Expert: Chris Brown - 4/18/2010

Question
Looking for a 1970s Marvel horror comic..I searched and found zip--something like Vault of Evil or Crypt of Shadows--It was a reprint of the 1950s horror atlas stories..I think. The tale is about a vampire who awakens, finds a newspaper which headlines the end of the human race from an atomic war or something--and the vampire decided to head back into his coffin--after, two men are thankful that they printed a phoney newspaper to trick the vampire into leaving. Now, I thought it was Bill Everett art, but all I have found is the "Burton's Blood" story which I now have, but thats a different one. ANY help pointing me in the right direction is appreciated--This is driving me crazy~Thanks for your time!

Answer
Hi Frank

I am a fan of 50s Marvel/Atlas horror, and the story you describe sounds vaguely familiar.  I don't think it's by Everett--I am very familiar with his work.  As well as "Burton's Blood," he also did the vampire stories "Vampire, Beware," "Frankie Was Afraid," and "Horror in the Moonlight."  It's possible it could be a post-code Everett story, but then it wouldn't actually have a vampire, as they were forbidden by the Comics Code.

I wish I had more advice to offer.  Marvel produced so many horror comics in the 50s that it's very hard to locate a single story.  And vampires were a very popular theme, so that doesn't really narrow it down very much.

If you can remember more about the story, maybe I can help you more with the search.

Chris