Dracula 3

This issue of Dracula is the first to spurn the format established by the first 2 issues. Rather than have 4 five page stories, Agar-Agar takes a break for this issue and we get a double length Wolff story. The cover is provided once again by Enrich.

First is Wolff in "The Sorceress of the Red Mist" by Esteban Maroto. Wolff finds himself before a deserted city and mounts a horse that is waiting there for him. A large snake-like creature pursues him and wraps itself around him. The sorceress of the red mist intervenes however, and Wolff revives. The sorceress appears before him and asks him to love her. Wolff asks if he will ever see his wife Bruma again. She shows that his tribe is in the Swamps of Ginza. A skeleton warrior appears that Wolf fights, getting some assistance from the sorceress. Using the tip she provided him, he destroys it. The sorceress appears before Wolff in the flesh and they embrace. Three days pass and Wolff says that he cannot desert his people. The sorceress disappears. Despite its double length, I don't feel like much happens in this story. Maroto's art is good, but I feel that the story is going all over the place, and is being used more as a vehicle to show various creatures and fights for Wolff than to provide much of a plot.

Next up is "The Snake" by Jose Bea. After having a couple of Sir Leo stories from Bea, this issue features a stand-alone story. Jeremy Harknett is a man living in a boarding house who is very frightened of a large green snake that attacks him as he tries to go to sleep. His friends come up and tell him that it is just a dream, but he believes it is real. After they leave the snake attacks him again and his friends have to once again rush upstairs and tell him its just a dream. Eventually he turns out the lights in his room and the snake attacks him, wrapping itself around his neck so he can't breathe. As a result no one hears him and he dies. As the story ends it is revealed that the snake was just a green curtain hanging by his window, although it did in fact strangle him. Some fun art by Bea here, with the main character's design fitting his personality perfectly.


The issue wraps up with "Eloise" by Enric Sio. A man visits the grave of his deceased lover, Eloise, who died 6 months ago. The man says he'd give his life to be with her, even just for an hour. Suddenly the grim reaper appears and grants him his wish. Eloise appears and the two spend time together on the beach. But the hour quickly passes and Eloise wanders off into the horizon. The man starts panicking, wondering if it was even real. The grim reaper appears and the man flings himself over a cliff. While his body dies, his soul is forced to suffer an eternity of falling. Another good effort by Sio, this is the best work of his yet and quite a bit better than his first 2 stories.