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Rachel Van Helsing

Rachel Van Helsing

89 appearances Β· Bronze Age Β· 1972–2021 Β· 2 key issues
Who is Rachel Van Helsing?

Descendant of the legendary Abraham Van Helsing, Rachel inherited her ancestor's fierce dedication to hunting vampires. She joined Quincy Harker's team of vampire hunters, becoming a skilled, crossbow-wielding vampire slayer committed to stopping Dracula's predations.

Few characters in Marvel's Bronze Age horror canon carry the weight of a name like Van Helsing, and Rachel Van Helsing β€” introduced in Tomb of Dracula #3 in 1972 by the legendary team of Archie Goodwin and Gene Colan β€” arrived bearing all of that legacy's gravity. She emerged at the dawn of Marvel's monster-comics renaissance, a figure defined by her place in one of the most celebrated horror titles of the era, sharing those atmospheric, Colan-illustrated pages with the likes of Frank Drake, Quincy Harker, and a young Eric Brooks β€” better known to the world as Blade. With 89 catalog appearances spanning nearly five decades, two of them recognized as key collector issues, and a presence stretching across Tomb of Dracula, Dracula Lives, and beyond, Rachel Van Helsing is a cornerstone of Marvel Horror β€” the kind of character whose very name signals that the stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.

Identity

Real name. Dr. Rachel van Helsing

Powers. Marksmanship ; Typical abilities of a human vampire

Affiliations. Formerly: Quincy Harker's vampire hunters

β˜… First appearance
Tomb of Dracula #3
Jul 1972

Trivia

  • Marv Wolfman has written more of Rachel Van Helsing's comics than any other writer in our catalog β€” 49 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years β€” 1972–2019

Tomb of Dracula #3 β˜… 1972
Tomb of Dracula #3
Tomb of Dracula #40 1976
Tomb of Dracula #40
The Tomb of Dracula #3 1980
The Tomb of Dracula #3
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #9 1989
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #9
Essential Tomb of Dracula #3 2004
Essential Tomb of Dracula #3
The Tomb of Dracula Omnibus #2 2009
The Tomb of Dracula Omnibus #2
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Omnibus #1 2017
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Omnibus #1
Doctor Strange Epic Collection #8 2019
Doctor Strange Epic Collection #8

Appearances

Werewolf by Night (1972)
#15
Dracula Lives (1974)
Marvel Preview (1975)
#3
Planet of the Apes (1974)
Chiller Pocket Book (1980)
The Tomb of Dracula (1979)
#3
Howard the Duck (1979)
#5
X-Men Annual (1970)
#6
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988)
#9
X-Men vs. Dracula (1993)
#1
Silver Surfer vs. Dracula (1994)
#1
Halloween Megazine (1996)
#1
Essential Tomb of Dracula (2004)
#3
Essential Werewolf by Night (2005)
#1
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005 (2005)
The Tomb of Dracula Omnibus (2008)
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Omnibus (2017)
#1
Marvel Horror: The Magazine Collection (2017)
Doctor Strange Epic Collection (2016)
#8
Marvel Masterworks: Tomb of Dracula (2021)
#1