Dracula is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is based on the vampire Count Dracula from the novel of the same name by author Bram Stoker. After the initial run of the series The Tomb of Dracula, the character has been depicted primarily as an antagonist to superheroes in the Marvel Universe.
The character appeared in the film Blade: Trinity (2004) as Drake, primarily portrayed by Dominic Purcell in his normal form and performed by Brian Steele in his "Beast" form.
Publication history
The Marvel Comics version of Dracula was created by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan and first appeared in The Tomb of Dracula #1 (April 1972), co-written by Marv Wolfman. A different version of Dracula had previously appeared in the Atlas Comics (Marvel's predecessor company) publication Suspense #7 ("Dracula Lives!" by unknown writer/artist, March 1951).
Traditionally, the Comics Code Authority prevented Marvel from publishing vampire comics. This was revised in early 1971, when comics were allowed to publish characters and beings from established literary works. Later that year, Morbius the Living Vampire appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man for the first time, and Dracula followed in his own title some months later. The character starred in the comic, which ended with issue #70 in 1979. This version of Dracula also starred in Dracula Lives!, a black-and-white horror comic magazine series published by Marvel from 1973 to 1975. Running concurrently with The Tomb of Dracula, the continuities of the two titles occasionally overlapped, with storylines weaving between the two.
The Tomb of Dracula initially kept its distance from the rest of the company's properties. Marv Wolfman said, "To me, the horror books were outside the Marvel Universe. It was a hard enough problem creating mood, tension, and suspense in a comic book, which is all still pictures. But to then have to worry about superheroes or supervillains at the same time — I didn't feel that would work." But the potential for a sales-boosting crossover eventually became too tempting, and Dracula appeared in the first issue of Giant-Size Spider-Man (July 1974). Marvel also produced a comics adaptation of the Dracula novel that was published in Marvel Classic Comics #9 (1977).
Although Dracula (and all other vampires) were eventually destroyed by the mystical "Montesi Formula" in the pages of Doctor Strange, the vampire lord was revived. Marvel published a four-issue Tomb of Dracula miniseries, reuniting Wolfman and Colan, under its Epic Comics imprint in 1991, and revived Dracula and his foes in the short-lived Nightstalkers and Blade series in the 1990s. Dracula later took the title role in the miniseries Dracula: Lord of the Undead.
X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula featured Dracula battling the X-Men antagonist Apocalypse in Victorian London.
The character returned in the Captain Britain and MI13 storyline "Vampire State",Appearing first at the end of the previous arc Captain Britain and MI13 #9 with Doctor Doom.Bloody Hell: Cornell on Captain Britain, Comic Book Resources, January 21, 2009Newsarama 9: Paul Cornell, Newsarama, February 11, 2009
He was the main subject of the 2010 X-Men storyline "Curse of the Mutants", written by Victor Gischler. Here, he is redesigned to resemble a medieval warlord, sporting body armor and a ragged cape.
Fictional character biography Historical Born Vlad Dracula in 1430 in Schassburg, Transylvania (now Sighișoara, Romania), he was the second son of a Transylvanian nobleman. He was named prince of Transylvania and voivode (prince) of Wallachia and became ruler while still a child. Over the next several years, he struggled against the Ottoman Turks, losing and regaining his throne. Through an arranged marriage to a Hungarian noblewoman, Zofia, he sired his daughter, Lilith. He sent his wife and daughter away and later married a woman named Maria, with whom he had a son named Vlad Tepelus. He had a son with his third wife Domini, who was named Janus.
In 1459, Dracula was mortally wounded by the Turkish warlord Turac, who brought Dracula to a gypsy named Lianda to be healed. However, Lianda was a vampire, and in revenge for his persecution of the gypsies, transformed Dracula into a vampire as well. Turac raped and killed Dracula's wife Maria, and in revenge Dracula slew Turac, making him a vampire as well. Dracula gave his son Vlad Tepelus to gypsies to raise.Dracula Lives! #1. Marvel Comics.
Dracula defeated the vampire Nimrod in battle, and thus succeeded him as ruler of Earth's vampires. Soon afterwards, he enhanced his own blood with that of Varnae, giving him greater powers than any other vampire. In 1471, Dracula abdicated his princehood.
In the 19th century, he faced opposition from Abraham van Helsing and Jonathan Harker in England, the exploits of which were recorded in the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker, Dracula. When the humans destroyed Dracula, his remains were placed in his coffin, concealed within a cave blocked by an enormous boulder. Frankenstein's Monster was later tricked into unsealing the cave and opening the coffin, thus freeing Dracula.The Frankenstein Monster #7–8. Marvel Comics. In later years, he also came in conflict with Cagliostro and Solomon Kane. Just before World War I, he was responsible for transforming Lord John Falsworth into Baron Blood.The Invaders #7-9 (July-Oct. 1976) and Captain America #253-254 (Jan.-Feb. 1981). Marvel Comics.
The Tomb of Dracula
In the later half of the 20th century, Dracula was once more returned from death by Clifton Graves, and subsequently came into conflict with Quincy HarkerTomb of Dracula #7. Marvel Comics. and Rachel van Helsing.Tomb of Dracula #3. Marvel Comics.The Defenders #95. Marvel Comics.
