The main subject of today\u2019s post \u2014 the fiftieth issue of the first Marvel title launched as part of the horror comics boom of the early 1970s to reach that fairly impressive number \u2014 doesn\u2019t make much of the milestone so far as the book\u2019s cover copy is concerned.\u00a0 Nor, as we\u2019ll see soon enough, is there any mention about the book\u2019s hitting the Big Five-O on the opening splash page.\u00a0 Still, your humble blogger feels fairly sure that the decision of writer\/editor Marv Wolfman to feature a very special, if highly unlikely, guest appearance by the Silver Surfer in Tomb of Dracula<\/em> #50 indicates a sense of occasion on his<\/em> part, if no one else\u2019s.\u00a0 And, certainly, the book felt special to me<\/em> when my then nineteen-year-old self first picked it up, back in August, 1976.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Cover to Giant-Size Spider-Man<\/em> #1 (Jul., 1974). Cover by John Romita.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cover to Tomb of Dracula<\/em> #44 (May, 1976). Art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n No, this wasn\u2019t the first time that Marvel\u2019s version of the Lord of Vampires had crossed paths with one of the publisher\u2019s superheroes.\u00a0 That ship had sailed over two years prior, when Dracula had co-starred with your friendly neighborhood web-slinger in Giant-Size Spider-Man<\/em> #1 \u2014 although the closest the two characters had come to an actual confrontation was when they\u2019d literally bumped into each other while Spidey was in his civilian guise of Peter Parker.\u00a0 Much more recently, Drac had unambiguously thrown down with Marvel\u2019s best-established superhero of the supernatural persuasion, Dr. Stephen Strange, in a two-part crossover that had begun in Tomb of Dracula<\/em> #44<\/a> and concluded in Doctor Strange <\/em>#14<\/a>.<\/p>\n Had that six-month-old issue of ToD<\/em> sold so well that someone at Marvel called for scheduling another dustup between Count Dracula and a superhero, stat?\u00a0 That\u2019s certainly possible, although if goosing the title\u2019s sales was the main objective, the Silver Surfer seems like an odd choice for the job.\u00a0 Not only did the Sky-Rider of the Spaceways not currently have a series of his own \u2014 he wasn\u2019t even appearing with any real frequency as a guest-star, due at least in part to Marvel publisher Stan Lee\u2019s longstanding policy of maintaining dibs on the character.\u00a0 Prior to ToD<\/em> #50 (and not counting the odd cameo here and there), the Surfer\u2019s most recent outing had been in Fantastic Four<\/em> #155-157, published over a year earlier; before that, you had to go all the way back to Defenders<\/em> #11<\/a>, which came out in September, 1973.\u00a0 If you were a relative newcomer to Marvel\u2019s comics, you might not even know who this guy on the surfboard was.<\/p>\n Of course, it could be that the scarcity of Silver Surfer guest-shots in this era made them even more special to longtime fans, who gobbled them up and thus noticeably boosted sales for those issues.\u00a0 Who knows?\u00a0 Still, even if that were a contributing factor here, I\u2019m inclined to think that the main reason we see the Surfer appearing in Tomb of Dracula<\/em> #50 rather than, say, Daredevil or the Hulk, is that Marv Wolfman felt that the former character fit in particularly well with the quasi-religious themes he was presently exploring in his \u201cChurch of Dracula\u201d story arc.<\/p>\n The 12-pager, the aforementioned \u201cA Song for Marianne!\u201d, is told mainly in first person by the titular character, and is comprised almost entirely of flashbacks; as the tale proceeds, we learn how Dracula has influenced the narrator\u2019s life (always for the worst, of course) for a hundred years, the last fifty of which she\u2019s spent as a vampire alongside her similarly afflicted husband \u2014 a union which has just been ended by the vampire-slayer Blade, who killed hubby while he was robbing a hospital for blood.\u00a0 On the last page, we learn Marianne\u2019s been telling her sad story to Dracula and his bride, Domini, as a prelude to asking the Count to put her out of her misery by staking her through the heart.