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| Essential Tomb of Dracula, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials) | 
| Authors: Marv Wolfman, Roger Mckenzie, Frank Robbins
Creator: Gene Colan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $4.77
You Save: $12.22 (72%)
New (23) Collectible (1) from $4.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 129949
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 584
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 6.7 x 1.5
ISBN: 0785115587
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9780785115588
ASIN: 0785115587
Publication Date: November 17, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: THIS ITEM IS UNUSED AND IN GOOD CONDITION. IT MAY HAVE SLIGHT SHELFWEAR BUT OTHERWISE IT IS FINE.
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 FANGS FOR THE MEMORIES February 28, 2008
The TOMB OF DRACULA saga concludes with this volume. Behind the macabre yet, seductive cover by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer are tales that inevitably spell "finis" for our sanguinary count but what a way to go! A little bit uneven on the quality scale but these tales are still light years better than most horror comics, both past and present.
This graphic novel starts with the guest appearance of Marvel Comics' resident nomad, the Silver Surfer. It seems the Surfer has sensed the presence of great evil which he feels has to be eliminated. This turns out to be Dracula himself and the two soon engage in a typical Marvel slugfest. The story tends to fall flat as inexplicably, writer Marv Wolfman seems to abandon his own scripting style in an attempt at mimicking Stan Lee's;perhaps in an attempt at giving the Surfer's speech more authenticity. The result is that the Surfer sounds preachy, self-righteous and has us rooting for Drac by the time the encounter is mercifully finished!
Wolfman and company soon regain their footing with the introduction of a mysterious stranger who has followed Dracula throughout his 500-year existence, appearing only when the Count is about to achieve some great, world threatening triumph! A being of immense power that has again emerged when Dracula's pregnant bride is scheduled to give birth--
on Christmas Day! Who or what is this being whose eyes seem to glow with a heavenly light?
This is the "Son of Dracula" plot that literally leads the "Lord of The Undead" to face his own humanity, an admitted love for his wife, Domini and the upheaval within the lives of those who hunt him. A vigorous story arc which is unfortunately interrupted by lifeless interludes: Blade and Hannibal King's pursuit of the "white haired vampire", Deacon Frost; a lame solo-Blade effort that could have (and should have) been printed elsewhere and a remarkably un-funny one-shot with comic relief character Harold H. Harold. I usually skip past these but someone else might appreciate them.
At the conclusion of the TOMB OF DRACULA, included in this volume are the short stories that were printed in the black-and-white format magazine with the same title. Writer Marv Wolfman and penciler Gene Colan contributed to the new magazine but they were without the services of inker\colorist, Tom Palmer, who sought his fortunes elsewhere. Other writers and artists are on deck, including legendary Spider-Man artist STEVE DITKO, in one of his finest "post-Spidey efforts". However, the art in these stories has been edited for a general audience whereas in their original incarnation, they were meant for older readers. Neither horrifying nor engaging, their inclusion is more for curiosity's sake than anything else.
ESSENTIAL TOMB OF DRACULA Vol. Three may contain some fat, but the lean makes for a satisfying, literary feast!
 Drac is back October 7, 2007
Its volume 3 of Essential Tomb of dracula, and the fun and excitement never stop. In these twenty some reprint issues of the popular horror comic, Frank Drake, Blade, Rachel Van Helsing and others must fight Dracula as he seeks to dominate mankind.
In this issue, he continues his quest to take over a Cult of Satan worshipers. Yet his life gets more complicated as he takes a bride!! The stories are fresh and unique, and continue to surprise me with their plot twists and turns!
This is also Gene Colan's art at its best! I feel his art is best viewed in black and white, it adds to the atmosphere and overall tension of the story.
I recommend this series to anyone who is a fan of horror comics!
Graphic SF Reader September 2, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Gene Colan is fabulous, and black and white is the way to see this man's art. Granted, a bunch of 70s cheese, here, but it it is fun vampire hunting stuff, with Dracula, again, as a character that has understandable motivations. He is a complicated man. Ok, well, he is a complicated undead vampire. He does have his own code of honor, even if it is sometimes rather twisted, and a vampire still has to eat, too.
Dracula Goes Domestic! August 26, 2007
In the early issues of The Tomb of Dracula - chronicled in Essential Tomb of Dracula Volumes 1 and 2 - the title character is clearly a villain, essentially a lone wolf character who is friendless and is perfectly happy that way. As Volume 3 opens, however, the situation has changed drastically (a carryover from the end of the previous volume): Dracula is happily married and expecting a child.
Of course, this is not Father Knows Best. Dracula has set himself up as the object of worship for a Satanic cult, and his wife Domini is one of the members. The leader of the cult intends on using all three for his own sinister purposes. Meanwhile, Dracula's hunters - Quincy Harker, Rachel Van Helsing, Frank Drake (Dracula's descendant), Blade and the annoying Harold Harold - are hot on his trail.
After a brief confrontation with the Silver Surfer, the main plotline kicks in, with Domini giving birth, but the child winding up far different than anticipated, eventually transforming into an angel who is destined to kill Dracula. As if that isn't bad enough, Dracula is ensnared by Satan himself who exacts a terrible punishment for the Count's hubris, one that will not only threaten his lordship over vampires but his very existence.
This volume wraps up the original series, which ended after seventy issues. Also included are the first four issues of the Tomb of Dracula Magazine, which continues the story, albeit without many of the principals from the comic. Out of the various Marvel horror magazines of the 1970s, Tomb of Dracula is clearly the best, in large part because of the continuous influence of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan as the main writer and artist respectively. I can imagine that reading this as a bi-monthly comic was probably a little dissatisfying as the big stories took years to fully unfold, but in this compressed (albeit black-and-white) format, the whole Dracula tale can be read as one long, seventy issue graphic novel. If you haven't read Volumes 1 and 2, you will not get complete enjoyment out of this one. On the other hand, if you have enjoyed the previous volumes in this series - and I have - then this is a must-purchase.
A Letter I Wrote To Marv Wolfman May 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
To the writer of this era of Tomb of Dracula:
Hi Marv, my name is Andy DiGelsomina and I have loved your writing since 1976 (well, that's when I discovered Tomb of Dracula!). I wanted to thank you; I never forgot the "Janus" saga, or your overall fascinating, anti-hero depiction of the Count (my favorite depiction, bar none).
This might sound really strange, but I'm a huge fan of Mozart and Wagner's operas, and I thought the level of complexity of your storyline in the classic TOD wasn't extraordinarily far from the great operas, especially in terms of plot development. I realize that there are people whom would ridicule this assertion, but who cares what they think ? I have just started checking out the full length TOD (available also in this digest) with Steve Ditko and Gene Colan drawing (Gene is my favorite of course!) and I'm enjoying them as well.
Bottom line for those curious: Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula is probably the greatest horror comic series ever published. Although I wasn't crazy about the no-colour format, it's at a nearly irresistible price.
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