Appearing in "Dracula"
Featured Characters:
- Frank Drake (Main story and flashback) (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Jeanie (Main story and flashback) (Undeath) (First appearance)
- Clifton Graves (Main story and flashback) (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Dracula (Main story and flashback)
Other Characters:
- Villagers
- Fritz Burgeister (First appearance)
- Otto (First appearance)
- Unnamed Barmaid (Death)
- Bram Stoker (Mentioned)
- Danny (Only in flashback) (First appearance)
- Paul (Only in flashback) (First appearance)
- Abraham van Helsing (Only in flashback) (First appearance)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Europe
- Romania
- Transylvania
- Castle Dracula
- The Baron's Inn (First appearance)
- Transylvania
- London (Mentioned)
- Romania
- North America (Only in flashback)
- United States of America (Only in flashback)
- New York (Only in flashback)
- New York City (Only in flashback)
- New York (Only in flashback)
- United States of America (Only in flashback)
Items:
- Abraham van Helsing's Wooden Stake
- Dracula's Coffin
Synopsis for "Dracula"
Frank Drake a descendant of the legendary Count Dracula, has come to Transylvania with his girlfriend Jeanie. Frank has inherited the Count's former home, a castle located in the mountains of Transylvania. Joining them is Frank's friend and Jeanie's former boyfriend Clifton Graves. The trio are driving in from London and their car breaks down along the way. As they push their vehicle, Frank notices that Clifton has been acting increasingly strange since they left England.
Arriving in a nearby village, they find that the people there are superstitious, believing all the old tales of Vampire lore. Seeking a coach to take them the rest of the way to Castle Dracula, they only find a man named Otto, who doesn't buy into the superstitions of the people in town. Drake and his companions continue their journey despite the warnings from the townsfolk to turn away. Frank is convinced that he can use his inheritance to make Transylvania a tourist spot.
Arriving at the castle on their last ten dollars, the trio are dropped off where Clifton makes an unwelcomed pass at Jeanie. Looking at the castle, Drake recalls how he he blew the million dollars he inherited along with the castle, and reflects on the summer where he met Jeanie. With no money to show for himself he would attempt to get loans from his friends to no avail. However, when telling his friend Clifton about his ownership of Castle Dracula, Clifton came up with the scheme to turn it into a tourist trap. Drake spent some time researching his family's past, and reading the diaries of his family and that of Van Helsing as well. Convinced that Castle Dracula could be turned into a tourist destination, Frank agreed to go on this expedition.
Frank and the others enter into Castle Dracula. Inside, the group is accosted by a group of bats, freaking out Jeanie. The group splits up. Jeanie considers how their travels have changed both Frank and Clifton, while Clifton explores another part of the castle, hoping to exploit the situation and wondering what he ever saw in Jeanie. Clifton ends up breaking through some old floorboards and falls through to a lower level of the castle. Following the steps, Clifton leads himself into the Castle's tomb and finds the coffin where Count Dracula's Earthly remains are kept. Opening the coffin, Clifton finds Dracula's bones with a wooden stake jutting out of its chest. While plotting to kill Frank to take over ownership of the castle, Clifton removes the stake from the bones and begins to walk out of the room.
Unfortunately for Clifton, he has unknowingly caused Dracula to return to life, his flesh and blood reforming upon the stake's removal from his skeleton. Dracula attacks Clifton, who tries to kill the Vampire King with rounds fired from his gun. They have no effect, and Clifton is soon knocked out and tossed down a pit for Dracula to summon later.
Transforming into a bat and flying to the upper levels of the castle, Dracula happens upon Frank and Jeanie who have just come across the portion of the floor that Clifton broke through. When Jeanie once more panics at the sight of a bat, they are further shocked when said bat suddenly transforms into Dracula himself. Both are astonished, and Jeanie soon finds herself under Dracula's hypnotic thrall and walks toward the vampire, pushing Frank aside. Drake knocks Jeanie out. When Dracula attempts to attack, Frank pulls out Jeanie 's silver compact. Silver is one of a vampire's weaknesses, and Dracula is forced to transform into bat form to flee the seen and find sustenance elsewhere.
Dracula does find it in a girl walking alone in the streets of the village, and quickly feasts upon her before heading back to the castle. When the girl's body is found by villagers, they realize that Dracula is back from the grave, and organize a mob to torch the Castle.
When Dracula returns to the castle, he finds Jeanie sleeping in a bed all by herself. When he attempts to feed upon her once more, he finds that she is wearing a crucifix, which drives him back. This was all a trap set by Frank, who reveals to Dracula their common ancestry, and attacks Dracula further by showing him a mirror. Getting close enough, Frank tosses Jeanie's silver compact at Dracula, striking the vampire's brow. Although it causes Dracula pain, it only enrages him and the vampire lord is soon upon Drake, with the intent to kill him.
Jeanie wakes up to find Dracula attacking Frank, just as the angry mob of townspeople are approaching the castle with torches. Dracula meanwhile, uses his hypnotic gaze to make Jeanie remove the crucifix from her person and toss it out a window. As the townspeople light the castle on fire, Frank revives to find Dracula feeding upon Jeanie. Trying to stop Dracula, Frank uses the silver compact once more, forcing Dracula to once again change into a bat and flee the scene. Drank picks up Jeanie's body and carries her out of the castle where he tells the villagers that Dracula is gone. After the townsfolk leave, Frank sees to Jeanie and is horrified to find her dead.
His tears are interrupted when Jeanie suddenly rises up, and explains to Frank that because Dracula did not kill her, she was transformed into a vampire instead. Seeing Dracula flying off, Jeanie then follows after him leaving Frank to mourn over his loss.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- Plot by Thomas[1] (uncredited), script by Conway.
- This issue is the first Marvel Comics appearance of Dracula. The character of Dracula is based on the literary figure featured in the eponymous 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Stoker in turn, based his vampire character on the historical Vlad Tepes, a 15th century Wallachian prince known for his brutality and his penchant for impaling his adversaries on pikes on the perimeter of his castle.
- Dracula's actual first appearance was in the seventh story in Suspense #7 entitled "Dracula Lives". This issue was published in 1953 by Atlas Comics. Dracula's appearance in Suspense #7 is considered part of Marvel mainstream continuity as indicated in his profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror, 2005.
- Dracula chronologically appeared last in a flashback sequence from Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms #3. The events from that issue take place after Dracula's apparent "death" at the hands of a Scotsman in Tomb of Dracula #15.
- Stoker's original novel was adapted by Marvel Comics in Marvel Classics Comics Series Featuring Dracula #1. Although written from an out-of-continuity perspective, all of the events portrayed in that issue are common to Marvel's Earth-616 continuity as well.
- First appearance of Clifton Graves and Frank Drake. Both appear again next issue.
- First appearance of Jeanie; turned into a vampire in this issue.
- In this issue, Jeanie becomes a vampire right away, which is contrary both to vampire lore and later instances in this series when characters are turned into vampires. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, those who are fed upon by a vampire would rise from the grave three days later as a vampire themselves unless they were killed before they had been completely exsanguinated.
Trivia
- The tagline for this issue is "Night of the Vampire!"
