Monster of the Day #1622

Dracula actually didn’t fight supernatural menaces all that much in the book (at least until a long, later storyline where he took over a Satanist church and sired a kid who was a half-angel or something who invariably tried to kill him), just as he only occasionally crossed over into the mainstream Marvel universe. Of course, that meant there was a little extra punch when he did. I wasn’t aware of the Marvel Omnibuses when they early on did three volumes of Tomb of Dracula (although I think the third book largely reprinted the follow-up black and white magazine), and used copies are rare and very expensive now. I’m a bit surprised Marvel hasn’t put those on the reprint list yet.

  • Gamera977

    Wow, I had never heard of the Dracula comics. So in the few cross-overs did he as a bat ever get caught in Spiderman’s web?

    Again off subject but hey Cullen, I just watched ‘Jaws: 3D’ tonight! I got an email from Netflix recommending ‘Jaws IV: The Revenge’ to me (what that says about my viewing tastes I’m not sure I want to know) so I don’t know if they just picked up the ‘Jaws’ series or they’re just pushing them now. Anyway the ending of two was nothing to this one with explosion propelled shark gibbets being hurled toward the viewer! God this must have been a magnificent chunk of cheese back when it was shown in 3D!

  • bgbear_rnh

    I think I saw it in 3D. The fact that I am not more sure must mean something. I think the no-tension suspense scene with the water skiing performers sets the pace for the film.

  • If I could get a hold of a 3-D copy of Jaws 3-d, I would. God I love that film.

    As for Drac and Spidey, I seem to recall them meeting once, but can’t give you any details. It was probably Marvel Team Up; I don’t think Drac ever appeared in any other regular Spidey book.

  • Rock Baker

    The three-film DVD set has an un-noted 3D print of JAWS 3D. I’m not sure if it’s in actual 3D or not, but I did watch the film with 3D glasses and the film sure appeared* to be in 3D. And yeah, the process makes a difference. Granted, the film works on it’s own and gets by with it’s amusement park ride mentality, but the 3D obviously enhances that. The ending, for sure, packs more punch with the bits o’ shark flying out at the camera. What’s a pretty goofy-looking effect in 2D actually works really good in 3D.

    (*Typically, a 3D film retains a little bit of it’s 3D effect even when seen flat if the conditions are right. Red objects pushed toward the screen tend to retain their 3D effect, and moving backgrounds tend to have depth in a black and white film. JAWS 3D actually appeared to have it’s full 3D depth when I watched it with my glasses, but I grant the possibility of some of it being psychological because I found the discovery so exciting. I’ve watched actual promoted 3D DVD releases that didn’t look nearly as good. It’s a tricky effect to duplicate electronically.)

  • Eric Hinkle

    Yeah, I wish Marvel would reprint the B&W Tomb of Dracula books again myself. I have the first one but am missing the last three. They ought to bring the Marvel Essentials ‘Man-Thing’ back too. Ah well, at least I got the Essentials for ‘Marvel Horror’, ‘Werewolf by Night’, and ‘Monster of Frankenstein’. Great stuff all!

  • Eric Hinkle

    I think that once in a Spider-Man annual Spidey briefly met Dracula. Well, they were on the same ship after the same scientist, along with some Mafia hoods who decide to teach the ‘creep in the cape’ a lesson. Guess what happens next.

  • Eric Hinkle

    “God this must have been a magnificent chunk of cheese back when it was shown in 3D!”

    It was! Saw it in the theater, and yow!

    The scene with the guy’s severed arm floating right out at you was pretty good too.

  • Acethepug

    Those and the “Hands of Kung Fu” are the only Marvel Omnibuses I have, and the Tomb ones are worth it!

    They also did paperback (and smaller-size) “Vampire Tales” which reprinted a lot of the Lilith stories from the magazines.

    The story you mention, with the half-angel? I believe it was animated (in Japan) and you might be able to grab a home-made copy off eBay or iOffer even today. I can’t be sure, because I watched it a LONG time ago, but I think the English voice-actor for Dracula was the same one who did Scott Bernard in the Robotech/Mospeada dub.

  • Ken_Begg

    I think Dracula appeared in a Giant-Sized Spider-Man, one of the larger annual issue specials Marvel used to put out. He did meet a lot of the monsters in Marvel Team-Up, though, including Marvel’s take on the Frankenstein Monster, Man-Wolf, Werewolf by Night (twice) and at least two appearances by Ghost Rider.

  • Ken_Begg

    Yeah, I saw it that way too. Stopped at a Golden Bear for lunch afterwards. I don’t think those places exist anymore.

  • Ken_Begg

    I’ve seen a lot of it on TV (one of the cable stations used to show it late night a lot) and they gave Dracula this sort of high pitched whiny voice which was a VERY weird touch. Especially so for Marvel’s version of Dracula.