Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones’ Dracula series continues with a third volume of their examination of the original Dracula story, this time dedicated to the undead star of the show: The Count!
Dracula: Book III-The Count (now available to back on Kickstarter) uncovers Dracula’s role in the shadows of the original novel from his own point of view, allowing Wagner and Jones to add some exciting context and detail to the vampire’s time in London.
We spoke to Wagner and Jones all about the new volume in their Dracula graphic novel series in this exclusive interview.
Dracula: Book III-The Count takes place when Dracula first gets to London, a section in which we do not see much of him. How did you “flesh out” what the Count is up to “off-screen” during the novel elements?
Matt Wagner: As with our first two volumes, we’re taking our cues from what’s there in the original text. As you pointed out, fans of Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel know that one of its most frustrating motifs is the fact that, once the action moves from Transylvania to London, Dracula himself is offscreen for most of the rest of the narrative. The novel treats him as more of a diabolical presence rather than a corporeal villain. But as the heroes search for his whereabouts, we get various clues and accounts of his actions from second and even third-hand perspectives. For instance, most people know about Carfax, the dilapidated estate on the outskirts of London that Dracula acquires as his lair. Carfax is where he first stores the fifty crates of his native Transylvanian soil once they are salvaged from the wreck of the Demeter, the ship that ferried them (and Dracula himself) from the port of Varna in the Black Sea to the coastal town of Whitby in northeastern England. What most people don’t know is that Dracula eventually purchases three other buildings in order to disperse his precious crates and thus provide a wider safety net for his schemes. The other aspects of his actions during the novel are somewhat unknown…but he’s definitely doing something!
Our story shows Dracula exploring and learning to integrate into this strange new environment that is so very different from the life he’d known in the Carpathian mountains for the past four hundred years. There are various practical elements that we had to address; how does he get around? And how does he gain invitation to enter and cross the thousands of thresholds that Victorian London contains? One thing I can reveal…he’s most definitely not focused on or worried about Stoker’s band of heroes or the two women at the core of that group. To my reading of the novel, he’s barely even aware of them.
Kelley Jones: I saw Dracula as a stranger in a strange land and very happy to be so. He’s found his purpose. I saw him as restrained and patient yet feral all at the same time. He lived to see a world that was modern and populous and vibrant and blissfully for Dracula, because England could never believe in something like him. These elements gave him a body language and demeanor that was of an elegant predator.
Was it difficult to keep the story straight so it matched up with the original narrative?
Wagner: I’d say this was one of the most intensive things I’ve ever written, seeing as how Dracula is one of the most highly analyzed and annotated books in the English language. I surrounded myself with several different annotated versions, a facsimile of author Bram Stoker’s original notes and outlines (which are housed at the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia, PA) and a detailed calendar of the events of the novel, notated on a day-by-day basis that included both the sunrise and sunset times and the phases of the moon!
Again, since the novel is so intensely scrutinized, I had to make sure our story truly passed muster for the myriad of different Dracula scholars worldwide. But…I also had to make sure that the narrative was both engaging and entertaining enough for all of our supporters who haven’t ever read the original novel and, of course, aren’t so privy to all of its intricate details. I really feel like we pulled that off and I got a big thumbs up from noted Dracula scholar Leslie S. Klinger, who wrote the New Annotated Dracula. He had a few pointed details that were helpful in finalizing things, but generally speaking, I feel like I got most everything right.
Jones: All I had to do was show the growth of a man from the 15th century warlord to a 19th century aristocrat that now wielded far more than armies to reach his aims.
Book III is told through Dracula’s point of view and he serves as the narrator as well. How did you come to this choice and what does it add to the story?