\u00a0 And Dracula, demonstrating how much his still-new relationship with Domini has already changed him, agrees to do so:\u00a0 \u201cOnce<\/strong>, many years ago, it seems now, I would not have understood your request.\u00a0 But now<\/strong>, with my wife Domini at my side, I can<\/strong> understand such things as peace and rest and love<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n This character-centered piece is followed by the three-page \u201cLost: One Vampire!\u201d, which finds four members of the series\u2019 supporting cast \u2014 dedicated vampire hunters Frank Drake and Quincy Harker, and comic-relief hangers-on Harold H. Harold and Aurora Rabinowitz conferring together.\u00a0 Frank, who\u2019s still smarting over his estranged girlfriend (and fellow vamp stalker) Rachel van Helsing\u2019s calling him out over his macho posturing in the previous issue, is determined to go hunting for Dracula, and (for some inexplicable reason) wants the reliably ineffectual Harold to go with him.\u00a0 Harold is understandably reluctant, but his perpetual objet de d\u00e9sir<\/em><\/span>, Aurora, is all for it, since she thinks the vampiric Count is \u201cso dreamy<\/strong>\u201c; she demands that either Harold helps Frank find Dracula, or she\u2019ll never speak to him again\u2026<\/p>\n Back inside the house, Aurora takes her leave of Quincy \u2014 who, as soon as he\u2019s alone, begins to have severe chest pains.\u00a0 The eldest of Dracula\u2019s foes manages to get to his heart medication in time to alleviate his symptoms, but it\u2019s an ominous moment, for sure.<\/p>\n The third and last of this issue\u2019s \u201ctales\u201d comes in at just two pages, the second of which is a full page splash.\u00a0 As \u201cDoppelganger!!\u201d opens, vampire detective Hannibal King (who provides his usual hard-boiled narration) and vampire killer Blade are following up on yet another lead on their mutual quarry, Deacon Frost \u2014 the undead bloodsucker responsible for murdering Blade\u2019s mom and for turning King into a vamp like himself.\u00a0 As they advance on the building where they believe Frost may be holding up, King counsels caution \u2014 but Blade disdains this advice, choosing to kick in the front door instead.\u00a0 \u201cNo<\/strong>, you stupid moron, you\u2019ll ruin everything!<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 But Blade tells him he\u2019s already too late: \u201cThe door\u2019s down<\/strong>, an\u2019 the big white rabbit\u2019s<\/strong> waitin\u2019 inside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026And with the Word There Shall Come Death!\u201d revolves around a woman named Angie Turner, who lives alone in a Gothic mansion (or at least appears to), and who possesses the power to bring fictional characters to life to keep her company.\u00a0 Somehow, Angie unintentionally sweeps up the \u201creal\u201d Count Dracula in place of the figure from Bram Stoker\u2019s famous novel, and, naturally, conflict ensues.\u00a0 Ultimately, of course, Dracula extricates himself from this predicament, and we learn that the whole adventure, and even the mansion itself, has taken place within a fantasy world projected from the mind of the institutionalized Angie.<\/p>\n Like \u201cA Song for Marianne!\u201d, \u201c\u2026And with the Word There Shall Come Death!\u201d is essentially a standalone yarn; unlike it, however, the main action isn\u2019t presented in the form of a narrated flashback, so several arc-forwarding scenes can be interspersed along the way without it being structurally awkward.\u00a0 The first of these takes place at the very beginning of the story, as Dracula consults with the leader of the Satanic cult that has formed the foundation of his own new \u201cchurch\u201d, Anton Lupeski.\u00a0 As Drac hands his presumed subordinate a list of names he wants him to hit up for money, it\u2019s worth noting that this scene gives us our first look at Lupeski not wearing his ceremonial mask \u2014 and it\u2019s not exactly what you would call an improvement:<\/p>\n Dracula flies home to Domini just in time to get psychically whooshed away by Angie Turner, and then it\u2019s finally back to Blade, as he closes in battle with his vampiric double\u2026<\/p>\n Our final interlude this issue picks up where we left off with Frank and Harold\u2026<\/p>\n And that, at last, is pretty much everything you need to know going into our main event.