Tomb of Dracula 25

"I'm a leg-man, understand? And when I take in a pair of dark, slender stems, resting in the doorway of this hovel I laughingly call an office, I take my sweet time before checking out the rest of what's staring at me."

- Hannibal King

"Night of the Blood Stalker!" is the title to the twenty-fifth issue of the first volume of the Tomb of Dracula comic book series, published by Marvel Comics. The story was written by Marv Wolfman with artwork by Gene Colan. Inking was provided by Tom Palmer, who also did the coloring for this issue. The story was lettered by John Costanza and edited by Roy Thomas. This issue shipped with an October, 1974 cover date and carries a cover price of .25 cents per copy (US).

Synopsis
A woman named Adrianne Brown Walters enters the London office of private investigator Hannibal King. She wants King to investigate the murder of her newlywed husband, Fred Walters, whom she believes was killed by an otherworldly beast. Adrianne describes the case in detail, including the fact that she witnessed a man bite her husband across the throat before disappearing out of sight.

King automatically knows that Adrianne is describing the actions of a vampire. He goes down to the "Lucky Inn" and begins asking questions. The bartender invites Hannibal into the back parlor where he subsequently attacks him. King easily beats the man down, and discovers two small bite marks on the man's neck. The bartender is obviously in service to a vampire.

King begins investigating Fred Walters' employers, Wyandanch Limited. Walters worked as an accountant for their international shipping interests. He sneaks into the dockside shipping office where he encounters Dracula conspiring with one of his underlings. Dracula turns to attack him, and King fires a gunshot into the vampire lord. The bullet passes through him and strikes Dracula's servant, O'Brien. Dracula pushes Hannibal out of a two-story window.

King gets up and goes back inside, but Dracula is gone. He interrogates O'Brien and asks him about his latest shipping manifest - specifically, the destination of a wooden coffin. O'Brien tells him that one was shipped to a warehouse in Kensington.

Hannibal goes to the warehouse and finds Dracula as well as several of his followers. He fights off each of the vampires, sending most of them to their final reward. Dracula hears police sirens in the distance, and realizes that he doesn't have time to fool around with King any longer. The following evening, Hannibal meets again with Adrianne Walters. He tells her everything that he learned, and explains that Dracula killed her husband to cover up the paper trail concerning the exportation of his various coffins. Adrianne leaves, without ever learning the true reason why Hannibal King knows so much about vampires. He is a vampire.

Appearances

 * Hannibal King


 * Adrianne Brown Walters
 * Fred Walters


 * Dracula


 * Deacon Frost
 * Lilith Drake
 * Gurney
 * O'Brien


 * Humans
 * Vampires


 * England
 * London
 * Lucky Inn
 * Piccadilly Circus
 * Soho


 * New York
 * New York City


 * Coffin


 * Bartender
 * Gunshot victims
 * Henchman
 * Superhuman durability

Notes & Trivia

 * This issue is reprinted in black and white in the Essential Tomb of Dracula, Volume 1 trade paperback, which was published in 2004. It is also reprinted in the full-color hardcover collection, The Tomb of Dracula Omnibus, Volume 1, which was published in October, 2008.


 * This issue includes Marvel Value Stamp #49, Odin.


 * This is the first appearance of Hannibal King, who is also a vampire, and becomes a recurring supporting character in this series.


 * Deacon Frost appears in flashback only in this issue.


 * Lilith Drake appears in flashback only in this issue. The flashback of Lilith Drake pertains to events that take place in Vampire Tales #6.


 * This is the first, and to date, only known appearance of Adrianne Brown Walters.


 * This is the first, and to date, only known appearance of Fred Walters.


 * This is the first, and to date, only known appearance of Gurney.


 * This is the first and only appearance of O'Brien, one of Dracula's underlings. Shot and killed in this issue.