Continuing their fine work re-presentng some classic British comic stories with collections of series such as The Very Best of Library of Death and The Tower King, Hibernia Comics have just released The Complete Dracula File, a strip first published in the short-lived horror comic Scream which ran for just 15 weekly issues in the 1980s before being merged with New Eagle.
Dracula, the undisputed Prince of Darkness was the most ruthless, sadistic, and evil character to grace the pages of Scream. The story told the tale of the blood-sucking count and his evil escapades on a visit to the UK. Pursued by KGB officer Colonel Stakis on desperate hunt for the Count after defecting from Communist Romania, Dracula made his way to Moxon Hall, in the heart of England, and began feasting on the innocent and converting those he needed into his slaves.
Written By Gerry Finley Day (Rogue Trooper) and Simon Furman (Transformers), with art by the brilliant Eric Bradbury (who also drew Doomlord for the New Eagle) and talented Geoff Senior (Transformers), the series successfully blended action adventure, horror and black humour.
While Bradbury successfully kickstarts the tale with beautifully realized action and atmospheric storytelling, other highlights have to be scenes such as Dracula making a victim of a horror movie fan at the cinema (promptly causing mass panic), mingling unnoticed at a fancy dress party – and his fury at discovering his minions have provided him with a tin bath to replace his coffin, giving this story plenty of dark humour alongside creeping horror.
Definitely a tale to get your teeth into, it’s always a joy to see Eric Bradbury’s work in print. A pilot during World War Two, while well-known for his adventure comics work he actually began his comics career drawing “Our Ernie” and other funny characters for Knockout in 1949. His early adventure comic credits include “Luck Logan” and “Buffalo Bill” for Comet, but he’s probably best known for his work on “Mytek the Mighty”, “The House of Dolmann” for Valiant and “Doomlord” for the 1980’s New Eagle.
The 86-page The Complete Dracula File collects all the weekly episodes as well as all the episodes from the hard to find Holiday Specials plus two pages of unseen Eric Bradbury Dracula art from the unpublished Scream Issue 18, and a cover gallery.
• target=”_blank”>The Complete Dracula File from Scream is on sale now, along with other Hibernia Comics collections still in print. Please allow 10 working days for delivery – it’s usually much faster, but these books are sent via international postage, and can, on occasion take a little extra time
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, Featured News