\u00a0 So let\u2019s pick up our copy of Tomb of Dracula<\/em> #50, turn past the Colan-Palmer cover to the opening splash page, and get this party started:<\/p>\n Luckily for Dracula\u2019s intended meal, the street on which she was walking is less deserted than it first appeared.\u00a0 Three men come to the woman\u2019s defense, and though he hurls them away, he decides it\u2019s not worth it to hang around to finish the job of killing them (or even to have his dinner).\u00a0 \u201cUsing my vast powers on cretins is wasteful!\u201d he declares, as he turns into a bat to fly home to Domini.<\/p>\n The last time we saw Anton Lupeski, he was threatening the just-captured Frank and Harold.\u00a0 Clearly, some time has passed since that scene, so what\u2019s happened to them?\u00a0 And what about their would-be rescuer, Rachel van Helsing?\u00a0 Oh, well, I suppose we\u2019ll find out a bit further on\u2026<\/p>\n Who are these four hooded individuals who have accompanied Lupeski to this desolate-looking spot?\u00a0 No previous installment of the storyline has given any indication of the cult leader answering to anyone else (except Dracula, of course), but in the earlier scene that introduced the quartet, he definitely appeared to be showing them some deference.\u00a0 This is an intriguing mystery that, I\u2019m sorry to say, Marv Wolfman never will get around to resolving \u2014 at least, not so far\u00a0as I\u2019ve been able to determine.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, the last comic the Silver Surfer had appeared in prior to this one was Fantastic Four<\/em> #157 (Apr., 1975); as to what Wolfman means when he alludes above to \u201cthe irony<\/strong> of it all\u201d, that issue had ended with the shocking revelation that a woman whom the Surfer had been led to believe was a mind-manipulated Shalla-Bal, but who\u2019d been subsequently outed as a mere Latverian peasant girl, had<\/em> in truth been his long-lost love all along.\u00a0 More than a year later, this fact was still known only to the Surfer\u2019s great tormentor \u2014 Mephisto, the Lord of Hell who\u2019d orchestrated the whole thing \u2014 and of course to us readers.<\/p>\n \u201cFor now, the Silver Surfer avenges himself!<\/strong>\u00a0 And let the Power Cosmic<\/strong> make all humans tremble!\u201d\u00a0 This scene was hardly the first time that Marvel Comics readers had seen a frustrated Surfer lash out \u2014 or at least threaten to do so \u2014 against the unjust persecution directed his way by humanity.\u00a0 But it\u2019s rather an odd choice for our storytellers to make in this particular story, which, as we\u2019ll see, makes a great deal of hay out of the character\u2019s supposed innate, almost divine goodness \u2014 especially since it appears that, if not for the sorcerous intervention of Anton Lupeski, the former herald of Galactus would likely have done some real damage to the trigger-happy folks in his flight path.<\/p>\n In the manner of a king and queen, Dracula and Domini give audience to a succession of men making offerings of various sorts (e.g., money, real estate, political power).\u00a0 Presumably, these are some of the people on the list Drac gave Lupeski in issue #49 \u2014 but he\u2019s frankly disgusted by all of them\u2026<\/p>\n I\u2019m very fond of the way that Gene Colan and Tom Palmer visualize the Silver Surfer in this issue, due in large part to how Palmer uses solid blacks and screentones to help this typically very shiny character fit into the more shadowy aesthetic of the Tomb of Dracula<\/em> series.<\/p>\n Is the the first time that we\u2019ve seen the Silver Surfer display the power of intangibility, or short-distance teleportation, or whatever it is that allows him to fly through both a wall and<\/em> a painting without making a mess of either?\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure, but I do know that, back in August, 1976, it concerned my younger self not a whit; rather, I relished the way our storytellers were leaning so very heavily into the idea of the Surfer as a Christ-figure \u2014 something that I\u2019d learn many years later hadn\u2019t been part of Jack Kirby\u2019s original conception of the character at all, but which Stan Lee had definitely incorporated into his scripts, especially those for the short-lived late-1960s Silver Surfer<\/em> solo title (and particularly those featuring Mephisto)\u2026 though I don\u2019t believe even Lee had ever done anything quite so overtly symbolic as having the Surfer literally emerge from a painting of Jesus.