Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel of gothic horror created the most famous literary character of all time: the terrifying vampire lord, Dracula. And now acclaimed comic-book creators Matt Wagner (Grendel, Mage) and Kelley Jones (Batman: Red Rain, The Sandman) are reuniting to produce an all-new chapter in their epic series of DRACULA graphic novels. Dracula: Book III – The Count takes place in the shadows of the original novel and tells the familiar and horrifying tale from Dracula’s own point of view. The project is now live on Kickstarter.
“Anyone who’s familiar with Stoker’s original novel knows that once the action shifts to England, the title character is basically all-but unseen for the remainder of the narrative,” says writer Wagner. “A sinister, charismatic and scheming vampire lord set loose on the streets of London… and it’s so frustrating because we never get to see him! Well, he’s definitely up to something most foul… and now Kelley and I are finally unveiling what he was doing during that terrifying period. We’ll see him exploring and planning to exploit his new home, this grand and modern British Empire, a vast realm on which, it was said, the sun never set.”
“From our very first discussions of this project, this was the part I thought would be the trickiest to pull off,” says artist Jones. “But it was also the part I was looking forward to the most! What Matt does so beautifully is to combine literary and historical accuracy with an utterly compelling story that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Every time I read one of his scripts, I find myself so fully engaged in how the story unfolds… I almost forget that I’m the one who gets to draw this incredible tale!”
“One of the distinctive aspects of Stoker’s original novel is that it’s epistolary… told exclusively in the form of journal entries, letters of correspondence and news articles,” added Wagner. “The only voice missing from these various narrations is the most crucial one of all… Dracula himself! So our version of these events is narrated by Dracula himself… from inside the mind of an unrepentant monster. As Kelley said, this volume was the most challenging in regards to accuracy as the events of the original novel are well-recorded, analyzed and annotated. And Kelley has absolutely brought his A+ game to this narrative. If you thought his work of BOOKS I & II was spectacular, wait’ll you see how he brings Dracula to life (er…undeath) on the foggy streets of Victorian London! I’ll say it again… this is the story that Kelley Jones was born to draw! And I’m the lucky bastard who got to write it!”
The first two volumes of Wagner and Jones’s DRACULA saga were smash hits—Book 1 broke the Top 20 in Kickstarter’s all-time most successful graphic novel campaigns—and this newest chapter promises the same level of high quality. DRACULA: BOOK III—THE COUNT again presents 120 pages of sinister story and art in a beautiful, European-album sized hardcover edition. Wagner and Jones are once again joined for this macabre foray into the shadows of Dracula’s schemes by the stellar talents of José Villarrubia on colors and lettering by Rob Leigh.
The creative team has also shared five fully-coloure and lettered preview pages from Book III which you can read below.
Dracula: Book III – The Count will be funded via a Kickstarter which is live now.
