I think he's implying that Dracula having holds on the company is some bit of debunked-slander that's been around for 200-years?
No. I'm flat-out saying that the author is claiming a character who dies in 1476 held stock in a company that didn't exist until 1600. That a character from pre-Columbian Europe is casually familiar with post age-of-exploration concepts.
Maybe you guys think he's come back on other occasions? Because I think the comic has done a terrible job of explaining if this is his first resurrection or just the most recent of many. I'm currently operating on the basis that this is his first resurrection, but went to look again in case you guys read it differently.
In favour of this being the 1st resurrection:
- His body being in the same place as it was earlier as well as the books also being stored in the same location (you don't need deep archaeology if he's been bouncing out of tombs every 50 years and being candy-coated by a new bunch of groupies each time he gets killed again - nothing like that is even remotely hinted).
- The protagonist is sure acting like this is the first resurrection - he's presented as a thorough researcher and only mentions stuff that's contemporary to Vlad's 1st life or is current. Not some supposed manifestations from the 17th century.
In favour of this being the most recent of many resurrections:
- He uh... knows English? That could be chalked up to bad writing too though.
- Those Simo-Belmo guys seem to have fought a lot of vampires, going back for some time. But then they show those bat-creatures as the enemy.
- He sure owned that stock!
Neutral:
- The Ottoman courtesan is holding his head in that one panel, but then it's merged with the body when they find it. But that doesn't really mean much. In fact it could support EITHER theory.
So I suppose regardless of which version it is, the story's been piss-poor for clearing that up.
I'm not even going to nitpick about how silly it is to think that holding stock in a modern company is anything like holding stock in a seventeenth century proto-corporation. Or of a Romanian noble holding stock in an exclusive English/Dutch/whatever in the same. Like I can let
that go, but if this is his first resurrection this is not-knowing-when-the-war-of-1812-happened levels of silliness.
Maybe I've just been spoiled by Mike Mignola. He at least managed the trick of making 2+2=4 while still leaving space for Cthulhu and vampires.
