Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Dracula #7: The Newton Comics edition

Newton Comics' Dracula #7 is cover-dated November 1975:


The cover is from Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula #8:


As per the cover, the main feature in this issue is The Hell-Crawlers, originally published in Tomb of Dracula #8. This appears to have been published complete without any undue tampering, based on my side-by-side comparison with the printing in Essential Tomb of Dracula which, I might add, is a superior black and white print of this story.

The backup feature is the six-page Bounty for a Vampire [Part 2], which continues from Dracula #6 and was originally published in Marvel Comics' Dracula Lives! #13.

This issue includes a poster of the cover on Newton's Silver Surfer #2:


This issue includes a full-page advertisement for Origins of Marvel Comics on the inner front cover; a Murfett games contest on the inner rear cover; a Black Panther t-shirt order form on the rear cover; and two Marvel Mailbag columns.

The indicia states it is an October 1975 issue but I'm confident it was delayed until November 1975 as per the cover date. I note Silver Surfer #2 was published 25 October 1975, and the contest expiry date in that issue was 8 December 1975. The contest expiry date in Dracula #7 is a week later - 15 December 1975 - so it appears this issue was published 1 November 1975. The series was on a fortnightly schedule at this point, so this date accords with Dracula #'s 8 and 9 being published on 15/11 and 29/11 respectively.

And for those of you who like to keep track of such things, The Hell-Crawlers was also published in Australia in Page Publications' The Tomb of Dracula #3 and the digest-sized Night of the Vampire one-shot.

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