Something Spooky: An Unexpected Foe In ‘Tomb Of Dracula’ #50
by Tony Thornley
There’s no questioning who the king of the 1970’s horror comic boom is. From 1972 to 1979 Tomb of Dracula was one of comics’ biggest hits, and the Marvel series is still revered today. But to kick off the final countdown to Halloween, we wanted to look at one of the craziest battles the series ever featured, in Tomb of Dracula #50.
As revered as Tomb was, it was, frankly, a bit formulaic. It really was best known for the art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer, while writer Marc Wolfman would just find crazy ways to challenge Dracula this time. In issue #50, we see the main cast bewitched by a coven, we find out that Blade has been replaced with some sort of doppleganger, and that Dracula himself is holed up in a church with a mortal wife willingly participating in his plans.
So when that coven decides to recruit a pure soul from among Earth’s heroes to destroy Drac, we kind of get it. And who could be a more pure soul than Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer… who’s been exiled to Earth and is in the process for atoning for aiding Galactus in murdering billions… I mean the logic doesn’t totally track, but the Surfer is truly one of Marvel’s greats of the day, so roll with it.
With his mission and Dracula’s location magically imprinted in his mind, Norrin rockets off to defeat the greatest evil on planet Earth. And to Dracula’s surprise, he finds himself facing a foe who’s more than a match for him.
But best of all, the Surfer bursts into the scene not through a door or a window.
He phases through the church wall.
Directly.
Through
A painting.
Of.
Jesus.
It might be the greatest single panel in comics history and it’s amazing that it’s not more of a meme. The Silver Surfer phases through a painting of Jesus to challenge Dracula. And it’s not something photo manipulated or memed or anything. It’s actually from the published comic.
From there, the duo fight for a while, Drac actually holds his own pretty well, and then Norrin is stopped by realizing that Dracula’s new wife is a pure soul, who is helping a being of pure darkness for some reason. Stunned by that revelation, the spell is broken and he soars away.
It’s a very silly story that would be nothing but a comics oddity if it weren’t for Colan’s spectacular darky and moody art (aided wonderfully by Palmer’s inks and colors). The issue just simply looks fantastic, and I couldn’t help but smile throughout.
Gene Colan is a name that should be revered alongside Jack Kirby, John Romita, and John Buscema, but I feel like he’s largely forgotten. This issue though is such a wonderful example of how the art alone can make a comic a legend.
