The Marvel Monster mags had some great illustrations on the inside front covers and contents pages.
This one by Pablo Marcos was featured in Vampire Tales 6, 1974. I thought it was an outstanding visual of Morbius (the Living Vampire) meeting Lilith (Daughter of Dracula). Marcos always had a great take on the horror characters—and his ink and grey wash tones were perfect for the black and white magazines. There’s the violence on the left—with Morbius about to chow down on the woman—and Lilith’s bold sexuality on the right stopping him. Alas, this was another case where the illustration did not fit the story inside—the two characters did not meet at all.
The cover to this issue also featured Lilith, a painting by Boris Vallejo. Marvel probably intended Lilith to become the co-feature in Vampire Tales, giving the magazine two strong characters (along with Morbius) to attract readers.
But Marvel’s decisions were often haphazard—was this due to the round robin of editors or illegal substances in the Marvel offices? Lilith is a vampire, she belongs in Vampire Tales! No wait, Lilith is Drac’s daughter, let’s put her back in Vampire Tales! Oh no, we have a Lilith inventory story by Steve Gerber that was never published. Dracula Lives is cancelled. What to do? Put in Marvel Preview #12 and call it the Haunt of Horror!
I suppose all these stories are collected in some Essentials trade, right? Nuff said!
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