The same Bullpen Bulletins column that confirmed its new color-comic status also suggested that the first issue would be coming out imminently, but July came and went with no ToD #1, as did August. In any event, Tomb of Dracula continued to face delays.
Perhaps recent changes in the Comics Code Authority played a part in the decision-making here as well prior to the adoption of new guidelines which went into effect on February 1st, Marvel wouldn’t have been able to bring out a Code-approved color comic about Dracula (or indeed any other vampire) afterwards they could, and this approach may have better suited Goodman’s comfort zone. (Back in 1968, Goodman had forced Lee to change the format of that title from black-and-white to color after the first issue, then cancelled it after the second.) The publisher’s newfound enthusiasm for the format didn’t last very long, however Savage Tales wouldn’t see a second issue, * and by the next time the Bullpen Bulletins mentioned Tomb of Dracula (evidently, Tomb won the coin toss against House or maybe someone at Marvel remembered there had already been a 1945 movie with the latter title, and wanted to avoid rights issues), in July, it was being referred to as a color comic (albeit a giant-sized 25-cent one). The next month’s Bullpen Bulletins offered more details - including the new magazine’s title (or at least the leading contenders for same):Īccording to an editorial that ran a couple of years later in Dracula Lives #1, the idea for Marvel’s second b&w title originated with its publisher, Martin Goodman - a fact which may surprise those familiar with Goodman’s actions in regards to editor Stan Lee’s previous attempt to crack the magazine-sized comics market, The Spectacular Spider-Man. Perhaps the first inkling comics readers had of its development had come by way of a vague reference on the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page appearing in comics published that March in the midst of a news item explaining the moves of several artists from one title to another, the following statement appeared:īy “another 50¢ mag labeled M”, the anonymous Bulletin scribe meant that Marvel was planning a companion to Savage Tales, a black-and-white comics magazine intended “for the mature reader” whose first issue had gone on sale in January. The Marvel Comics title that would become Tomb of Dracula appears to have been in the works for quite some time prior to its first issue reaching stands in November, 1971.
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