After bringing the Cult of the Darkhold under his control, Dracula began to seek the power of the dark book to remove his vampiric weaknesses and make himself truly immortal. However, in his quest he was repeatedly foiled by the X-Men, the now-vampiric Rachel van Helsing and Lilith,The Uncanny X-Men Annual #6. Marvel Comics. Thor,Thor #332–333. Marvel Comics. Doctor Strange, Hannibal King and the Avengers.Doctor Strange #60. Marvel Comics.
Dracula had one apparent post-mortem appearance when the Grandmaster summoned him and a number of other deceased heroes and villains to challenge the Avengers.Avengers West Coast #2 and The Avengers Annual #16. Marvel Comics.
Dracula's return (1994–present) Dracula eventually returned when the effect of the Montesi Formula was negated. Hydra had also obtained a sample of Dracula's DNA and used it to create a clone named Bloodstorm One to serve as their vampiric superweapon, only for Bloodstorm One to escape their control.Nightstalkers #16–18. Marvel Comics.
In the 21st century, Dracula assembled an army of vampires in a sanctuary on the Moon and planned to conquer the United Kingdom,Captain Britain and MI-13 #9. Marvel Comics. with other supernatural villains Lilith (a different entity from his daughter), Captain Fate, and Baron Blood. He first contacted Doctor Doom to agree to a non-aggression pact with him, and by association the Cabal, to be unopposed in his conquest. Once he'd secured this, he launched a pre-emptive strike on MI-13's superheroes, launching specially-bred vampires at the Earth like missiles.
It was also shown he still possessed contempt and bigotry towards Muslims, and intended to exterminate them once he had secured Great Britain; as part of his attack, he went to the parents of Faiza Hussain,Captain Britain and MI-13 #10. Marvel Comics. attacking her mother and taking her father (along with Killpower, an MI-13 agent sent to protect the family) hostage.Captain Britain and MI-13 #11. Marvel Comics. British vampire hero Spitfire, meanwhile, was abducted and forcibly turned into a minion. MI-13 were manipulated into exposing the whereabouts of Quincy Harker's remains, magically treated to prevent vampires from entering the U.K. without invitation, so Dracula could destroy them. Once that was done, with the help of Fate, he launched a series of warships towards Earth.
However, unknown to Dracula, Pete Wisdom had tricked him into destroying fake remains and Spitfire had been faking her mind control while channeling information to MI-13. To stop Dracula from finding out the remains were fake, he was briefly trapped in a demonic "Dream Corridor" which saw him live out his fantasies of victory. Once he escaped, there were a series of attacks to keep him occupied until the warships entered British airspace without invitation, wiping out the bulk of his forces.
In the final battle, he was pursued to his fortress and prevented from escaping by Black Knight and Faiza Hussain, wielder of the sword Excalibur. While Dracula was able to seriously wound the Black Knight, he was slain with a single blow from Excalibur, leaving Britain victorious.Captain Britain and MI 13 #13–15. Marvel Comics.
In a 2010 X-Men storyline "Curse of the Mutants", Dracula has been killed by his son Xarus, but is resurrected by the X-Men in hopes that he would join them against Xarus. However, Dracula declines and leaves shortly after.Gischler, Victor. X-Men vol. 3 #3 (Nov. 2010). Marvel Comics. Dracula reasserts himself as Lord of the Vampires, granting amnesty to those who sided with Xarus. When Xarus tries to attack Dracula, he rips off Xarus' head. Although he contemplated attacking the X-Men, Cyclops reminded him that they had custody of his body for 17 hours before the head was reattached, suggesting that they had included a 'contingency plan' in Dracula similar to the plan that they had used to infiltrate Xarus' forces by temporarily shutting down Wolverine's healing factor so that he could be turned and then returned to normal. Although Dracula suspected that Cyclops was bluffing, he complimented Cyclops's style and allowed them to depart, even returning the now-vampire Jubilee to the X-Men.X-Men vol. 3 #5. Marvel Comics.
During the "Fear Itself" storyline, Dracula is informed of the arrival of the Hulk (in the form of Nul) by one of his followers when Nul lands in the Carpathian foothills following his fight with Thor and ends up taking down some vampires. It is revealed that he has the mysterious Raizo Kodo and his legion of vampires called "the Forgiven" locked up in his dungeon.Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #1. Marvel Comics. Dracula frees the Forgiven, who worked to slow Nul's progress. Dracula then prepares the vampires for his last stand.Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #2. Marvel Comics. As the Forgiven continue to stall Nul, Dracula prepares his vampire armies for battle when Nul gets closer. In the end, Nul is defeated when Inka uses a vampire-mesmerizing spell to take the form of Betty Ross, causing the Hulk to break free of the hammer's magic and revert to normal.Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #3. Marvel Comics.
In "Dracula's Gauntlet", Dracula hired Deadpool to retrieve his fiancé, a succubus queen named Shiklah. On the way, she falls in love with him instead and, during the extended trip, her brothers are killed by Dracula to secure the kingdom of Monster Metropolis as his own. This causes Shiklah to deny him the throne by marrying Deadpool, driving Dracula into a rage not because of the power and kingdom he lost, but because he was cuckolded by "an escaped mental patient". After a fight in which he is stabbed with Deadpool's severed hand, poisoned by the mercenary's blood and his army mostly wiped out, Dracula flees into hiding, leaving Shiklah as Queen of the Monsters.