TOMB OF DRACULA ISSUE NUMBER TWENTY
TWO
"IN DEATH DO WE
JOIN"
Cover Date: July 1974
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils::
Gene Colan
Inker: Tom Palmer
Colorist: Tom Palmer
Letterer: L. Lessmann
Editor: Roy Thomas
.
Main Characters: Dracula, Petra Vornik, & Gorna Storski
Synopsis: The scene is Kamenka, Moldavia in the Soviet Union. In the small
village a couple rush into their daughter's room to
see her dead husband hovering over her body. The two peasants manage to
scare off the man but he swears he shall have his former wife.
Above the village, Dracula eyes its
inhabitants, thirsty for fresh blood. He interrupts a young couple in the
midst of making love and kills them both, quenching his bloodthirst.
Back in the peasant home, Petra Vornik is comforted by her parents after her attacker is
driven off. Petra recalls how her husband Gorna was a
jealous,violent man until
his mysterious death. He vowed to return from the grave to claim her but
Petra did not believe him even until his funeral when she watched the special
ceremony for the undead and learned her husband had been bitten by a vampire.
Elsewhere, Dracula goes to the
village cemetery where he has a coffin prepared and waiting for him. He
is challenged by Gorna who tells Dracula to leave.
Dracula asks Gorna if he knows who he is challenging
and Gorna tells Dracula to return to Transylvania.
Dracula commands Gorna to obey him but
incredibly, Gorna resists his commands. Dracula
summons a bolt of lightning which strikes Gorna but
the vampire escapes unharmed.
Gorna once again enters his former wife's home and commands her
to come to him. Petra cannot resist Gorna's
hypnotic spell and she gives in to his vampiric kiss.
Again, Petra's parents come to her rescue as Petra's father attacks Gorna with a burning stake, driving him off. Seeking
answers, Dracula enters Petra's home and hypnotically compels her to tell him
all she knows of Gorna.
Back in London, Quincy Harker is recovering in his home from the attack of
Dracula's daughter Lilith. Frank Drake and Rachel Van Helsing
listen as Harker warns them of the danger Lilith
presents. Van Helsing tells Harker
that their comrade Taj has disappeared, leaving
England to return to his native India.
After interrogating Petra, Dracula
confronts Gorna again. The two engage in battle
and Dracula discovers that Gorna's flesh has been
burnt from his bod, leaving little more than an
animated skeleton. As they battle, a mob of villagers gather to find Gorna's coffin and destroy it. While Gorna puts up a good fight, he is no match for Dracula and
Dracula hurls Gorna into a fire caused by their
battle, destroying the vampire. Dracula flies away as Petra discovers the
ashen remains of her husband. She is free at last.
NOTES: This story was a nice self contained story after the
Werewolf by Night crossover and the battle with Dr. Sun. It is interesting to
see Dracula in a new locale (the USSR) and while this is the third time we have
seen Dracula battle another vampire, this story is kept fresh by the locale and
the backstory of a possessive husband stalking his
wife from beyond the grave. Further adding to the story's freshness is
the fact that the Moldavian villagers are well aware of vampires and somewhat
able to defend themselves against the undead (as opposed to England where few
are aware of their existence).
This issue begins leaving clues for
a mystery that will develop in TOD over the next year. Here, Gorna is able to resist Dracula's commands even though all
vampires are subject to Dracula's commands as he is Lord of the Vampires. Why
this occurs will not be revealed for some time but it ties in with the events
of issue 21.
Once again we see that Dracula has a
number of hiding spots around the world where he can rest. Here in this
remote village, Dracula has a coffin waiting for him just as he has numerous
ones around the world.