Dracula #6
Published and © by Dell, July 1972
Title: “Dracula”
Synopsis: A descendent of Dracula uses science to create a bat-serum in hopes of helping humanity and rehabilitating his family name.
Writer: D.J. Arneson
Penciler: Bill Fraccio
Inker: Tony Tallarico
Review: This issue reprints Dell’s 1966 Dracula #2, a campy reboot of the vampire legend clearly meant to capitalize on the popularity of the “Batman” TV show. It was odd then and even odder as a Bronze Age reprint, as the tone of horror-themed books had already darkened with the loosening of the Comics Code. The issue features silly Cold War politics, with big bad Boris Eval seeming more appropriate for a Saturday morning cartoon. There’s a germ of an interesting concept here but, on the whole, this issue is simply a fun relic from the Silver Age.
Grade: C
Second opinion: This iteration of Dracula makes the list of heroes included in 2015’s “The League of Regrettable Superheroes” by Jon Morris.
Cool factor: You kind of have to squint, but there’s some campy fun to be had here.
Not-so-cool factor: Seriously? Did you see that costume?
Notable: Credits for this issue come from Alter Ego #151, March 2018.
Character quotable: “What kind of men live on this Earth? Men that will take what they want … men that will believe anything they hear about another even though there is no truth to what they hear. Is this what the world has come to?” – The new Dracula, wise to the modern world
Editor’s note: This review was written Sept. 8, 2025.
