Jolt Country

Marvel has, in the past, done an "Essential" trade paperback release of some of their older titles like the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. They're in black and white, but they give you the chance to read the actual stories that Stan Lee was putting together way back in the day. They include ... argh, I can't recall -- something between 12 and 15 comics in one collected volume, starting with the first issue.

There'd been rumors that an Essential volume for the "Tomb of Dracula" series was coming out, but according to Rich Johnson's column at Comic Book Resources, it's been whacked:

What's happened to the "Essential Tomb Of Dracula" promised a while back? Is it waiting for a handy solicitation date or has it been quietly put out of its misery?

ANSWER: From Marvel editor Tom Brevoort's AOL Forum, "It's dead"

That's definitely a pisser. Marvel had some truly bizarre titles in the 70s. My grandfather ran a barber shop up until his death when I was six and used to give comics to my brother and I when we would visit. (I guess you could get comics at barber shops back then.) One such comic was "Tomb of Dracula," which, now that I think about it, was rather inappropriate to give to a six year old. Eh, I turned out OK, no harm no foul. That comic also featured the first appearance of Blade, the same Blade whose second movie just grossed an inordinate amount of money when compared to how good the film actually was. (I didn't think it was "Starship Troopers" or anything, but still.) The cynic in me says 'leave to it to Marvel to fail to capitalize on a film based on one of their properties scoring a stupid amount of cash.'