If you grew up in the 1970s and loved comic books and monsters, you are undoubtably very familiar with Power Records and their comic/record combo releases.
Power Records (Peter Pan’s older and cooler subdivision) gave a legion of young fans the chance to hear and read stories featuring their favorite super heroes, TV stars, and monsters, and their classic LPs and 45s are still sought after by adult collectors looking to recapture the excitement of their younger days.
Luckily, companies like Studio Chikara are around to get reissued versions of the old Power Records releases (especially ones featuring the art of legendary creators like Neal Adams) into the awaiting hands of collector’s everywhere.
Studio Chikara’s latest slice of nostalgia is the apple of any monster kid’s eye: 1975’s A Story of Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein LP and accompanying 16 page record-sized comic book.
The 50th anniversary edition of A Story of Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein set is back with the original Adams blue cover art and a color and black-and-white version of the comic (the black-and-white version even comes with a box of six crayons so you can color it yourself).
Studio Chikara originally released 1982’s rebranded version of the story from Parade Records’ House of Terror, which included the audio drama and a second LP with a few short horror audio dramas, as well as classic Halloween songs such as Purple People Eater, The Witch Doctor, and The Monster Mash.Â
For children of the ’70s, the new release is the more desirable one, as it is an exact replica of the one many fans grew up with. Studio Chikara’s three different versions offer two with the original color versions of Adams’ art (with inks by Dick Giordano and Terry Austin) and one in “color-it-yourself” black-and-white. Each version also comes with a different color vinyl (the orange/green and the silver have the color comics, while the gold vinyl is the one to pick up if you want the black-and-white version).
If you haven’t experienced the audio drama since the originally release, the remastered audio track is even more nostalgia-inducing than the comic itself with the dramatic line reading and narration and plenty of sounds effects of wolves growling, chemicals bubbling, and chains dragging.
So whether you pick up the color or black-and-white version, The Story of Dracula is an artifact that will immediately transport you to an earlier time and place.
All versions are currently available from Studio Chikara.
