Dark Horse Comics and comic book veterans Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones are joining forces for a new take on the world’s most famous vampire: DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER, the first of four volumes which explore the veiled stories from Dracula. Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula introduced arguably the most famous character in horror literature, but the seminal story leaves much of the Count’s rich history and persona to the imagination. Now legendary GRENDEL creator Matt Wagner and superstar comic book artist Kelley Jones (BATMAN & DRACULA: RED RAIN, SANDMAN: SEASON OF MISTS) are diving into the bloody, horrifying events between the lines of the famed horror novel. DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER is the first in a series of four all-new, 100+ page graphic novels that aim to fill in the tantalizing gaps in the legendary Count’s story to provide a terrifying portrait of Vlad Dracula—from his first foray into the dark arts to his rise to lord of the undead! Dark Horse Comics will publish the first of four planned volumes in bookstores on October 22, 2024 and in comic shops on October 23, 2024.
DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER explores Dracula’s bloody history and his tenure at Satan’s legendary seminary of the dark arts, the Scholomance. “Stoker’s original novel hasn’t been out of print since its initial publication in 1897, and I’d argue that Dracula is, in fact, the most famous literary character of all time,” said Matt Wagner. “The haunting echoes of that gothic tale continue to this day, with a seemingly unending litany of adaptations and expansions in every narrative medium — books, films, comics, games. Much like the vampire lord himself, Dracula continues to rise from the grave! With this project, Kelley and I are thrilled to present a new and unique perspective on the bloodthirsty Count and his legendary reign of terror!”
“Dracula casts a long shadow, so when designing the lord of vampires and king of his kind, it’s best to keep it simple,” said artist Kelley Jones. “Pure horror. He is everything we fear. His face has to show his pleasure at giving a painful death and a seductive kiss. His eyes, the red pits of hell. A grimace that bears a deathly smile. A figure that blends in the shadow that every nightmare springs from. This all before he becomes the Vampire King. Matt Wagner has made Vlad Dracula all these things and more — and frankly, it draws itself.”
DRACULA: BOOK I—THE IMPALER was originally funded on Kickstarter via Orlok Press in 2023 with the help of over 3.3K backers. Wagner and Jones are currently running a second Kickstarter campaign for DRACULA—BOOK 2: THE BRIDES, which runs until November 1.
Here’s what people are saying about DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER:
“Wow—in a good way, and I’m a Dracula snob so that’s saying something. This is a wild ride that sails well beyond Whitby and the Borgo Pass—and I believe this may well be the book Kelley Jones was born to draw. Here is all the mood and horror I would expect from him, but also a level of crazy (good crazy) that I’ve never seen from him before. And a huge nod of the bloody severed head to Matt Wagner, because somebody has to come up with all that crazy in the first place. And a big thank you to both of these guys for showing impalement (in all its anatomical glory) done correctly.”—Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy
“It is no easy thing to update the most famous horror story in history while staying totally true to the source material, but Wagner & Jones’ DRACULA does it in glorious, horrific, Lovecraftian style. The book evokes the classic elements and themes of Bram Stoker’s original while bringing an entirely new layer of eldritch terror to its most mysterious character, Vlad Dracula himself. I absolutely feasted upon the art and story alike.”—Ryan Condal (co-creator/showrunner, THE HOUSE OF THE DRAGON)
“A horror icon gets a new origin story from two legendary comic creators.”—IGN
“With stunning otherworldly visuals, two vastly experienced creators, and an iconic character, Dracula is a must-have for any comic collector or horror enthusiast!”—COMICS BEAT
“A unique take on Stoker’s legendary character… Writer Matt Wagner and artist Kelley Jones flesh out the iconic bloodsucker’s story like never before.”—DAILY DEAD
“Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones doing Dracula? Take my money.”—NEWSARAMA
“It’s the creator of Grendel exploring the formative corruptions of Vlad Dracula? Sign me up! … Jones’ bone-chilling artwork the story, which looks like it could have yanked right out of that legendary 90s Vertigo Comics oeuvre. Warning: there will be blood!”—BOING BOING
“It’s Dracula like we’ve never seen him before and more familiar than ever — a character study of a creature who has terrified and tantalized audiences for decades.”—AIPT
“Wagner and Jones approach their version of Dracula with a classic sense of dark fantasy, not unlike the kind found in the pages of older horror magazines like Creepy and Eerie. It’s apt, and it creates a richly textured stage for Dracula to play in as he seeks Satan’s tutelage in the dark arts.”—COMICS BEAT
“Wagner and Jones have—brilliantly, terrifyingly—filled in that crucial gap in the history of the Voivode Dracula: how he transformed from a monstrous warrior into an actual monster! Wholly convincing, totally canonical—don’t read this without a LOT of garlic and crosses at hand!”—Leslie S. Klinger, editor, New Annotated Dracula
Dark Horse will publish DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER in bookstores on October 22, 2024 and in comic shops on October 23, 2024. You can follow the Kickstarter campaign for DRACULA—BOOK 2: THE BRIDES here.
About the writer:
Matt Wagner has enjoyed a career in comics for over forty years and is best known for one of comicdom’s most respected creator-owned titles—the centuries-spanning epic, GRENDEL and for his other, more personal, allegory, MAGE. As both a writer and an artist, Matt has also worked on a wide variety of established characters over the years which include several landmark projects starring DC Comics icon, BATMAN including two crossovers series with GRENDEL. His other mainstream work includes; SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE, DR. MID-NITE, GREEN ARROW, TRINITY, MADAME XANADU, ZORRO, GREEN HORNET; YEAR ONE, THE SHADOW; YEAR ONE, THE SHADOW: THE DEATH OF MARGO LANE, THE SPIRIT RETURNS, and DJANGO/ZORRO, which he co-wrote with renowned film-maker Quentin Tarantino. Matt recently returned his roots to pen the final arc in his acclaimed fantasy trilogy, MAGE: THE HERO DENIED.
Praised for his character-driven stories and his obvious love of world history and mythologies, Matt’s efforts have won multiple Eisner Awards. He has also enjoyed the distinction of being one of the only writer/artists to team his own creation with one of DC’s flagship characters in two successive BATMAN/GRENDEL crossover publications. He later continued the same motif in another critically acclaimed crossover event, writing and drawing GRENDEL VS THE SHADOW.
His most recent work has been a new GRENDEL series, DEVIL’S ODYSSEY.
About the artist:
Kelley Jones was born in 1962 and as soon as he could recall he was held spellbound by strange things and stories. This made him perfect to enter the world of comics and bring shadows and the sense of the unknown to everything he touched.His eerie and evocative version of Deadman was an award-winning hit at DC, and led him to the legendary run of stories on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, notably ‘Dream of a Thousand Cats’ and ‘Seasons of Mist’. He followed these up with the now classic Batman graphic novel ‘Red Rain’, wherein Batman confronts….Dracula! This and a run of stunning covers for Batman and Detective for the ‘Knightfall’ epic led editor Denny O’Neil to assign Kelley the monthly Batman title which in the three years he drew it cemented him as one of Batman’s greatest creators and a comic art legend. He has continued his trailblazing style with SWAMP THING with Len Wein and the award winning series ‘Batman Kings of Fear’ and ‘Gotham after Midnight’. And now with Dracula, Kelley shows he still walks in the world of shadows and the unknown.