Orlok Press has unveiled new material from Dracula – Book 1: The Impaler — the first in a new series of Dracula graphic novels by Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones.
At this time, SuperHeroHype can exclusively debut three new art prints featured as part of the Dracula – Book 1: The Impaler Kickstarter campaign. We can also reveal an exclusive new excerpt from the graphic novel itself. Said excerpt is comprised of five fully-lettered preview pages.
Check out the prints below:
Check out the excerpt below:
Dracula – Book 1: The Impaler is live on Kickstarter right now
The Kickstarter campaign for Dracula – Book 1: The Impaler launched on Tuesday, October 24. Since then, the 112-page graphic novel has blown past its initial goal of $666. At the time of writing, it has raised $129,113 from 1,704 backers. The campaign concludes on Thursday, November 16.
“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,” an official press release reads. “Now legendary GRENDEL creator Matt Wagner and superstar comic book artist Kelley Jones (BATMAN & DRACULA: RED RAIN, SANDMAN: SEASON OF MISTS) are revealing the secret history of Dracula in a series of all-new, 100+ page graphic novels. Beginning with DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER, this series of books will fill in these tantalizing gaps to provide a terrifying portrait of Vlad Dracula. For their first ever major collaboration, Wagner and Jones are launching a Kickstarter campaign with their brand-new company, Orlok Press.”
What to expect from Wagner and Jones’ graphic novel
Per Orlok Press, The Impaler “explores Dracula’s bloody history and his tenure at Satan’s legendary seminary of the dark arts, the Scholomance.” Wagner further explains that the debut graphic novel “explores what led Dracula to seek out Satan’s tutelage and how he became the lord of the undead.” The writer also says the book is already complete, and is simply awaiting printing.
“We are enormous fans of Dracula and the many interpretations of his mythic story,” Wagner said. “Our version of Dracula is bloody, sexy, and monstrous; this is very much a horror story, with deep roots in Stoker’s novel. But this isn’t yet another retelling of the novel in comics form. We’re bringing you the never-before told stories behind the story … the sinister tales hidden in the shadows of the original novel.”
“Matt Wagner has been a great friend of mine for over thirty years and I always regretted that we never got to collaborate on something together and told him that many times,” Jones added. “I love Dracula from the novel on down and, after our first conversations about this project, I knew that Matt would tell the tale no one had told before and no one would ever forget. Being able to bring this to life has been the most rewarding achievement in my career and I think it shows.”
Dracula – Book 1: The Impaler is expected to ship in October 2024.
