightly fresh take on vampires, but the whole thing doesn't work for me. The artwork seems amateurish, and it prevented me from really enjoying the story. Would I recommend this title, even for free from your local library? No. You'd have to be a vampire obsessive to give a rat's ass about it.

Reviews: Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era Strange Tales Vol. 3; Nosferatu- Plague of Terror

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA STRANGE TALES VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Strange Tales Nos. 31-30 (cover dates August, 1953- July, 1954)

I adore '50s Pre-code Horror! These are not as good as my beloved EC Comics but are still a blast to read. There is some considerable talent that contributes to this title. Artists such as Joe Maneely, John Forte and Joe Sinnott are all regular contributors to this series. Stan Lee, Bill Everett, John Buscema, Gene Colan and Dick Ayers also contribute at least one story. That's quite an impressive ensemble of creators. Some of the lesser known artists, forgotten to the mists of time, whose work that I enjoyed are Ed Goldfarb, Myron Fass, Chick Winter, Harry Anderson, Robert Q. Sale and Mort Lawrence. Any serious students of the artform should take a peek at the work that these cats did, as it is impressive and deserves to be remembered in the history of the medium.

My favorite story in this book is White On Black by Louis Ravielli (on artwork, writer unknown) from Strange Tales #23. It features a truly unique photographic negative look to it (white lines, black solids) and is just stunning to look at. I also love how it tells of a terrible future event that was set to occur on May 3, 1975. Awesome.

As per usual with this line of hardcovers, everything is perfect and of the highest quality. Superb restoration, paper, and sewn binding. I lay in my bed at night and am comforted by the knowledge that this treasured family heirloom will be enjoyed by my great-grandchildren.

NOSFERATU: PLAGUE OF TERROR (Millennial, 2009; Softcover)

Collects Nosferatu Nos. 1-4 (cover dates May- November, 1991)

This is a decent read, but nothing to really write home (or on my blog) about. This is about average for a black and white independent comic book for the era. It doesn't offend the senses or make you want to shout how great it is from the rooftops. It's just there. Some of the production values in this book are subpar. The blacks are a tad too dark, and some of the pages look pixelated due to poor scanning. I am a frickin' snob when it comes to this type of stuff, demanding the best. Your average comic book fan will likely not notice these things, but I suffer from acute OCD with this sort of thing. Your mileage may vary. I would recommend this to the diehard vampire of Horror fan.

Reviews: Dracula- The Company of Monsters Vol. 1; Creepy Archives Vol. 5; Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze

DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS VOL. 1 (Boom, 2011; softcover)

Collects Dracula: The Company of Monsters Nos. 1-4 (cover dates August- November, 2010)

A rock solid concept by Kurt Busiek (of Avengers, Astro City, Marvels, etc., fame), executed by co-writer Daryl Gregory and Artist Scott Godlewski. Without giving away too much, what would Dracula think of life in the 21st Century? What lengths would a greedy CEO go to for more profit? The answers lie within. I am on board for this series, and so should fans of series like The Astounding Wolf-Man.

Slightly off topic, I have always been a sucker for the classic 'Universal' monsters, i.e. Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman/ Werewolves, the Mummy, Creature of the Black Lagoon, and the Phantom of the Opera. These are fantastic concepts that can be interpreted repeatedly and are still great when done right. Comics mirror trends like all other forms of popular culture, and until recently it has been all zombie-mania. Now we are getting a deluge of vampire titles thanks to the Twilight phenomenon. I myself am more of a werewolf guy and am anxiously awaiting the return of that fad, but enjoy seeing all of these Horror concepts returning to prominence and mainstream recognition.

CREEPY ARCHIVES VOL. 5 (Dark Horse, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Creepy Nos. 21-25 (cover dates July, 1968- February, 1969)

Many Warren Magazine enthusiasts consider this to be the first low point in the Creepy series, with mostly second tier help supplementing reprints from earlier issues of Creepy and Eerie. While Dark Horse has wisely omitted reprinted material from the earlier issues of Creepy, this is not the case with some of these stories that originally were presented in Eerie. I buy all of the Eerie Archives, and I'm sure that most of the other fans do too, so this is a double dip. Conversely, in the Eerie Archives, they'll reprint the stuff that appeared in Eerie as reprints from Creepy which I already have in the Creepy Archives. Confused? Good.

