TOMB OF DRACULA ISSUE NUMBER NINE
"DEATH FROM THE SEA!"
Cover Date:
June 1973
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Gene Colan
Inker: Vince Colletta
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Roy Thomas
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Main Characters: Dracula, David,
Synopsis::
A fisherman takes in a surprising catch-the body of Dracula! A group of
people from the small town of Littlepool take what
they believe to be a corpse to a local church. When Dracula awakens he
finds himself tormented by the image of the cross. He attempts to leave
by transforming into a bat but fails. He finally escapes when a priest
opens the door, allowing him to escape. There, a young man named David,
his girlfriend, and the local priest ask Dracula what happened (they have no
idea who he is).
Dracula (posing as a Mr Drake) distorts his story to hide his vampiric nature but in a clever flashback, we see that a
weakened Dracula (after his battle with Dr Morte) was
assaulted by a motorcycle gang and thrown into the sea where he was fished out
by one of Littlepool's residents. The priest
offers to have Dracula stay at his church but Dracula instead accepts the off
of the youth David, whose mother runs a boarding house. David tells
Dracula that he wants to leave Littlepool as it is
isolated from the rest of the world.
Later that night, Dracula hunts Littlepool for blood and turns a local woman who in turn
turns a local barfly.
David pleads with Dracula to take
him with him to London. Dracula refuses, telling him that the path he
walks is too dangerous. They are interrupted by the scream of David's
girlfriend Angela. David runs to her and discovers two vampires (the ones
created by Dracula) hunting his girlfriend. He bravely attacks them but
is defeated. However Dracula arrives and commands them to leave.
In a brief interlude, we see Quincy Harker and the vampire hunters practicing when Harker receives a phone call. He says that while the
matter does not have to do with Dracula, he and Edith must leave immediately as
it is a matter of life and death
After returning home, a mob arrives
outside his home demanding "Mr Drake".
Led by the town priest, the mob is intent on destroying the stranger who
they believe to be a vampire. David asks Dracula if that is true and he
tells him that he is more than a vampire-he is Dracula, Lord of all Undead.
Fully aware of Dracula's nature, David misleads the mob so that Dracula
can escape. The mob destroys the two new vampires but Dracula is safe.
Before he leaves, Dracula invites David to join him as a member of his
army. David refuses, opting to stay in Littlepool
with Andrea. Dracula smiles and says he understands but he also knows
that David will one day see the wisdom of joining Dracula's new order.
Dracula tells him that until then, he has the protection and friendship of
Dracula.
NOTES: This is one of my all time favorite TOD stories.
Here we get to see Dracula without Harker and
his band tracking him down (which makes sense as they would not always be right
on top of Dracula) as well as to see Dracula interact with a human in a
non-adverse way.
The character of David is very
interesting. He knows what Dracula is and yet he saves Dracula from the
angry mob. There are many possible reasons for David saving Drac but no answer is given. David is not sure if he
did the right thing but it is a choice he did not have to make. Dracula points
out that if the mob had found him, he would have been destroyed. Whatever
his reason for saving Dracula, it does not seem to stem from fear of the
vampire lord. It is also not because he feels Dracula is his ticket out
of Littlepool for David remains there after the
story. Instead, I think he respects Dracula and he does not want to see him cut
down by the same people who refuse to change with the times. Dracula
reflects David's dynamic spirit and desire to explore the outside world.
This is all the more ironic since David remains in Littlepool.
Even more interesting is Dracula's
respect and friendship for David. Typically, human beings are little more
than food or tools for Dracula. Here, Dracula offers to turn David,
rather than doing it without his permission. Dracula is very impressed
with the youth as well as grateful to him for saving his life. Dracula
is a notorious liar but one gets the feeling that he would keep his promise (of
protection) to David unless he were close to death.
Sadly, this is the only appearance
of the David character in TOD.
Dracula's two victims turn into
vampires immediately after death. In future stories, it would take 3 days
before a victim turned vampire but Marv Wolfman was
still tinkering with the vampire mythology. The fact that Dracula
survives his drop into the sea also goes against certain legends that vampires
cannot survive immersion in running water. Of course as mentioned before,
TOD did not strictly adhere to all vampire legends.