AND THEN WE’VE GOT THESE THREE MOOKS...
In 1966 superhero mania was taking over everywhere, especially in comics. Dell Comics, which had largely avoided superheroes up until then, was caught up in the mania as well. The one-time world’s largest comic book publisher (their output dwarfed anything coming out of National/DC, Timely/Atlas, or any of the other big companies) decided to try their hand the superhero game.
Unfortunately, three of the superheroes they produced were pretty darn awful, and this is from an era FULL of new, awful superheroes (Archie Comics’ superhero version of The Shadow, Fatman the Human Flying Saucer, the Captain Marvel whose various body parts fly off to fight crime - just to name a few).
Yes, the lazy bums at Dell decided that, since the Universal Monsters were perennially popular with kids, they’d be even more popular as superheroes!
Man, were they ever wrong!
Dracula, Frankenstein and Werewolf (Dell couldn’t use the name “Wolfman” because it was trademarked by Universal Studios, whereas “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” are in the public domain) were launched in late 1966, and ran for three issues each.
The Dracula and Frankenstein books began with #2, as their first issues had been published a year or so earlier as (very loose) adaptations of the Universal films. Werewolf was the only one of the three that got a real first issue.
Dracula was an unnamed descendant of the original bloodsucker. He lived in Transylvania and worked as a medical researcher in an effort to rehabilitate the family name. By ingesting a bat blood serum of his own invention he gained “vampire-like” abilities: he has a “built-in radar to see in the dark,” and could transform into a bat. He trained his body to the peak of perfection, designed himself a costume (complete with a mask that only covered his nose!), and moved to America to fight crime.
Once in America, he adapts the secret identity of Al U. Card (get it?), which he tells people stands for Aloyisius Ulysses Card. He also gains a girlfriend in debutante heiress B.B. Beebee, who in issue #4 (or #8 in the reprints) gains the same powers and becomes his sidekick, Fleeta. She wears a costume similar to Dracula’s, but wears a mask that absolutely does not conceal her identity!
Fleeta also just happens to have an abandoned underground government radar facility on her family’s estate, which the pair can use as their base of operations. But hey, too late! The comic is cancelled.
Frankenstein related the adventures of an artificial man created in 1866 by “the Doctor.” The doc’s creation has superior intelligence and the strength of fifty men. He remained dormant in an abandoned castle somewhere in America for a whole century until a lucky strike by a lightning bolt revived him. However, that long nap has left him with hair that’s gone white and a face that’s gone green. He hides his features with a life-like rubber mask, adapts the name “Frank Stone” (after a rock with “Frank” written on it falls near him), and embarks on a mission to fight crime wearing a red leotard.
Disguised as Frank Stone and making his way to the nearest metropolis, he just happens to come upon a wealthy old man who knew “the doctor.” The old man is dead within a few panels, but not before bequeathing his vast riches and butler upon Frank Stone.
Henry, like all good butlers, stumbles upon Frank’s secret identity. He then becomes Frankenstein’s assistant in the unending fight against crime, although for them the fight ended with issue #4.
Whereas, Dracula and Frankenstein had at least some similarities with their monstrous namesakes, Werewolf had absolutely none. Instead of being a lycanthrope, he is instead a secret agent outfitted with one of the most implausible costumes that gives him near-superhuman abilities.
And don’t forget that his face has been programmed via hypnosis so that he can change his features into “over thirty seven different people!”
This was Dell trying to strike gold by combining the super-popular spy fad (spies were EVERYWHERE in the 1960s, thanks to James Bond), monsters, and superheroes.
Unfortunately for Dell the deadly combination of sub-par writing and art on these titles guaranteed that almost no one was buying them (a common refrain from kids at the time was “I can make a better comic than this!”). Add to that the fact that the superhero boom had become a bust, and it spelled the death knell to the “monster heroes.”
In 1972, when the horror trend started to take off in comics, Dell brought
Dracula
back. The original three issues (#2,3,4) were reprinted as issues #6,7 and 8; no one knows why there was no #5. However, the comic was even less successful the second time. Thankfully, neither Frankenstein or Werewolf were given a second chance.