Sadly, the best material in this book is stuff that was reprinted from Eerie, like the Steve Ditko or Gene Colan stuff or two of the collaborations between Writer Archie Goodwin and Artist extraordinaire Dan Adkins, The Day After Doomsday and It That Lurks. I love old Horror stuff like this, as it is second only to EC Comics. There are a few worthwhile artists that contributed original material during this era too, such as Tom Sutton and the legendary Reed Crandall. The rest of these stories are not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but are nowhere close to the greatness achieved on this title earlier on. I am told that the quality picks up in just a few short issues (Volume 6 of the Archives, already gathering dust in my backlog), so I am really looking forward to reading that.

DOC SAVAGE: THE MAN OF BRONZE (DC, 2010; softcover)

Collects Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze Nos. 1-8 (cover dates October, 1972- January, 1974)

I am a Marvel zombie in the traditional sense of the word, meaning that if Marvel put it out in the '60-80s, then it must be good. Make Mine Marvel and all that jazz. When DC solicited this trade paperback which reprints the Marvel run and featured work by beloved Bronze Age creators such as Writers Steve Englehart, Tony Isabella and Roy Thomas and Artist Ross Andru, I was in, never mind the fact that I had no previous inclination to pick up a Doc Savage book. 

For the uninitiated, Doc Savage is a pulp hero from the 1930s, a pre-cursor to the modern day superhero. He is called the Man of Bronze, and that is where my confusion comes in. Is he actually MADE of bronze? He is drawn and colored like he is. He wears a vest with no shirt in the snow and cold. He seems to take a lot of injury and appears to have augmented, or above normal human level, strength. Whatever the case, this was a decent read, especially issues 6-8. They feature a werewolf that looks just like my beloved Werewolf By Night, right down to the ripped green jeans. It's not really him (nearly 40 year old spoiler!!), but he's drawn that way.

Reviews: Showcase Presents The Phantom Stranger Vol. 2; The Complete Dracula; The Astounding Wolf-Man Vol. 4

SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE PHANTOM STRANGER VOL. 2 (DC, 2008; softcover)

Collects The Phantom Stranger Nos.  22-41, The Brave and the Bold Nos. 89, 98, DC Super Stars No. 18, House of Secrets No. 150, and Justice League of America No. 103 (cover dates May, 1970- March, 1978)

After reading over 1,000 pages of Phantom Stranger stories between these two phonebook-sized trade paperbacks and still not knowing the character's origin, I had to head over to Wikipedia (loathe as I am to admit it) for clarification. I like to, you know, read material and interpret and decide for myself what things are. Kind of like how things were in the olden days, before the Internet. The answer is that there is no answer...at least, no definitive answer for his origin. That's cool. I kind of like the mystique and the hints and insinuations, and have my own idea what he truly is. I'm not telling you, though; I'd rather you read it and figure it out for yourself.

The quality of this title nosedives, largely because of "artist" Gerry Talaoc, who is the very definition of a hack. There is nothing about his artwork that I like, and he leaves me cold. The bright spot in the book is when Mike Grell fills-in on Issue 33. I had never seen his artwork but have heard others rave about it. I can see why. He turns in some of the finest comic book artwork that I have ever seen, and I am interested in looking further into his body of work down the road. 

The Phantom Stranger's popularity wanes, and his title turns into first a title with a back-up feature (Frankenstein by Marv Wolfman) and then a co-star on his own title with Deadman. Deadman was also on the outs in terms of popularity, this being after his much celebrated Neal Adams run. The title ends with a whimper, and the Phantom Stranger pops up in a couple more titles before vanishing into the mists of time...at least for a while. There was a mini-series in 1987 and a few odds and ends (thanks, ComicBookDB!) and then only guest appearances. I think that it's high time we got a Phantom Stranger revival.

THE COMPLETE DRACULA (Dynamite, 2010; softcover)

Collects The Complete Dracula Nos. 1-5 (cover dates May- December, 2009)

This is a super dense and text heavy read, but is so darn good. Leah Moore (yes, Alan Moore's daughter) and John Mark Rappion adapt Bram Stoker's original story and add in his 'lost' or 'deleted' segment in the beginning. This is Gothic Horror at its finest, and artist/ colorist Colton Worley really adds a ton to the atmosphere. Every single panel looks like a painting and is gorgeous.  I give this a very high recommendation if you are into this type of stuff.

THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN VOL. 4 (Image, 2010 copyright, actually released in 2011; softcover)

Collects The Astounding Wolf-Man Nos. 19-25 (cover dates October, 2009- November, 2010)

This, the fourth and final trade in the series, leaves many doors open for a hopeful re-visitation down the road. The ending sits well enough with me that I will check out the next Robert Kirkman/ Jason Howard "joint", Super Dinosaur, whenever the trade gets released. Knowing Kirkman,'s timeliness with release dates, that should be sometime in the Fall... of 2012.