Lord of the Damned, Vlad Dracula Appreciation 2019

[phantom1592]

When was the last time Lilith Dracula's daughter showed up? Last time I saw her was in that Spider-man unlimited with Hannibal King. Has she been back since then?

[The One and Only]

When was the last time Lilith Dracula's daughter showed up? Last time I saw her was in that Spider-man unlimited with Hannibal King. Has she been back since then?

She has reared her raven haired head from time to time since her appearance in SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED#20. Lilith popped up in in the DRACULA:Lord of the Undead mini-series. Later she was conscripted into the Howling Commandos in the first volume of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. The last time was in the Tomb of Dracula back-up story by C.B. Cebulski ,and some excellent art by David Finch. Where the Lord of the Undead manipulated Lilith into killing several vampire clan heads, so he could consolidate power, and rally the other vampires against Drac's Daughter. She hasn't been used since. I haven't been reading the current Avengers mag with the Vampire War, and the Shadow Colonel's rise as a threat to old Vlad The Impaler. I have to ask has the identity of the usurper been revealed as of yet ? I'm thinking that the Colonel could actually be Lilith in disguise. The Shadow Colonel's gear hides both identity and gender of the bloke. So it wouldn't surprise me this could be Lilith finally getting her revenge on dear old dad.

[Rosebunse]

The problem with Aaron is that he has pulled from so many places that they could be any number of people.

The three top contenders- the Mother of Vampires, Shiklah, and Lilith-are all women and, frankly, I can't think of any men who would really have a motive for this.

I'm sort of figuring it probably isn't Lilith because it doesn't fit hee head, but there are designs where she has a normal head. Shiklah's overall design is more iconic and she has been known to get creative with weaponry in the past.

We don't know who or what the Mother of Vampires is, but she is a strong possibilty.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Tomb of Dracula #17 Feb 1974
"Death Rides the Rails!"
Having spent time in Paris, France, Dracula returns to the secret location of one of his coffins, lined with Transylvanian earth,
so that he can rest for the night. However, he arrives to find that this secret location, like many of his other coffins, has been destroyed.
Needing to find a coffin lined with dirt from his homeland in order to rest for the night, Dracula becomes furious.
He is then attacked by Blade the vampire hunter, who is the one responsible for these coffins' destruction.
Blade attempts to once more slay Dracula. Dracula manages to overpower Blade and feed upon the vampire hunter, before leaving him for dead.

Dracula would flee into the night to the location of a fifth coffin, unknown to the vampire hunters,
hidden in the farm house of Henri Verne, one of Dracula's enslaved humans, and his wife, Gerta.

The following night, Dracula begins his travels back to Transylvania, deciding this time to return home by boarding a train in Germany.
After resting aboard the train, Dracula would then order the conductor to not let anyone into his quarters,
and would then leave to find a fresh victim to feed upon. Also aboard the train are Frank Drake and Rachel van Helsing,
who have deduced that Dracula is aboard the train and are waiting for him to strike, so that they might destroy him.
The train further houses a man name Gruber and his bodyguard Granet. Gruber has something very important inside a briefcase
and is afraid that their enemy is aboard the train and may claim it. However, despite this worry, Gruber sends Granet out to get him a drink.
Dracula is walking through the train looking for a drink as well, he passes by the young Jack Russell,
who is going to Transylvania for his own reasons, both unaware that fate will have their paths cross in the near future.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland, Lucas Brand is set upon some of Dr. Sun's best warriors, whom Brand is easily able to defeat.
Convinced that Brand is of value to him, Dr. Sun welcomes him as part of their organization.

Back aboard the Transylvania-bound train, Dracula finds a young mother traveling with her son.
Seducing the mother, Dracula leads her back to his quarters alone and feeds upon her.
Her screams grab the attention of Drake, van Helsing as well as Gruber and Granet.
Dracula manages to flee the area in his mist form before Frank and Rachel arrive
and find that the woman is not dead, nor had Dracula fed on her enough to cause her to change into a vampire.

