For Hallowe'en a couple of years back, I did a list of comic book g-g-g-ghosts so it's time for another arbitrary list! (A Top Ten would probably be better for click-bait, but that's really not me...)
1: DC's Dracula
DC had a few goes at putting Dracula himself (and various analogues) into their superhero universe (and there is that very unauthorised Andy Warhol movie with Batman and Dracula) but in 1991 Doug Moench and Kelley Jones made an "Elseworlds" tale of the Lord of vampires fighting Batman for control of the world. I love Jones' weird gothic art style and it spawned two sequels.
At the risk of spoiling: Batman eventually destroys Drac (betraying his oath to never kill) but succumbs to a bite he received, eventually becoming a vampire himself.
If you ask me, having Batman turn into a demonic bat-creature is a bit overkill on the theme. However that version of Batman keeps coming back and vampire Earth is one of DC's official 52 Earths.
Scare factor: 4
He ultimately wins. Against Batman. Which is very rare.
2: Marvel's Dracula
Dracula has been a core character in the Marvel Universe for decades. And he's rad.
Originally looking like your classic cape 'n' medals Count of the movies in stories set in non-descript middle-European countries it was bringing in his half-vampire nemesis Blade that pushed him into the superhero stories proper.
He's fought Doctor Strange, Apocalypse, Hulk and Deadpool among many other Marvel heroes and villains. He's been killed more times than Hammer's Dracula too and still keeps coming back.
His best moment might be firing vampire hoards at Captain Britain FROM THE MOON!
Scare factor: 5
This guy's hardcore
3: Dell's Dracula
This one is bonkers. A short-lived 60s comic series that made Dracula a superhero.
He's actually a blood descendant of your actual Dracula who is also a scientist, whose experiments with bat blood (yes, really) accidentally turned him into a sort-of-not-really vampire.
He travelled to America, changed his name to Al U Card (yes, really) and became a costumed vigilante, along with his girlfriend as his sidekick, Fleeta (as in fleidermaus, I think).
Scare factor: 1
A vigilante hero in a bat costume? Ridiculous.
4: Draculass
Aw yeah!
Created by Terry Bave for Monster Fun in 1977, Draculass is Dracula's daughter, sent to live with a human family after her father... well it's not said exactly but it's heavily implied he's met the wrong end of a wooden stake.
Only the family's daughter, Maisie, can see Draculass for the monster she is, constantly looking for a fresh supply of blood from the locals. Maisie usually prevents anything bad from happening. But not always...
In this world, a vampire bite doesn't lead to anything more harmful than requiring a sticky plaster, however. But look at that satisfied monsterous expression!
Scare factor: 3
Bave's style is usually put to more genteel strips like Toy Boy or Sammy Shrink, so seeing his art on beast like Draculass makes it all the weirder and scarier.
5: Dracula (from Dr McNinja)
The Adventures of Dr McNinja is a webcomic by Chris Hastings with utterly ridiculous OTT action movie-style stories. In the story "Punch Dracula" the titular hero unexpectedly steps through a portal to find himself in Dracula's castle. On the Moon.
There Dracula has acquired Benjamin Franklin's head in order to find out what the afterlife is like (the answer: It's like a bad restaurant). He also has Hitler, Tupac, the original Paul McCartney and other people he likes. Bruce Lee is also there but Dracula didn't take him, he just jumped to the Moon once.
Scare factor: 4
When he suspected McNinja was going to kill him he swapped himself out with a robot double. Also he could kill anyone on Earth instantly with his Moon laser if he wants. Oh, and he cured cancer but hid the cure on Mars.
6: Dracula Dobbs
Created for Buster in 1987 by Nigel Edwards, this is another Dracula whose family do not know the real horror with which they live. For after he is put to bed by his parents, Dracula Dobbs stalks the night. Searching for...
GRUB!
Yeah, he doesn't crave human blood so much as takeaway food. At last I can empathise!
Scare factor: 2
Still quite menacing but easily defeated. Usually by just stepping out of his way and letting him walk into a lamp post or something.
7: Dracula (from Scream!)
Now we're talking.
Scream! was a horror anthology comic from the creators of 2000AD and fondly-remembered part of my childhood.
Written by Gerry Finley-Day with art (mostly) by Eric Bradbury, it sees a Dracula travelling from his home ("In a crypt in a ruined church behind the Iron Curtain") to a recognisably contemporary Britain (well, in the early 1980s).
He has also been mistaken for a Soviet defector (the cold war still very much a thing) and trailed by KGB agent as well as being given a safe house by British intelligence.
He was also recently revived in the Scream and Misty Special, which is currently available from Rebellion!
Scare factor: 5
The sequence in which he feasts on a patron in a cinema while he watches a Dracula movie will haunt me for a long time.
8: The Tracksuit Draculas
An organised crime gang, apparently Ukranian, who dogged Hawkeye's life during the run by Matt Fraction and David Aja.
Okay, not really Draculas, it was just a (slightly racist?) nickname given to them by Clint, but they were scary. See, Hawkeye was taking some time away from the Avengers (it's a whole thing) and wanted a reasonably quiet life, occasionally fighting street-level crime. Then this bunch of bozos (they hired a mercenary called The Clown to help them for pity's sake) want to take control of the building in which he lives. And Hawkeye stands in their way.
Scare factor: 4
For in the end isn't mankind the TRUE monsters?
(No, it's Draculas that are the true monsters)
Happy Hallowe'en boils and ghouls!!!!
*Cackles*
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