Monday, October 24, 2011

Solomon Kane: Castle of the Undead

Solomon Kane: 'Castle of the Undead'
from  Dracula Lives ! No. 3 (Marvel Comics, October 1973)


Solomon Kane never got his own magazine from the Marvel / Curtis lineup of the 70s, regularly appearing as a backup feature in magazines like 'The Savage Sword of Conan'. 

This didn't mean the character got short shrift; many of the Kane strips were very good, and among the best of them is this entry from Marvel's Dracula Lives ! black and white comic magazine (No. 3, October 1973)

You can't go wrong with Solomon Kane battling werewolves, brigands,and  dueling with the Count, with a seductive vampire girl thrown into the mix for good measure......

The artwork by Alan Weiss and 'The Crusty Bunkers' (a team of inkers working at Neal Adams's Continuity Studios during the 70s) is top-notch.

[Solomon Kane would tangle with Dracula again, in the sequel  'Retribution in Blood' from The Savage Sword of Conan , No. 26, 1978.]

As far as I'm concerned, this strip is markedly superior to any and all of the newer 'Solomon Kane' comics that Dark Horse has issued in the past few years.........












4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I am a "Kane" fan and had read that story back in 73. The collection is long gone alas.
It was very kind of you to post it.
Thank you again.

Dave said...

Very nice indeed. I too enjoyed it and the great art.

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot, lad, I read the story back in the seventies in spanish and, thank you, found it here again

Shupperman66 said...

I am an avid Conan reader and haven't read much Solomon Kane. I did not realize that Kane was a crusader for Christianity. That made the tale much sweeter to know that Solomon, with God on his side could cut through (quite literally) the arrogance of Dracula, and reduce him to a cringing coward, begging for his undead life. Well written by my main man Roy Thomas. Usually when I am suitably impressed with a story I will thoroughly scour my vast collection (in this case Savage Sword Of Conan magazines) and devour all the Solomon Kane stories I can get my eager hands on. Thank you for pointing me in his direction.