Dracula returns to his room where he curses his mistake, but he is soon interrupted by the arrival of Gruber
and Granet who followed Dracula back to his room. Tricking the vampire lord into opening the door by posing as the porter,
Granet attempts to kill Dracula by shooting him with a gun. Dracula laughs off this pathetic attack and easily knocks Granet aside.
Thinking that Granet and Gruber are in league with Quincy Harker, Dracula kills Granet by
throwing him from the train, before he can explain who he really works for, while Gerber flees the scene.

Dracula follows him, but is delayed when he runs into and has to fight past Frank Drake and Rachel van Helsing.

He easily manages to get past the two vampire hunters in the tight quarters of the train.
He tells them that he will meet them again at Castle Dracula, where he will see to their doom.
Finding Gruber, Gruber warns Dracula to stay away, as he is charged with protecting his master's important documents.
Not understanding what Gruber is babbling about, he scoffs at the importance a mere mortal's paperwork would have to a vampire.
Upon hearing that Dracula is a vampire, Gruber fearfully smashes out a window to his own death.
Before Dracula can make sense of what has happened, Rachel appears with a crossbow and attempts once more to stake Dracula.
Dracula flees the scene before she can hit her target. Flying off into the Romanian sky, Dracula escapes.

Back down the line, the body of Gerber is found by an agent of Dr. Sun, who retrieves the case that Gerber protected so dearly.
Reporting back to his master, this agent of Dr. Sun informs the mysterious man that he has succeeded in his mission.

Written by Marv Wolfman. Art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Tomb of Dracula #18 Mar 1974
"Enter: Werewolf by Night"
Jack Russell and his lover Topaz are on their way to Transylvania in the hopes that there they can find a cure for Jack's werewolf curse.
They are completely unaware that fate has intended that they cross paths with Dracula, lord of the vampires,
who has returned to Transylvania that very night after an extended stay in London. Dracula has just returned to his castle where he
looks upon old paintings of himself and his long dead wife Maria and reflects over the events that found him transformed into a vampire.

Meanwhile, in catacombs beneath Paris, Quincy Harker comes across the body of Blade the vampire hunter.
Seeing that Blade has been bitten by Dracula, and assuming his ally to be dead,
Quincy Harker gets a stake out and prepares to ram it through Blade's heart.

While back in Transylvania, Jack and Topaz stop at the Olde Boot Inn to get rooms for the night.
There Topaz is approached by a drunk man named Scratcher, who makes a sloppy pass at the girl.
Scratcher gets a punch in the mouth from Jack for his trouble, and although he
doesn't cause anymore trouble, he vows to get revenge against Jack for that hit.
In their rooms, Jack warns Topaz to lock up tight because there will be a full moon and Jack will transform into the Werewolf.
Topaz tries to reassure Jack that she can control him like she did last time.
Scratcher, meanwhile decides to go up into the room and try and stab Jack.
Entering Topaz's room he is horrified to find that Jack has transformed into the Werewolf.

The Werewolf attacks Scratcher, knocking him down into the bar below, and beats the man out of the bar.
With Scratcher dead, Topaz arrives and convinces the Werewolf that they must leave before someone
finds out that they killed the sailor. They are then confronted by Dracula, who has witnessed the fight.

When Dracula attempts to feed on Topaz, he finds that looking into her eyes causes him great pain.
Trying to get her to stop looking at him prompts the Werewolf to attack Dracula.
The vampire king easily tosses the beast aside, but finds that Topaz's
gaze is too strong and flees the scene to find a fresh victim elsewhere.

The next day, Jack (back in human form) and Topaz travel to Russoff manor
where they go looking for clues on how to cure himself of the werewolf curse.
He reflects back on how his father was similarly cursed and killed by a mob firing silver bullets.
They find a locked diary, and when they move it's page marker, they set off a mechanism that opens a secret passage way behind a bookshelf.
Following the passage they find it leads to a cavern tunnel that opens up in front of Castle Dracula.
Noting a telescope, Jack realizes that his father had an observational interest in the home of Dracula, and is determined to investigate it.

