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Corriere
dei Piccoli / Corrierino 1993 #35
'CASTLE DRACULA'
('Il Castello di Dracula')
by Alberto Savini
Featuring: James,
IQ,
Tracy,
Gordo,
Phoebe,
Scumlord,
Ms
Fortune, Snuffer.
Synopsis: James and IQ are excited when their friend
and co-student Roman Tepes invites them to his family castle in Transylvania, to view an exhibition of his
father's world-renowned collection of paintings. IQ alludes to the
'castle of Count Dracula', but Roman explains the castle belonged to
his ancestor Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad Dracula - who may not
exactly have been a saint, he says, but was no vampire either. James
teasingly says he hopes to run into some werewolves or zombies, though
IQ is less enthusiastic! The invitation is extended to Tracy, Phoebe
and Gordo, too; and we learn the reason for the exhibition is to pay
for expensive castle restorations.
Unfortunately, they're not the only ones planning to pay the
Tepes family castle a visit; Scumlord instructs Ms Fortune and Snuffer
to use the exhibition as an opportunity to steal Mr Tepes' painting
collection. Ms Fortune orders Snuffer to tell SCUM's Romanian branch to
send four trusted men to meet them near the castle at dawn with a
truck. Back at Warfield, meanwhile, it's the night before the trip and
IQ is burning the midnight oil with the creation of his latest
inventions, which he explains to James - as well as a pair of scary
horror masks which IQ thought chimed with the theme of their trip.
James seems a little rattled by the masks as they retire to bed.
In Transylvania at the Tepes castle, a few hours later, Ms Fortune and
Snuffer have gained access and hold Mr Tepes, Roman's father, at
gunpoint. Ms Fortune instructs Snuffer to lock Mr Tepes and his guards
in the dungeon and drug them, while the SCUM agents change into the
guards' uniforms, to help maintain a pretence that all at the castle is
normal in case anyone comes poking about during the art theft. Later in
the day, a taxi arrives at the castle containing Roman, James, Tracy,
Phoebe, Gordo and IQ. Roman is puzzled as to why his dad didn't send
anyone to meet them at the airport, but when they knock at the door,
one of the SCUM agents disguised as a guard appears and rudely tells
them to go away, as the exhibition isn't until tomorrow.
Roman cannot believe that his father has forgotten even to tell the
guards they're coming, and decides something must be wrong. Meanwhile,
in the courtyard, the SCUM agents are loading up a lorry with stolen
artwork, though they're not even halfway finished yet. The agent from
the front door comes to tell them that there were a group of kids at
the door, who he chased away - but that they were probably just art
students. However, Ms Fortune suspects trouble is afoot. Outside, Roman
tells the gang of a secret passage he knows of that leads to the
basement; and sure enough they find the hidden entrance behind some
foliage. Indoors, Ms Fortune and Snuffer are monitoring the castle CCTV
system, and are horrified to see James and his friends enter.
On the dungeon floor, James notices footprints in the dust, suggesting
someone was here a short while ago. Since the corridor leads only to
the cells, Roman and Tracy deduce that someone has imprisoned his
father and the guards. Sure enough, they find Mr Tepes, but he's
unconscious from the drug Snuffer has given him. IQ, Phoebe and Gordo
find some wet rags on the floor and sniff them, then faint themselves;
the others realise that this must have been what was used to drug Tepes
and the guards. James remarks that IQ can sometimes be naive, despite
being a genius. At which point Ms Fortune turns up with some SCUM
agents, and tells James he's just as naive for walking into her trap.
Soon after, Roman, James and Tracy are locked in a cell with their
drugged friends. Tracy asks if there are any other secret passages;
Roman says there are two more, one from the basement to the battlements
and another, used only by Vlad Tepes, that connects the battlements
with the courtyard. James remembers one of IQ's gadgets, a laser can
opener, which he finds in IQ's jacket pocket. He uses it to cut open
the door of their cell, then explains the plan as they all take the
second secret passage to the battlements - he and Roman will wear the
masks IQ created to scare the SCUM agents, while Tracy should make her
way to the courtyard via the third secret passage, down a steep
staircase.
James puts on a Dracula mask, while Roman's looks like Frankenstein's
monster. James also activates the smoke bomb in his shoe, then he and
Roman begin to emulate 'screams beyond the grave' and 'hellish voices'.
