Issue(s): Dracula Lives #5
Cover Date: Mar 74
Title: "Night flight to terror!"
Credits:
Tony Isabella & Marv Wolfman - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Pablo Marcos - Inker

Review/plot:
Tony Isabella is credited as the writer of this story, but the credits also say "From an idea by Marv Wolfman".

Dracula is on a plane leaving Los Angeles for New York when the plane is hijacked by a disturbed veteran that wants to blow up the plane to die in a blaze of glory. Dracula figures he might be able to survive the explosion, but the veteran first wants to fly until sunrise, and Dracula knows that will kill him. So he moves to stop the hijacker. But of course he's no hero, so if rushing the hijacker causes him to blow up the plane and kill most of the passengers well, at least it happens while it's still night so that Dracula can survive.

Dracula also turned the veteran into a vampire, so when they wheel him out into the sun at the hospital, he can have his blaze of glory after all.

Also in this issue, after the first three issues of this series teased a rivalry between Dracula and the wizard Cagliostro, this issue actually shows the origins of it. Actually, even in this issue, it's not too clear why Cagliostro wants to kill Dracula...

...but it could be because Cagliostro anticipated that Dracula would ask to become an advisor at the court of King Louis the Sixteenth and Marie Antoinette.

After some cat and mouse games, Dracula and Cagliostro battle directly...

..and then Dracula bites Cagliostro's wife Lorenza. Cagliostro later is under the impression that he saved his wife, but she actually comes back as a vampire.

The reference to a stonecutter is from a story we already saw in Dracula Lives #3. Again, though, i'm surprised that we never saw a modern day battle between Dracula and the immortal wizard.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Begins soon after the end of last issue.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 4

We'll find out in Doctor Strange 15 that the emnity between Dracula and Cagliostro started when Cagliostro stole the Darkhold, which Dracula wanted.

The Cagliostro story is also apparently the Marvel universe of the affair of the diamond necklace, a scandal that helped precipitate the French Revolution. The real-life Joseph Balsamo, aka Cagliostro, was tangentially involved.

Avengers Assemble TV series finally found a way to take out the Bela Lugosi and manufacture the perfect blend of Vampire and mythical God that would rival the likes of Thor...