Kickstarting Comics: Discussing ‘Dracula: Volume One – The Impaler’ With Matt Wagner And Kelley Jones

Just launched on Kickstarter is the second volume of writer Matt Wagner and artist Kelley Jones‘ Dracula epic, Dracula: Book Two — The Brides. And while I haven’t seen the new chapter in this gothic horror epic, I have read the first volume, Dracula: Volume One — The Impaler, and so wanted to grab the two veterans of horror, Wagner and Jones, to talk to them about their first chilling chapter in this new but faithful take on a gothic icon. 

Olly MacNamee: Firstly, let me congratulate you both on the success of your crowdfunding campaign for Dracula Volume One: The Impaler. I am intrigued, though, as to why you set your initial goal at just $666? Well, other than the obvious reason.

Matt Wagner: The obvious reason is the reason. In addition to the horror aspect and all the scares and such, we really wanted to have fun with this. Same reason we limited our signed editions of the book to 666 copies and announced the project on Friday, the 13th…a little over two weeks before Halloween! Part of the narrative of our first volume is based on an obscure reference in Bram Stoker’s original novel that reveals some of Dracula’s history and the fact that he (presumably while still alive) attended the Scholomance, an Eastern European legend about a mountaintop seminary for the dark arts hosted by Satan himself.  So we just had  to incorporate 666 into our campaign in some fashion.

Kelley Jones: Seeing that number sets the tone of Matt and I’s love of horror and lets our readers know we are one of them at heart. As grim and dark and all that the book is, I’d also like to think its also a hell of a lot of fun!

MacNamee: And you’re telling the untold origin of Dracula. And seem to have dug deep into European folklore for inspiration. What were some of the texts you researched for this volume, and subsequent volumes?

Wagner: Research for our Dracula series began with the source, the original novel by Bram Stoker, which. Dracula is such a compelling character but he off-stage for a lot of the active narrative. That itself lends proof to how powerful and magnetic his character is portrayed… even from the shadows, he’s captivated audiences for over a hundred years.  We’re taking all the cryptic details Stoker unveils, filtering those through thousands of years of vampiric folklore and, of course, flavoring it to some degree with all the many different incarnations of Dracula that have appeared on screen over the years. And, of course, there’s a historic source for Dracula as well … a 15th century eastern European warlord who was renowned for his ambition, his cruelty and his favorite grisly method of executing his enemies — The Impaler! So I had to apply a historical reality that fits with the time period. And we also used aspects of Vlad’s actual history, his family lineage and military career as a starting block for the eventual vampire that Stoker portrayed.

MacNamee: In many ways this is a very twisted and dark take on the classic Hero’s Quest storyline. The Green Knight but with more eroticism, blood and debauchery. Was this an intentional narrative or one any storyteller can never escape for too long?

Wagner: Well, c’mon … I’m the writer/artist of the Mage trilogy. Obviously, those archetypes weigh heavily in my creative consciousness. And in the course of channeling those story motifs within Vlad’s journey into becoming a vampire, I’m inevitably going to hit a lot of the same notes. But another point I wanted to address is that Dracula isn’t just a vampire; by almost any metric he is the vampire—in the popular zeitgeist, he’s the most famous undead creature of all time. Hell, I’d even argue that he’s the most famous literary character of all time.  And as such, I knew that I had to make his origin something extraordinary…I couldn’t just have him being bitten by another vampire.  On one level, it portrays him as far too much of a victim and, on another level, it’s just fucking boring.  I not only wanted to show the special circumstances of his transformation but also why he seems to be so much more powerful than other vampire we see depicted in Stoker’s novel.

MacNamee: As an artist well versed in horror of all shades, what were your artistic influences and reference material in building this Medieval world, Kelley?

Jones: I’ve always had a keen love of  the medieval period  which just enhances the shadow of the supernatural that’s all over this story. I was fortunate to have recently been in Belgium. There were so many sites I visited that were from the medieval period, from castles to cathedrals to dark winding back streets and alleys! I came back with a load of reference and actual experience that has soaked into my art.

MacNamee: I enjoyed your depiction of Dracula, narratively and artistically. What can you tell readers about the choices made in the depiction of the infamous Transylvanian voivode?

Wagner: One of the things I find compelling about the character of Dracula is that he started out as a man…a man who becomes a literal monster. And our version of him is definitely monstrous… not the more romantic version that has been so popular in a lot of the screen depictions. I want our Dracula to be as frightening and feral and yet also familiar to readers in that his motivations are human and understandable. Every great villain needs to reflect a bit of the darkness that all of us fear resides inside ourselves. And I used certain events in the real life of Vlad III to help inspire this depiction. All of these factors have figured into the creation of our version of the infamous vampire lord.

Jones: A man of ruthless power and a commanding presence certainly. No romantic tragedy  to him. Dracula actually brings tragedy. All this while convinced he’s serving Gods will when all along its his own. His cursed existence is more influenced by his character than by the need for blood. But I love drawing his need for blood!!

MacNamee: With the success of this first campaign, what can we expect from the next volume?

Wagner: The other three books in our Dracula series will reveal other aspects of his life and story that take place in and around the events portrayed in the novel.  Book I — The Imapler firmly takes place in the fifteenth century and explores how the historically inspired Vlad III, known as “Dracula” (Son of the Dragon) becomes a vampire. The subsequent volumes will move up through time into the nineteenth century, the time frame of Stoker’s novel. Our goal here was always to provide readers with the character and story tropes with which they’re familiar, but also to introduce all new stories and concepts to the original legend. We recently had a huge mark of success on this front; we gave a digital copy of the book to Leslie Klinger, author of the New Annotated Dracula and widely acknowledged as one of the world’s preeminent Dracula scholars. He gave us a glowing quote of approval that was really an incredible honor and let us know that we’re creating an accurate and faithful portrayal of Dracula — and that’s coming from someone who really knows!

Jones: Dracula’s battle is to find meaning in his vampiric existence with all its newfound ironies. It’s one violent and bloody road to discovery for Dracula and the readers!

Dracula: Volume One – The Impaler is out now from Orlok Press and you can back the second volume, Dracula: Book Two – The Brides, here.