Reading Room VLAD THE IMPALER "I am Dracula" Part 1

Dracula Untold, opening today, tells one version of how Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, went from "Impaler" to vampire...

...this mini-series, not seen for almost two decades, tells another version...

Be here Monday, when things really go bad.

Roy Thomas' penchant for combining history and fiction served him well, using many rarely-told facts (such as Vlad's being a middle child with two brothers) and emphasizing the Christian/Moslem (Muslim) conflict that tore Europe apart in the 15th Century, to create drama and conflict within the story.
Of course, the always-superb storytelling and rendering of Esteban Maroto certainly didn't hurt, either.
Topps' Vlad the Impaler #1 (1992) came out shortly after the company released a mini-series adapting the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, featuring art by the movie's production designer and noted comic artist Mike (Hellboy) Mignola.
Vlad was reprinted in 1995 as The Dracula Chronicles when Marvel went on a vampire binge with their Midnight Sons line including NightStalkers, Morbius, a new Blade mini-series as well as one-shot reprints of all of Dracula's previous crossovers with the X-Men, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, and Dr Strange, among others.
BTW, for other comic book versions of the legendary vampire, check out...

Dracula the 1960s SuperHero!

and

The first comic adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel!

Exit WeirdWorld, Enter Vlad the Impaler

When we first decided to re-present WeirdWorld as our Countdown to Halloween 2014 feature...

Art by John Buscema, Rudy Nebres and Peter Ledger

...it had been untouched since its' intitial publication over three decades ago, and a generation of fans knew nothing about it.

So we felt comfortable running an all-but lost chapter of fantasy comics history for historical purposes.

However, we learned this week that Marvel will be doing a hardcover compiliation of all the prevously-published WeirdWorld stories in April 2015 (check out Amazon.com for details), so we will not be continuing our re-presentation.

This left us with a big gap in our schedule.

Luckily, we have something equally-kool on hand...

Art by Estaban Maroto

With Dracula Untold opening this week, we decided to re-present another "lost" series from the past, Topps' 1992 mini-series Vlad the Impaler, which like the new movie, is about how the "historical Dracula" became the "vampiric Dracula".

(Ironically, the Vlad mini-series was done to capitalize on the revived interest in Dracula created by the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, which Topps did the comic adaptation and trading cards for!)

So, go see the movie this weekend, then compare how it handles the juxtposition between "historical" and "vampiric" Draculas with the comic by Roy Thomas and Estaban Maroto!

Vlad begins tomorrow!

Don't miss it!

Reading Room WEIRDWORLD "Warriors of the Shadow Realm" Part the First: City of Seven Dark Delights III

We Have Already Seen..

...two elves, Tyndall and Velanna, and a somewhat-irritating dwarf named Mud-Butt, head for the City of Seven Dark Delights.
But, it's a journey fraught with danger!

 ...and with that, we enter into what was rightfully-called a "mind-boggling 3-page color foldout"!

Be Here Tomorrow to Find Out!
Here's a hint...

 

Reading Room WEIRDWORLD "Warriors of the Shadow Realm" Part the First: City of Seven Dark Delights II

We Have Already Seen...

 ...ya gotta love the way this series provides its' own recaps, eh?

And, now, one with the story...

Enter the City of Seven Dark Delights...if you dare...tomorrow!

Reading Room WEIRDWORLD "Warriors of the Shadow Realm" Part the First: City of Seven Dark Delights I

And so this chapter of the saga begins, innocently enough...

...with three beings we would consider "fantastic" telling stories about creatures they consider "fantastic"!

You'll find out whose trail tomorrow, elf, and you'll wish you hadn't...

BTW, here's the credits from the never-reprinted Marvel Super Special #11 (1979)...

Kool, eh?