Wagner: Well, in fact, Dracula narrates all of our volumes. The original novel is a famous example of an epistolary narrative, meaning there is no omniscient narrator and that it’s told entirely in the form of personal letters, private journals and news articles. To our mind, the one crucial voice missing from this scenario is Dracula himself. And that’s not speaking down about the novel’s structure…I love how the book is presented and feel that the style makes the story very personal and serves to spotlight Dracula as a threatening “other”, a shadowy force that the heroes struggle to even comprehend much less combat. But after more than a century of the novel’s lifespan, with its many different adaptations and continuations told in a wide variety of various media, we thought it was time to hear the vampire lord’s story from his own perspective. And this, of course, gives us a much clearer view of what he is and how he operates.
As the creator and writer of Grendel, I do have some experience with writing unrepentant villains and morally ambiguous anti-heroes. In the novel, Dracula is definitely not the romantic character we often see him portrayed as onscreen. He’s a megalomaniacal monster through and through and has no tender feelings towards anyone…even though he does protest otherwise to his infamous brides during the scene that features their first appearance in the novel—“I too have loved.” And I’ve certainly tried to maintain that sinister quality throughout our series of graphic novels…but after so many pages being exposed to his thoughts and motivations, I feel like a bit of that anti-hero aura can’t help but permeate the story. Like my own character Hunter Rose or Hannibal Lecter or Tony Soprano…Dracula is a villain who readers sometimes find themselves rooting for in spite of themself. But, let’s face it…he’s a total bastard and, OH MAN, does Kelley really NAIL it when it comes to drawing him that way! His portrayal just oozes both charm and malevolence in every panel, shadow and line!
Jones: I simply showed his reactions, not his aggression as in the earlier volumes. It was much darker now.
Kelley: Besides vampires, which aspects of the story did you enjoy drawing the most? What proved most difficult to bring to life?
Jones: I very much enjoyed the atmosphere of 19th century London. I loved the grimy streets to the elegant parlor rooms and everything in between. There really was nothing difficult at all in drawing this book as it was so character driven that the natural drama of the story created such an energy that it just came to life. In three volumes, Matt has managed to create a very real world and so I have nothing I have to figure out. I just get to draw it and it’s sublime.
The previous volumes have been very popular and successful on Kickstarter. What can fans look forward to in terms of tiers and bonuses this time around?
Wagner: In addition to our standard three editions of the newest book itself—the first, with Kelley’s cover art, the second with my variant cover art and the third, a limited signed & numbered edition—buyers can still purchase any of the previous volumes as well as the various extras—prints, t-shirt merch, portfolios—that were offered in the first two campaigns. And we’ve got something particularly special lined up for this campaign as well. Many of you might not know that Kelley doesn’t really sell his original art very often…and so art collectors are always hungry and eager for any piece of Kelley’s that comes on the market.
During the campaign for Book I—The Impaler, we offered 20 original B&W sketches by Kelley, all of which quickly sold out. For this campaign we’re offering an even more exclusive tier that will feature ten pieces of original art by Kelley…in collaboration with me! Kelley is drawing ten 8.5″ x 11” original portraits of The Count that I am then painting in color. These are an incredibly cool and unique extension of our collaboration on this project and the results are spectacular (if I do say so myself)! Again…there will only be ten of these pieces rendered and made available for purchase from the campaign so, if you’re at all interested in obtaining one of these, make sure you get onboard as soon as the campaign goes live because they certainly won’t last long.
Needless to say, these will be offered as a fairly pricey tier but those who can’t afford such original art can still enjoy the results since we’re also producing a color portfolio for sale featuring beautiful reproductions of all ten pieces. The folio will come in a decorative envelope and feature a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. So, depending on your budget, all backers will have the opportunity to enjoy these handsome pieces of art.
Jones: I am excited in that I get to collaborate on some art with Matt himself!
Future projects?
Wagner: Next up…Book IV—The [TBA]!! After that…we’ll have to see. But I’m certain you’ll be hearing more from Orlok Press in the years to come!
Jones: Book four, which is evil…pure evil. Once again, a take on this legend that no one has dared envision before.
Dracula: Book III-The Count is now available to back on Kickstarter until October 30.
Read our interview with Wagner and Jones about Dracula: Book II-The Brides right here as well.
