To consider horror in comics is to conjure up pictures of Kelley Jones’ artwork. His work on Batman: Red Rain and The Sandman stand amongst his most iconic, however his takes on Deadman, Swamp Thing, and even Batman’s Rogues Gallery (Scarecrow specifically) cemented his presence as a grasp of comics horror.
In a monumental collaboration with Grendel creator Matt Wagner, Kelley is now taking over the everlasting Dracula in a brand new trilogy of graphic novels that explores the key historical past of the legendary vampire. After a extremely profitable Kickstarter marketing campaign, Dark Horse Comics has introduced that will probably be publishing Dracula Book 1: The Impaler simply in time for Halloween 2024.
The Impaler follows Dracula’s time as a scholar of Satan himself in his search to turn into lord of the undead. Being the primary of 4 deliberate volumes, Wagner and Kelley’s strategy to the vampire appears to be taking a web page or two from the ‘Year One’ idea made in style by superhero comics. It intends to return to the early days to unravel deeper and darker secrets and techniques that specify how the titular Impaler turned such a power to be reckoned with.
According to Kelley, “When it came time to partner up with an established publisher for [a mass-market edition of the book], there really was no other choice to consider but Dark Horse Comics. Dark Horse and I have enjoyed an incredible collaborative relationship for over 35 years and their reputation for quality material and their support of creators’ rights is a well-deserved hallmark in the comics industry.”
The e-book actually suits with the writer’s imaginative and prescient of horror, one which leans closely on old-school style flavorings with an eye fixed for established myths and legends to be woven into new tales. One want solely take a cursory take a look at sequence resembling Hellboy, Baltimore, and The Witcher to recognize the connective tissue that holds every part collectively in this regard. Wagner’s Grendel additionally calls Dark Horse house.
Dracula Book 1: The Impaler releases this October, the right time for characters just like the titular vampire to come out and take over our collective creativeness. It has all of the makings of a masterwork that may turn into required studying for anybody hoping to higher perceive historical past’s hottest bloodsucker.
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