Tomb of Dracula questions

[The Lucky One]

Making one of my rare forays outside of the X-Board, greetings to the CC gang- how's it going? Had a couple of questions about ToD and figured this was probably the place to come for some answers, so here's hoping somebody can help me out. And if this needs to be on the Marvel board instead, I'll... well, cry, yes, but then apologize and start it over there instead. Fair? Good.

So anyway, I just finished reading Essential ToD #3 (yeah, yeah, I'm behind) and wanted to get some info straight before I launch into #4. Bear with me.

1) I know there was a title called "Vampire Tales" running at about the same time. Presumably that was various random vampire stories, but maybe I'm wrong about that- can someone clue me in? And did the big Drac himself have any stories there that we're missing out on? (I know Lilith did.) How many issues did it run?

2) I enjoyed the end of Wolfman's run on ToD (the comic), but at the same time, I wasn't surprised to find out from Essential #4 that it was cut down from a longer story, because it definitely felt a bit truncated. Has Wolfman ever talked about what he was planning on doing if the title hadn't been cancelled? It just felt like so many subplots were given short shrift- the final confrontation with Janus never materialized, Torgo was basically introduced and killed in the space of one issue with no buildup, Dracula's growing conscience didn't lead anywhere, and the whole affair just felt a bit rushed in general.

3) On the subject of Dracula's conscience, do we know why that didn't lead anywhere when he was revived? I mean, he's defending children and holding the crucifix without being burned (temporarily), clearly changed by his time spent as a normal human, and then he's revived in the ToD magazine and it's back to business as usual. Presumably that was to sort of wipe the slate clean and allow new readers not to have to follow any subplots from the comic, but it seems a little random all the same. Did anyone ever try to follow up on that or explain it away?

Okay, that's all I've got. Any answers you all could give would be much appreciated, and I'd be forever in your debts. Thanks!

-D

[Rob Allen]

Hey there, welcome to the board!

I can't help with the last two questions, but this link to the GCD search results for 'Vampire Tales' (http://www.comics.org/search.lasso?type=title&query=vampire+tales&sort=alpha) should help you find out what that magazine was all about. It was part of Marvel's first wave of black & white mags, along with Dracula Lives, which you'd probably be interested in, and Monsters Unleashed and Tales of the Zombie.

[dan bailey]

nice writeups of all the marvel b/w mags from the '70s can be found at http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/Marvel%20B&W%20Horror%20Magazines.htm

[The Lucky One]

Thanks for the help, guys; I appreciate it!

-D

[rarndt]

You could check out www.enjolrasworld.com and look for Richard's page. There's a complete checklist with credits of Vampire Tales, Dracula Lives and the B&W Tomb Of Dracula there. Also the upcoming Essential Dracula, Vol. 4 will have the pages that Colan drew but that never appeared in TOD #70. Some are completed and some are in pencil form.

Richard

[T GUy]

I seem to recall rumours that much, if not all, of the material from the B&W Dracula Lives! title is included in The Essential Tomb of Dracula collections. I think its companion title, Vampire Tales, was devoted to vampires other than Dracula, but could easily be mistaken.

I hope this is of use until someone who knows about these things comes along...

[Halloween Jill]

Yeah, all the B&W stuff's in there, and the fourth's one's already out. Saw it in London on Monday, though I only had a quick skim through. (I don't even have v1 yet. Too many Essentials books, too little money...)