Tomb of Dracula (1972) 7

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 7

Mar 1973

Night of the Death Stalkers!

by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, John Costanza, Roy Thomas

Dracula returns to London. He tries to feed on a woman he finds walking home late at night, Edith Harker. She is wearing a cross. Dracula is forced to flee. Quincy Harker, her wheelchair bound father, finds her passed out in the street. He gets her back home with some help from Saint, his faithful dog.

Rachel Van Helsing, Frank Drake, and Taj return to London after she receives a letter from Quincy Harker. They meet with Quincy and Edith once they get there. Quincy demonstrates his latest gadget that he hopes will help them to destroy Dracula once and for all.

Dracula recruits a team of young boys to help him after rejecting an offer of assistance from Clifton Graves, his lackey. He finds the boys playing in the street. He goes out to feed, solo and finds a victim, a man this time. Dracula’s victim cries out attracting the attention of Quincy, Edith, Rachel, Frank, and Taj who were in a nearby pub.

The vampire and the vampire hunters fight. Quincy tries his new gadget without success. Dracula escapes before the team can capture or kill him. Quincy asks Edith to stay behind and man the radio, just in case. The other four head to Dracula’s home in London.

Dracula is at home and another fight breaks out. Dracula has set a trap for his mortal enemies and they walk right into it. He springs it once they are in the basement and unleashes his “legions of doom”, the hypnotized boys he recruited earlier in the issue.

Thoughts

Who are the Death Stalkers? Is that a reference to the team hunting Dracula?

This is the first issue that Marv Wolfman wrote. It really does feel like he is setting things up by introducing new characters who will probably be around for years to come. Having said that, I’m not sure how long Quincy Harker and Edith will last. It feels considerably more grounded than the last couple issues which were written by Gardener F. Fox. I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here.