Dracula (Marvel Comics)

Dracula
The cover of The Essential Tomb of Dracula No. 1
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Historical: Suspense #7 (March 1951) Modern version: Tomb of Dracula #1 (April 1972)
Created by	Gerry Conway Gene Colan
In-story information
Alter ego	Vlad Țepeș Dracula
Species	Vampire
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Vampires Legion of the Unliving Defenders
Notable aliases	Count Dracula, Justin Drake, Dr. Vlad, Vlad III the Impaler, Dagon, Count Orlok, Alucard, Dondora, Frank Drake
Abilities	Skilled swordsman and hand-to-hand combatant Superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina and reflexes Gifted intellect Regenerative healing factor Weather control Shapeshifting Mind control Telepathy Levitation Hypnosis Immortality Ability to defy gravity

Dracula is a fictional supervillain 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.

A version of Dracula first appears in the Atlas Comics publication, Suspense #7 (Mar. 1951).

The modern Marvel version of Dracula was created by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan in Tomb of Dracula No. 1 (1972). 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 appeared in 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 Tomb of Dracula, the continuities of the two titles occasionally overlapped, with storylines weaving between the two.

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. Most recently, Dracula took the title role in the miniseries Dracula: Lord of the Undead.