The Writers of Dr. Strange and Dracula Killed Off Each Other's Characters

In the latest Comic Book Legends Revealed, find out how the writers of Dr. Strange and Tomb of Dracula agreed to kill off each other's characters

Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the eight hundred and sixty-ninth installment where we examine three comic book legends and determine whether they are true or false. As usual, there will be three posts, one for each of the three legends. This is a special Halloween edition, with three horror legends!

NOTE: If my Twitter page hits 5,000 followers, I'll do a bonus edition of Comic Book Legends Revealed that week. Great deal, right? So go follow my Twitter page, Brian_Cronin!

COMIC LEGEND:

Once he was "forced" to do a crossover with Doctor Strange and Tomb of Dracula, Marv Wolfman decided that at least Dracula would kill off Doctor Strange in the story

STATUS:

True

One of the things that made the Marvel Universe stand out to fans in the 1960s is the fact that it embraced the concept of a shared universe. Of course, ever since the Justice League of America was formed at the end of 1959, DC had effectively embraced the concept, as well, but the big difference is that in DC's comics, when Flash showed up in an issue of Superman, it seemed like a big deal. When Spider-Man showed up in an issue of Fantastic Four, it seemed natural. The interesting thing about that, of course, is that it wasn't like Spider-Man was showing up in the pages of Fantastic Four constantly. In fact, during Jack Kirby's time on Fantastic Four, Spider-Man appeared in the book less than five times total. Still, Marvel clearly cultivated the FEELING of a shared universe more than DC did in the 1960s (DC eventually caught up), but that, naturally, caused problems when it came to characters who didn't necessarily fit in to the rest of the Marvel Universe.

WHY DIDN'T MARV WOLFMAN WANT DRACULA TO BE PART OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE?

In TwoMorrows' Back Isssue #116, my pal Glenn Greenberg interviewed Marv Wolfman about Wolfman's issues with seeing Dracula, who was the main antagnoist of Wolfman's criticially acclaimed horror series, The Tomb of Dracula, interact with the rest of the Marvel Universe, "To me, all of the horror books were outside the marvel Universe. It was a hard enough problem creating mood, tension, and suspense in a comic book, which is all still pictures. But to then have to worry about superheroes or supervillains at the same time - I didn't feel that would work. Every writer at Marvel had one book that was unique. For Roy [Thomas], it was Conan. Steve Gerber - Howard the Duck. Don McGregor - Black Panther. Doug Moench - Master of Kung Fu. Dracula was the special book for me, and I was not going to let that be screwed up, no matter what."

The problem, of course, was that Wolfman's position on the matter did not match Marvel editorial's position on the matter, and so Dracula DID fight against Spider-Man in Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 (Wolfman refused to write it). Over time, though, Wolfman worked in crossovers with other Marvel horror titles, and eventually, with a hope to increase the sales on The Tomb of Dracula, agreed to do a crossover with a more notable Marvel superhero, but still one with a bit of a foot in the world of horror, Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme!

HOW DID THE WRITERS OF DOCTOR STRANGE AND TOMB OF DRACULA HANDLE THEIR CROSSOVER...BY KILLING EACH OTHER'S CHARACTER?!

It helped that both The Tomb of Dracula and Doctor Strange were drawn by the same art team of Gene Colan and Tom Palmer, so that made the transition smooth. Plus, Wolfman was friends with Steve Englehart, writer of Doctor Strange, so they were able to coordinate easily. When talking, they decided to have a bit of fun with it. If Dracula was going to crossover with Doctor Strange - he was going to KILL Doctor Strange! Similarly, in the pages of HIS own magazine, Doctor Strange would kill Dracula!

The issue opens with Doctor Strange discovering that his aide, Wong, has been murdered by a vampire!

Strange hunts Dracula down, and the two have an awesome battle...

For no real reason other than it being awesome, the two transform into old-fashioned cavalry men, charging at each other on magic horses...

In the end, though, Dracula uses his powers of hypnosis to take control of Strange's mind, and then kills him, draining him of his blood!

In Doctor Strange #14, Strange, of course, had projected his spirit, but couldn't get back to his now dead body...

Strange, though, then spends the next few days both preparing for when Dracula goes to kill Strange's revived vampire body, and both torments Dracula by appearing to him as various spirits, but ultimately figures out a way to take back control of his body and resurrect it, leading to an awesome Gene Colan/Tom Palmer sequence, where Dracula goes to stake vampire Strange, but instead sees Strange revive his body and intend to kill Dracula!

Dracula is not a fan of this behavior...

But in the end, Strange is powered by forces that seemingly allow him to both kill Dracula AND resurrect Wong...

With Strange now believing Dracula dead, that explains why he doesn't bother fighting him against for another decade (until well after The Tomb of Dracula had ended its run). Of course, the next issue of The Tomb of Dracula reveals that it was all an illusion that Dracula had tricked Strange into seeing. He decides to steer clear of Strange, though, because he knows that he COULD have been killed.

Thanks to Glenn Greenberg and Marv Wolfman for the information!