<\/p>\n Instantly reminded of how his beloved wife Maria was brutally killed by his enemy Turac hundreds of years earlier (a callback to Dracula Lives!<\/em> #2<\/a>), the Lord of Vampires flies into a not entirely unjustified rage.\u00a0 Ignoring the Surfer\u2019s rather feeble explanation that he was aiming for Drac and Domini simply got in his way, he backhands the Surfer across the face, sending him sprawling\u2026<\/p>\n The Silver Surfer\u2019s ruminations on why his assault on Dracula is going \u201cso sluggishly<\/strong>\u201d is a clear hint to readers that Anton Lupeski\u2019s magical influence has put this cosmically-powered hero off his game.\u00a0 Like the \u201cred sun energy\u201d that temporarily helped level the playing field between the co-stars of Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man<\/em><\/a> earlier this same year, it\u2019s intended to preempt objections from fans that, under ordinary circumstances, the Surfer should be able to obliterate Dracula in a matter or moments.<\/p>\n The storm winds summoned by Dracula buffet the soaring Surfer \u2014 and though they\u2019re not enough to topple him from his board, they do require his attention.\u00a0 And by the time the being formerly known as Norrin Radd touches down again on earth, the vampire has disappeared\u2026<\/p>\n And now we\u2019re back to Frank Drake and Harold H. Harold \u2014 seemingly with no time to speak of having passed since we last saw them in ToD<\/em> #49, despite everything we\u2019ve seen Anton Lupeski get up to in the interim.\u00a0 I definitely get the feeling that something has gone awry in the storytelling here \u2014 perhaps due to some miscommunication between Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan as the tale progressed through the normal \u201cMarvel method\u201d stages of plotting, drawing, and scripting \u2014 but I\u2019m not quite sure what.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/50yearoldcomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/gssm1.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>I\u2019ll have more to say about that notion further on, naturally \u2014 but, given that the last issue of ToD<\/em> we looked at here was #47<\/a>, we\u2019ll need to spend some time catching up with pertinent events from the last two issues before delving into #50.\u00a0 We begin with #48, which, before anything else, boasts one of the finest covers \u2014 maybe the<\/em> finest \u2014 that regular series artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer ever turned out for this title.\u00a0 It serves to illustrate \u201cA Song for Marianne!\u201d, the first of the three named story-segments blurbed on the cover as a \u201cTrilogy of Fear!\u201d\u00a0 That phrase, along with the accompanying copy referring to \u201cthree tales\u201d, indicates that the book features three separate stories, which is somewhat misleading; rather, we have one standalone 12-pager, followed by a couple of brief vignettes that advance the series\u2019 ongoing plotlines.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Quite the cliffhanger \u2014 though one that, not unusually for this series, would be picked up on in the next issue only as a subplot.\u00a0 As indicated both by the \u201cNext\u201d blurb at the bottom of issue #48\u2019s last page and the Colan-Palmer cover for #49, the \u201cA\u201d plot of the series\u2019 next installment would be something completely different \u2014 an encounter between Dracula and such other literary figures as Frankenstein, Robin Hood, Zorro, D\u2019Artagnan, Tom Sawyer, and Injun Joe (the latter two of which weren\u2019t named in either of those places, but were pictured on #49\u2019s cover all the same) \u2014 only the first (and maybe<\/em> the last) of whom could honestly be called a \u201cshock\u201d star.\u00a0 What in the world was going on here?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n