- Secrets of the lost tomb reign of terror review movie#
- Secrets of the lost tomb reign of terror review series#
It feels decidedly like a Silver Age comic book, recalling the author’s work on DC’s sixties comics – it features a rather surreal time-travel detour and a weird emphasis on genetic mutation to explain an other wise gothic monster to us. In particular, for example, there’s a decidedly “Gardner Fox” feeling to the issues penned by that author. It seems to bounce around, never quite sure of what it is or what it wants to be.
Secrets of the lost tomb reign of terror review series#
Those early issues are a bit difficult to get a read on, as the series struggles to find its feet. Archie Goodwin and Gardner Fox were amongst those to try their hand at writing the book, to mixed success. Tomb of Dracula got off to a bit of a rocky start, and had a great deal of trouble finding a writer who could match Colan’s talents. If Gene Colan were meant to draw Dracula, then Marv Wolfman is perfectly suited to write him. This collection looks absolutely beautiful. I suspect part of the reason that Marvel was never able to make Dracula work quite as well again is down to the fact that Gene Colan was meant to draw Dracula. While the other artists present hardly do a bad job, there’s a certain something almost missing from their renditions of the Prince of Darkness. Indeed, in the handful of crossover issues collected in the volume, you can see just how much Colan brings to the character. Despite being fairly close to an archetypal presentation of the monster, right down to the cape, Colan’s Dracula has tremendous presence on the page, a dynamic and eye-catching manner. One of the recurring joys of Tomb of Dracula is watching Dracula’s reactions when confronted with something that offends him, or seeing the anger and pride wash over his as he is challenged. While he did some wonderful work with Marvel’s iconic heroes, the suits and masks frequently prevented Colan from rendering their expressive faces. Colan had a rare gift for illustrating both human characters and more supernatural elements, and his pages always had this almost ethereal feeling. The heavy, gothic atmosphere complimented his pencils perfectly, and the artist’s wonderful panel layouts made it a joy to follow the supernatural action across the page. I have an immense fondness for his work on those classic superhero comics, but I think the artist did some of his very best work on Tomb of Dracula.
Secrets of the lost tomb reign of terror review movie#
(Indeed, Colan had actively lobbied for the book, with a portfolio featuring Palance as Dracula long before the television movie had been developed.)Ĭolan had a long career with Marvel, working on books like Iron Man or Daredevil. In a rather wonderful illustration of just how in touch Colan was with the zeitgeist, Palance would play Dracula in a 1974 television movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. On the other hand, artist Gene Colan had been working on the series since its inception, modelling the lead character on Jack Palance. When Marv Wolfman would serve as the writer from most of the comic’s run, he didn’t join the series until the seventh issue. Of course, a large part of the success of Tomb of Dracula is down to the talent involved.
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