That night when Dracula rises, he finishes his preparation of coffins to be shipped out to new hideouts in London.
Furious at having to constantly hide from humanity, Dracula vows to no longer do so an openly wage war against humanity.
Spotting Jack Russell and Topaz coming toward his castle, Dracula sweeps down to attack.
Just then the full moon rises causing Jack to transform into the Werewolf once again.
This however, does not stop Dracula from taking Topaz and flying her into his castle.
Inside, Dracula demands to know how Topaz's powers work.
However the girl can provide him with no answers as she knows not how they work either.

Just then the enraged Werewolf bursts in and attacks Dracula.
As the two battle Topaz attempts to stop the fight when Dracula gains the upper hand.

Dracula swats the girl away and then prepares to feast upon the Werewolf. This story is continued in Werewolf by Night #15....

Written by Marv Wolfman. Art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer.

[Rzerox21xx]

https://www.newsarama.com/44312-aven...review.html#s7

the first few pages get inside dracula's head, what you think

[Rzerox21xx]

well guys what you think of the new status qou and what happened in this vampire civil war arc in Avengers with the last issue coming out. I enjoyed it, a tad disappointed that they are keeping the clean shaven long white hair look but he has a new outfit, atleast he wore a tuxedo in the first part. but yeah talk away.

[Jabare]

Dracula is back.

Aaron you officially have my permission to write a Tomb of the Dracula and/or Blade story

[Tracks]

Loved that they brought his son back and are setting up for a major event around him and the Winter Guard. Dracula and the Red Widow in Russia, should be interested.

[Rosebunse]

Dracula played everyone real hard. It makes me wonder if Red Widow was in on Dracula's plan or if she was just played like everyone else. If she was, then despite all the cool murder, she's really not thay smart.

Also, Dracula chucking his son's head away was cold, but that's his same son who tried to kill him not that long ago, so I say that Dracula was being smart.

Also, it seems that Dracula might be wearing one of those sun reflecting jewels on his cool tux.

[XPac]

Dracula played everyone real hard. It makes me wonder if Red Widow was in on Dracula's plan or if she was just played like everyone else. If she was, then despite all the cool murder, she's really not thay smart.

Also, Dracula chucking his son's head away was cold, but that's his same son who tried to kill him not that long ago, so I say that Dracula was being smart.

Also, it seems that Dracula might be wearing one of those sun reflecting jewels on his cool tux.

Red Widow just dumping him in the wilderness really made no sense whatsoever.

But perhaps someway somehow Red Widow got what she wanted too. Shes got a prison filled with vampires. Otherwise yeah... she was in or it or she was a complete moron.

[Tracks]

Red Widow just dumping him in the wilderness really made no sense whatsoever.

But perhaps someway somehow Red Widow got what she wanted too. Shes got a prison filled with vampires. Otherwise yeah... she was in or it or she was a complete moron.

I'm curious what's going to come from that. If Dracula will just keep them harbored there until his kingdom is ready or if the Avengers killed off most of them?

[XPac]

I'm curious what's going to come from that. If Dracula will just keep them harbored there until his kingdom is ready or if the Avengers killed off most of them?

From what T'Challa said to Blade, I think can assume they were trying to keep casualties low as T'Challa apparently was working on some sort of cure. Otherwise Stark and T'Challa probably could have just busted out that solor flair thing we saw a few issues earlier. So I imagine the prison filled with vamps will play into things down the line one way or another.

[Rosebunse]

The dangerous thing about that prison is that those vamps are under Dracula's control and no one realizes it. Unless the Soviet Union-I mean, Russia, is going to try and make vampire super soldiers, it's pretty risky.

Personally, I think the Red Widow was either very smart or very stupid this issue and I can't make up my mind.

And I'm still not convinced that Dracula won't try something on Morbius again.

[MichaelC]

How do you imprison creatures who can turn to mist, anyway?