Howard the Duck magazine 5 page 16 splash by Michael Golden & Bob Mcleod

Before speaking about the page itself, a bit of context first.

I absolutely LOVE Tomb of Dacula which I consider a masterpiece. While a bit verbose/over-written by today’s standards, it’s a fantastic series written by another classic monster called (Marv) Wolfman at the peak of his artistic chops.

And then the art by Gene Colan is nothing short of sumptuous especially when Tom Palmer comes on board and they get to perfectly mesh (it doesn’t happen right away).

Here we have a splash page by one of my very favorite artists at the peak of his game, Michael Golden.

Michael drew several stories for the Howard the Duck magazine which were published in glorious black & white (& wash) though not as nicely reproduced as they could/should have been.

In this particular story, Howard is attacked by Dracula himself who, though he doesn’t finish the deed, manages to contaminate Howard with the curse of vampirism (or does he?). The usual fun stupidity ensues with Howard attacking his friends, trying to fly, etc…

What attracted me first to this splash page was the presence of basically the full cast of the ToD series: Blade, Harcker, Ms Van Helsing, Drake and of course the count himself.

Then there is the pure illustrative quality of the page. A menacing castle lost in the Carpathian Mountains eerily lit by striking lightening.

The composition is also quite clever with our narrator on top(to direct the reader’s eye down) whose scarf mirrors Drac’s cape in bordering the series’ cast left and right. Said narrator’s face is also drenched in shadows (and lit from the lightening?) which adds dread and tension to his monologue. Also note how the menacing Dracula is slightly placed above his enemies to suggest him preying on them.

Each character has his own personality. From Blade who radiates badassness to the calculating Harcker and the two lovers. And the feral vampire, a true for of (un)nature.

I’ll be the first to admit that Golden’s rendition of Dracula is inferior to Colan’s who literally owned the character then and since. He is probably a bit too cartoony here but that may have been on purpose considering the humorous (and cartoony) tone of the Howard series. But that’s quibbling, truly.

I will lastly comment on the inks by Bob Mcleod. While Golden was notoriously dissatisfied with basically all his inkers, I find that Bob’s super smooth inks really complemented his art on Howard, underlining the necessary round and cartoony vibe of those stories. He is not my favorite Golden inker but he did a truly great job (imho much better than the job Janson did in one of those stories), especially the gorgeous washes which make the page looks super smooth despite its old age.

Sadly the lettering was probably done on a separate acetate sheet that has been long lost. I don’t really mind as it lets me appreciate the art 100%.

No birthday party of mine would be complete without a Michael Golden piece and this is it.

This is part 2 of my 2021 CAF birthday party.