Tomb of Dracula 57

"What? That cursed crucifix -- again! I'll rend you for this, human. I'll slaughter you before that damnable totem does its work!"

- '''Dracula

"The Forever Man" is the title to the 57th issue of the Tomb of Dracula comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The story was written by Marv Wolfman with artwork by Gene Colan and inks by Tom Palmer. The cover art illustration was composed by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer. The story was colored by Glynis Wein, and lettered by John Costanza. It was edited by Marv Wolfman. This issue shipped with a June, 1977 cover date and carries a cover price of .30 cents per copy (US).

Synopsis
In Delhi, India in the year 1792, a man named Gideon Smith visits an Indian fakir. The old man reveals that Gideon is immortal and that he will be reincarnated from one life to the next - a veritable "Forever Man" until the day he encounters the "Dead Man". Gideon scoffs at the notion and leaves the Fakir with his lady friend.

What the Indian man has spoken holds true however as Gideon dies and is reborn from one life to the next; always with a different and only with vague recollection of his previous lives. One thing that remains constant is a crescent-shaped birth mark that appears on his right cheek.

In the present, Gideon is a man in his thirties living in Boston with his girlfriend Glory. He sees a vision of the "Dead Man" foretold ages ago by the fakir and grows increasingly agitated. To take his mind off his troubles, Glory convinces Gideon to accompany her to visit her sister.

Just outside of Boston, Satanist Anton Lupeski speaks with Dracula's new bride, Domini. Domini asks him if he intends on killing Dracula, but Lupeski denies this, treating the mere mention of such a thing as blasphemy. Domini doesn't believe him however. Anton summons his cultists and has Domini taken away.

Meanwhile, Dracula arrives in Boston and attacks a young woman walking home through the snow. Two police officers witness the attack and open fire. Dracula throws one of them onto the hood of his police car and the other runs away. Dracula pursues him, but the man enters his abode and locks the door. Dracula is prohibited from entering the apartment unless he is invited first. The officer opens the door brandishing a cross and presses it against Dracula's face. The cross burns into his flesh and Dracula backpedals, screaming in pain. The pain is too much and he collapses in the snow. A nun comes upon his unconscious body and has him taken to Boston General Hospital.

Elsewhere, Gideon Smith and Glory arrive at her sister Cindy's house. While getting their bags out of the car, a drunk driver speeds down the street and hits Gideon. He too is taken to Boston General Hospital where he is placed in the same room as Dracula. Dracula has bandages all across his head, so Gideon has no idea that the man resting next to him is the lord of all vampires.

Dracula quickly heals from his injuries and revives. He takes the hospital staff, killing two doctors and begins drinking their blood. Several orderlies enter the room, but Dracula easily dispatches them. Entering the corridors of the hospital, he begins slaughtering his way through nurses and more orderlies.

By sheer coincidence, Quincy Harker, Frank Drake and Rachel Van Helsing are likewise at the hospital where Quincy was being treated for a recent heart attack. When they catch sight of Dracula, Frank leaps at him and Quincy fires poison darts from his wheelchair. The darts prove ineffective and Quincy begins suffering another attack.

Dracula retreats back to Gideon's room. He plans on killing him, but the nun who first admitted Dracula to the hospital appears and drives him off with the cross hanging below her neck. Dracula turns into a bat and leaves the hospital. Gideon recognizes Dracula as the "Dead Man" from the fakir's prophecy and knows that his time is short. He is so terrified by the spectacle that his hair grows instantly white and he slips into a catatonic state. When one of the doctors observes his condition he says, "He has the look -- of a man who has seen his own death -- and he knows that it is waiting for him..."

Appearances

 * Gideon Smith


 * Frank Drake
 * Quincy Harker
 * Rachel Van Helsing


 * Dracula
 * Anton Lupeski
 * Domini


 * Angelique de Bussi
 * Anton's cultists (2)
 * Cindy
 * Clark
 * Freddy
 * Glory
 * Hindu fakir
 * Jack (Doctor)
 * Jack (Police officer)
 * Mister Smith
 * Mrs. O'Reilly
 * Sid
 * Unnamed doctor
 * Unnamed nun
 * Unnamed nurses (2)
 * Unnamed orderlies (2)
 * Unnamed school teacher undefined


 * None


 * Bats
 * Horses
 * Humans
 * Vampires


 * France
 * Paris


 * India
 * Delhi


 * Ireland
 * Massachusetts
 * Boston


 * New York
 * New York City
 * The Bronx


 * Crucifix
 * Wheelchair


 * 18th century era sailing vessel
 * 19th century era locomotive
 * World War II era fighter plane


 * 18th century
 * 19th century
 * Flashback
 * Gunshot victims
 * Hallucination
 * Hospital
 * Precognition
 * Reincarnation
 * Satanism
 * World War II

Notes & Trivia

 * This issue is reprinted in Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 3 and Tomb of Dracula Omnibus, Volume 2.