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Tomb of Dracula #5: Review

Nov 1972
Gardner F. Fox, Gene Colan

Story Name:

Death to a Vampire-Slayer!

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Tomb of Dracula #5 Review by (July 13, 2020)

Review: Gardner F. “Green Lantern” Fox takes over the title for his two issues. A moody entry with more Dracula than the previous issues has a few plot holes, such as the absurd coincidence that another Black Mirror exists in Dracula’s time, that it would be within walking distance of Castle Dracula, that it would be through the next portal Drac sees, and that Frank and Rachel would also assume it exists—and note that they think they will go back to Transylvania before Drac was killed by Prof. van Helsing. I guess the time and the place don’t have to be too exact for the mirror to work. Odd that they don’t seem to be carrying crosses, that they have to “borrow” a huge stone grave marker. And that they don’t check to see if van Helsing is alright. And so, we will assume that Dracula did not kill Prof. van Helsing because that would be wrong on so many levels. Quibbles aside, this was a pretty good issue full of vampire adventure.

Comments: In no other version of the Dracula saga does Professor van Helsing, a Dutchman, live in Transylvania near Castle Dracula.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tomb of Dracula #5 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Passing through the Black Mirror, Dracula and Taj Nital arrive in a shadow dimension inhabited by demonic monsters; Dracula fights them off while keeping Taj safe as his food supply. Presuming there must be other mirrors serving as portals to the demonic realm, Dracula searches until he spies a tomb marked by burning corpses. Inside he finds a portal and pushes Taj ahead of him into a cemetery in Transylvania; Dracula places the unconscious Taj into a heavy sarcophagus and sets out to learn what year he is in. Spying a horse-drawn carriage he infers he is near his own century and he preys upon a young maid for sustenance before seeking out his enemy Professor Abraham van Helsing. Discovering that van Helsing is away in Budapest, Dracula heads to his castle to lie in his coffin until the next night. The nearby villagers find the dead maiden and storm Castle Dracula, unfortunately delaying the expedition until sunset when Dracula is awake and easily able to fight them off….

Back in the twentieth century, Frank Drake and Rachel van Helsing discover the magic book that reveals the incantation that opens the Black Mirror. Believing that Dracula would likely return to his own earlier days, they step through into 19th century Transylvania and free Taj from the sarcophagus. Learning that Dracula is indeed there and very likely to take revenge against Prof. van Helsing, they plan to go to the Professor’s house to warn him but Dracula has seen them from his castle and breaks open the Bottle of Blood, freeing Lenore, a vampire he imprisoned there long ago, and he dispatches her to deal with the vampire-hunters. As the heroes are crossing a cemetery, Lenore attacks and seeks to drink Rachel’s blood; Frank and Taj break off a stone cross from a tombstone and use it to chase the lady vamp away. Dracula attacks van Helsing in his home but the heroes arrive and Dracula takes bat form to evade Rachel’s arrows. Dracula meets up with Lenore and they go through the Black Mirror with their enemies right behind them….



Gene Colan
Tom Palmer
?
Gil Kane (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Art Simek.

Characters

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> Tomb of Dracula: Book info and issue index

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