Vampire Tales—Volume 1

Comic Info

Vampire Tales #2

Reprints Vampire Tales #1-3 (January 1973-February 1974).  Vampires prowl the dark and the innocents are not the only victims.  In the dark, killers like Morbius and Satana the Devil’s Daughter push the boundaries of what is a hero…The nights are not safe!

Written by Steve Gerber, Roy Thomas, Gardner Fox, Don McGregor, Jim Steranko, Gerry Conway, Russ Jones Bob Stewart, Stan Lee, and Tony Isabella, Vampire Tales—Volume 1 is a Marvel Magazine horror comic book collection.  The digest size reprint collects the Marvel magazine Vampire Tales which was part of the Marvel magazine series in the 1970s.  Featuring art by Pablo Marcos, Bill Everett, Winslow Mortimer, Paul Reinman, Bernet, Rich Buckler, Jesus Blasco, Jim Steranko, Esteban Maroto, Carmin Inantino, and Vincent Ibanez,  the series is collected in three volumes, but uncollected in an all reprint Vampire Tales Annual #1 that contained the stories “The Praying Mantis Principal” (Vampire Tales #2) and “The Kiss of Death” (Vampire Tales #3) among other stories.

I’m a sucker for anthology series.  Like many of Marvel’s magazines the comic burned out quickly but had an interesting run.  Vampire Tales is no exception.  I actually prefer the shorter more EC style of stories in the volume than the longer comic based volumes surrounding Morbius and Satana.  The short volumes are like little Twilight Zone episodes…almost all with predictable zingers, but they are still fun.  It is also good to see that Marvel kept in the articles (though dated) that talk of vampires and vampire films.

The Marvel magazines tried to be more edgy and darker than Marvel’s regular series.  This means for the most part, prostitutes, pimps, drug users, and other “dark” figures of the world instead of the lighter world of comics (the magazines weren’t regulated by the Comic Code).  They also as a result boast some great art and cover art.  The magazines were black-and-white but here, they also reprint the great colored covers.

The series does introduce Satana in Vampire Tales #2.  It is a short story simply called “Satana” and Satana is presented as more of a succubus than a vampire (Vampire Tales often strayed from the vampire theme).  Satana was created as a type of yin-yang to her brother the Son of Satan (Daimon Hellstrom).  While the Son of Satan rejected their father’s darkness, Satana embraced it…though she never really got to shine or develop since her limited appears were few and far between.

Vampire Tales—Volume 1 wasn’t a big sell and can often be found at discount prices.  That is a shame since it probably hinders other Marvel magazines from receiving this nice treatment.  Tales of the Zombie was already collected in an Essential volume and Dracula Lives and The Hulk also found its way to other collections (though bigger size but on cheaper paper), but it would be great to some of the other Marvel Comics magazines get nice full printings.  Vampire Tales—Volume 1 is followed by Vampire Tales—Volume 2.

Related Links:

Vampire Tales—Volume 2

Morbius Epic Collection—Volume 1:  The Living Vampire

Morbius Epic Collection—Volume 2:  The End of a Living Vampire