'How dare you, wretched mortals?' one of them booms at the SCUM agents
as they carry the paintings out of the castle. Meanwhile in the
courtyard, Tracy is carrying out her part of the plan, by sabotaging
the agents' truck. James and Roman have now appeared in full costume on
the battlements, shouting that the crooks will pay very dearly for
their crimes. Unable to start the truck to escape, the SCUM agents flee
by foot. Ms Fortune calls for them to come back, saying it's just
Bond's trick.
Snuffer tells Ms Fortune that, whether the monsters are real
or not, their theft has now failed, so they may as well flee, too; and
they escape via a helicopter. While Ms Fortune curses from the sky,
James congratulates Roman and Tracy on their efforts. Tracy mentions
that while she was going down the secret passage, she almost tripped
over a bat-shaped handle. Roman appears to think this significant,
saying he thought this was merely a legend. IQ, Gordo, Phoebe and Mr
Tepes rejoin the group having regained consciousness, and everyone
convenes in a treasure room that's been found by pulling the handle
Tracy discovered, filled with gold coins and trinkets. This, we learn
is the legendary treasure of Vlad Tepes. They agree to use it to
restore the castle, and then turn it into an amusement park. Everyone
cheers.
Review:
On reflection, it's perhaps surprising that the TV episodes never paid
a visit to Transylvania, its own forays into monster-inhabited castles
taking place in Germany (The
Inhuman Race) in an episode with strong Frankenstein
influences, and Ireland (Goldie
Finger at the End of the Rainbow) where a leprechaun runs
amok. So this strip was a prime opportunity for Corriere dei Piccoli to
make its own contribution to the franchise's occasional leanings
towards the weird and wonderful. While this falls a little
early in the run for Halloween, it's nonetheless an enjoyable novelty
to have James in a Dracula costume; the last time we dealt with
vampires as subject matter, in The
Inhuman Race, it was
the villains of the piece donning the outfits, Scooby Doo-style, so it's
refreshing to turn the trope on its head. It's also pleasing how the
historical Vlad Tepes is worked into proceedings to add a degree of
authentic flavour; and Roman makes for a likeable and resourceful
addition to the gang. The rendering of several characters unconscious
including three of the core Warfield gang, due to some kind of
soporific drug deployed by the crooks, adds a degree of menace into the
mix as well. Ms Fortune and Snuffer are good value as ever - the former
not even remotely falling for James's box of tricks, and the latter
bringing his usual diplomatic pragmatism to the table when he knows the
game is up.
Highs: Tracy gets far
more to do here than in any average appearance, being not only
responsible for sabotaging the SCUM truck, but also finding the
entrance to the hidden treasure room. She also teases James when Phoebe
manages to get a quip in before he does, leading James to whinge rather
petulantly that Phoebe's joke was rubbish anyway. (Because all of his
are such high quality.)
Lows: James's
reaction to IQ's fainting - to stand around critiquing his naivety,
rather than getting on the floor and making sure he's okay - comes
across as a bit callous. As does Tracy and James then badmouthing IQ's
'absurd', 'nonsense' gadgets on the following page, now he can't hear
them because he's out cold. How many times have those gadgets saved
your life now, James?
Gadgets & Gizmos: On IQ's menu today is a can opener that
uses a laser beam to open lids rather than a blade, and a powerful
smoke bomb that can be installed in one's shoe heels to help shake off
pursuers. His pair of monster masks, while not exactly gizmos, also
play a key contribution to the denouement.
SCUM on the Surface: Yes; Scumlord personally oversees the
operation, and the Tepes castle is teeming with uniformed SCUM agents,
whom we're explicitly told are from the organisation's Romanian branch.
Notes: This is one of (by our reckoning) only two occasions
when the guest character with an endangered father is a boy rather than
a girl - the other being the TV episode Ship
of Terror.
Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad
Dracula, is a real historical figure and a former ruler of Wallachia,
part of modern-day Romania. While Bram Stoker may have borrowed the
name 'Dracula' from Vlad for his novel, there was no prior association
between Tepes and vampirism; and Poenari Castle, the real-life
stronghold of Vlad the Impaler, is now but a ruin, far removed from the
fictional castle seen in this story.
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