Of all the 70s Marvel horror titles, The Tomb of Dracula is the most lauded, boasting a great creative team in Wolfman, Colan, and Palmer, and a great pedigree in Stoker's undead protagonist. I think it's because Wolfman understands that the book Dracula isn't about the creature himself, but about the people around him, who are sucked into his orbit, and about how his evil impacts those people. Dracula appears only briefly in this issue, the rest of it devoted to the lives of those who have come within his sphere of influence. Some react by joining him, or thinking they can exploit him, and some react by trying, in vain, to stop him. Though a character himself (which is evident in the brief moments we get with him), it is as a catalyst for change, for declaration of one's good or evil intent, that the character functions as, at least in this comic. Or, it seems that way anyway, given that I'm coming in part way through a story, and leaving before it ends.
One of these days, I should actually read the novel, I guess.
Onward.
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