Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
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Tomb of Dracula #66
Issue(s): Tomb of Dracula #66
Cover Date: Sep 78
Title: "Showdown in Greenwich Village!"
Credits:
Marv Wolfman - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Tom Palmer - Inker
Review/plot:
The Dracula series had been a bit bogged down by the Satanist and Janus plots, and the previous arc was equally off target. But that arc at least ended with an interesting set-up. And the series improves and remains pretty strong from now to the truncated end of the series, with one caveat that i'll mention next issue.
The interesting set up was transforming Dracula back into a human, forcing him to live as one of the creatures that he'd previously just dismissed as rabble and a food source.
The first lesson is that now that you're not a super-villain, you can't just go around monologuing without repercussions.
Dracula also finds little distinction between disco and torture, but i know that's true of a lot of people.
And a man can't even get a decent medium-rare burger around here.
Dracula is also attacked by a cowboy-assassin hired to avenge the death of a woman killed in the previous arc.
The woman was actually killed by the tentacle monster in that arc, not Dracula, but it's not like Dracula hasn't actually killed a lot of people. The cowboy-assassin is not the one to avenge them, though.
Dracula dutifully calls home to tell his wife Domini where he is...
..and at the end of the issue Lilith finds out that her father is in town.
But otherwise Dracula is the only recurring character appearing in this story. No word on what Quincy Harker's vampire hunting crew is up to.
It's not an epic, but it's a nice change of pace and certainly better than what we've been seeing lately. It's said in the lettercol for this issue that Gene is now free from the Howard the Duck newspaper strip, but since going bimonthly sales have slacked off so the bi-monthly status of this title remains. Dracula won't be getting an Annual for the same reason.
Quality Rating: B
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. #3
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Comments
The cowboy assassin looks to be modeled after Dennis Weaver in "McCloud". And his name is Francis Leroy Brown? Must be the son of Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". As for Harker and Co., maybe they had graduated from knitting and were playing canasta or maybe a few rounds of Clue. Speaking of which, Harker must have had Saint neutered as a pup, otherwise he'd be out hunting for some bitches while the others were knitting. Seriously, this was a neat twist having Drac exploring his long-lost humanity,and it's fun to see his reactions to situations most people take for granted (out of cash, overdone hamburgers, etc.). Takes the great nobleman down a few pegs, so to speak.
