I’m really not sure what is going on in this comic. What good will the sign do?
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It’s shaped like a wooden stake–perfect for driving through a vampire’s heart, should they run into Dracula on his home turf.
Karen has it (I figured someone would). Vampires are notoriously from Transylvania and the sign could serve as a wooden stake. As an aside, did you know we have a Transylvania State University here in Kentucky? We do, quite old too. Almost as if it will never die…
I remember watching a vampire movie where the protagonist had to “stake” his best friend through the heart with a piece of a table because he had been bitten. Later, during the climactic scene where the character is surrounded by vampires and about to be killed, he is suddenly rescued by his friend (still staked through the chest) who dispatches all the vampires. He looks on in amazement, until afterward when his friend plucks the stake from his own chest, shrugs, and says, “Formica. Who knew.”
I got the Transylvania/vampires/stake-through-the-heart thing right away. Not sure what’s with the umbrella reference though. It’s been a while since I read Dracula. Only thing I can think of is Dr. Henry Jones Sr. on the beach.
@ mitch (4) – Zwicky cites stakes of hawthorn or ash, but I always thought the preferred wood was oak, which is only mentioned as a third variant in the Wikipedia article on vampires
P.S. @ S.M.B. (5) – The title I chose for this post has nothing to do with vampires; it is exclusively a (dated) reference to the author’s title for the comic strip.
The choice of wood is something I don’t have a stake in.
lazarusjohn: That’s a good one. It reminds me of a fairly old movie where the would-be victim is threatening the vampire with a big cross and the latter says “Hoo boy, have you got the wrong vempire!” in a broad Jewish accent.
@Boise Ed: That’s Roman Polanski’s “The Fearless Vampire Killers,” which he co-wrote, directed and acted in, alongside Sharon Tate. Jim Steinman spent years trying to turn it into a musical (he originally wrote “Total Eclipse of the Heart” for it; remember it’s about vampires next time Bonnie Tyler pops up in your music listening) and failed for many years. He finally got a German version produced and it’s quite popular in Germany. There was an American version eventually, but it never really caught on.
Comics I Don't Understand 
It’s shaped like a wooden stake–perfect for driving through a vampire’s heart, should they run into Dracula on his home turf.
Karen has it (I figured someone would). Vampires are notoriously from Transylvania and the sign could serve as a wooden stake. As an aside, did you know we have a Transylvania State University here in Kentucky? We do, quite old too. Almost as if it will never die…
I remember watching a vampire movie where the protagonist had to “stake” his best friend through the heart with a piece of a table because he had been bitten. Later, during the climactic scene where the character is surrounded by vampires and about to be killed, he is suddenly rescued by his friend (still staked through the chest) who dispatches all the vampires. He looks on in amazement, until afterward when his friend plucks the stake from his own chest, shrugs, and says, “Formica. Who knew.”
(Spoiler) Prof. Zwicky discusses this RWO at https://arnoldzwicky.org/2023/10/30/two-halloween-exercises-in-comics-understanding/
I got the Transylvania/vampires/stake-through-the-heart thing right away. Not sure what’s with the umbrella reference though. It’s been a while since I read Dracula. Only thing I can think of is Dr. Henry Jones Sr. on the beach.
@ mitch (4) – Zwicky cites stakes of hawthorn or ash, but I always thought the preferred wood was oak, which is only mentioned as a third variant in the Wikipedia article on vampires
P.S. @ S.M.B. (5) – The title I chose for this post has nothing to do with vampires; it is exclusively a (dated) reference to the author’s title for the comic strip.
The choice of wood is something I don’t have a stake in.
lazarusjohn: That’s a good one. It reminds me of a fairly old movie where the would-be victim is threatening the vampire with a big cross and the latter says “Hoo boy, have you got the wrong vempire!” in a broad Jewish accent.
@Boise Ed: That’s Roman Polanski’s “The Fearless Vampire Killers,” which he co-wrote, directed and acted in, alongside Sharon Tate. Jim Steinman spent years trying to turn it into a musical (he originally wrote “Total Eclipse of the Heart” for it; remember it’s about vampires next time Bonnie Tyler pops up in your music listening) and failed for many years. He finally got a German version produced and it’s quite popular in Germany. There was an American version eventually, but it never really caught on.
“The Fearless Vampire Killers” was an MGM movie, opening with the usual roaring lion. But take a look at what happens to the lion: https://youtu.be/O2emd8qWnTk?si=hQ45kYpEdK4lu4pM
Good grief! The Fearless Vampire Killers was 56 years ago?
@ Boise Ed (11) – As Milo Bloom once said: “So was Manson.”