Tomb of Dracula (1972) 1

Happy National Garlic Day.

According to nationaltoday.com, garlic was a god to the Egyptians. Even used as currency. The Greeks swore by its strength-enhancing properties. It warded off the evil eye and nymphs.

What garlic is mainly known for, other than adding to the taste of almost any dish, is its ability to make even the stoutest of vampires weak in the knees.

That’s why we present Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula issue one.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 1

Gerry Conway and Gene Colan created Marvel’s king of vampires after the Comics Code Authority relaxed its stranglehold on the industry. Prior to 1972 vampires and other creatures of the night were verboten.

Given the rein, Marvel unleashed Dracula for the first time in comic books since 1951. The title would appear on stands until issue 70 in 1979.

In addition to its normal series, Dracula also starred in his own Giant-Size series in the mid-1970s and black and white magazine, Dracula Lives! for 13 issues from 1973 to 1975 and one annual.

Dracula returned in the 1990s with help from HYDRA who cloned his DNA.

As the new millennium dawned, he had an army of vampires based on the moon. Dracula was defeated by Excalibur – the sword, not the team.

By the first of the next decade he suffered defeat at the hands of the mutants.

Dracula would also guest in the animated exploits of Spider-Woman, Spider-Man (and his Amazing Friends), Avengers, Super-Hero Squad, Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of Smash.

In 1980 Toei studios released Dracula: The Vampire Emperor of Darkness. It later aired on cable television in 1983 as Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned.

Most notably, Dracula, though in different form, appeared in the Blade trilogy based on the character of the same name.

Based on this information, readers may conclude the Lord of Darkness is not easily dispatched. All the more reason to give garlic it’s day and due.