Something Spooky: Take A Trippy Bite With ‘Dracula, Motherf**ker!’
by Scott Redmond
Vampires. One of the things that, over time, has become a true staple of the horror genre and the season. In particular the “king” or biggest of vampires, Dracula.
A great many stories have been told about Dracula. That’s largely due to the character being in the public domain, in various eras and spaces. In order to use the character at this point, creators need to find the most unique or engaging ways to play within the space.
A moody neo-noir vampire-filled romp in the seedy era of 1970s Los Angeles? Tell me more.
Well, I guess I should tell you more, since I’m the one writing about this. That being the phenomenal Dracula, Motherf**ker! by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson.
This full stand-alone story takes the story tropes we know about Dracula and turns them on their head. I’m on the same page as de Campi in respect to the idea that Dracula works better not some handsome prince type, but something more clearly evil yet still enticing with the power. Here we see a version that is just massive and monstrously grotesque, brimming with power able to still sway those who wish it to his side.
Naturally the focus here in a book from de Campi is not the monster, but the Brides. These women that were pulled under Dracula’s spell, and what happens when they push beyond his despotic grasp and find power of their own. A story about the predatory actions and nature of powerful men and the things women must do to survive and rise above, wrapped up in a big flashy pulpy vampire story.
All these powerful messages and harsh truths ring strongly through the whole work.
Boosted by the truly out of this world art that Henderson pulls out for this piece.
Choices for framing and layout give every moment so much more punch, such as utilizing the freeness of the book (no ads or such to break up the flow) to engage in more spreads. Really allowing the reader to live in the story, and feel the vastness of this world and revel in its depths. So many of the panels are simple seeming in execution but add so many more layers to the characters and the world they call home.
Oh and the colors. By golly the colors.
So many swirling, bold, even out of the ordinary colors to play with. Purposefully (as noted at the end) Henderson doesn’t use two color palette schemes twice when it comes to shifting locations. Each space, and the characters within, are colored with a certain glow. Giving spaces a truly unique feeling but also providing a subtle but noticeable cue that setting has changed.
Do not let us forget all the lettering work the duo pulled off with the dialogue and the SFX. It just all screams on the page, really setting the tone and giving life.
As noted in the afterward, Quincy Harper is truly a massive Black type of name and having our entry character be a Black man in the middle of a vampire epic gets all the applause.
Comic books are a storytelling medium. Through them we visit worlds and create memories, because often a story isn’t just a story but a true experience. That is what Dracula, Motherf**ker happens to be at the end of the day.
A horrific pulpy colorful mirror taken to society’s face type of experience. If this book isn’t on your shelf and yearly rotation of reading yet, that needs to change.
