Last October, legendary comic creators Matt Wagner (creator of Grendel) and Kelley Jones (Sandman: Season of Mists; Batman & Dracula: Red Rain) tackled the crevices of the world’s most famous vampire’s history in their comic Dracula: Book I – The Impaler, which had overwhelming success crowdfunding on Kickstarter through Orlok Press. Impaler examines the Count’s time under Satan’s thumb and rise to his status of the dark lord. Wagner and Jones promised a Dracula who’s “bloody, sexy, and monstrous,” in a tale unlike any we’ve seen told before.
And just earlier this October, just in time for spooky season, Jones and Wagner launched a new Kickstarter through Orlok Press to continue the story of the scourge of the night in Dracula: Book II – The Brides. In The Brides, the duo will shine a light on Dracula’s trio of bloodthirsty women–who they are, why the Count chose them, and how they fit into the vampire’s mythology. I spoke with Kelley Jones and Matt Wagner about the conceit of Dracula: Book II – The Brides, why they chose to focus on The Brides for this volume, the continuing staying power and interest in the Count and his world, and what the duo have planned next for the vampire.
DRACULA: BOOK II – THE BRIDES main cover
FreakSugar: This is your follow-up to Dracula: Book I. Seeing as you called it Book I, is it safe to assume you had this sequel in mind originally?
Matt Wagner: Oh, absolutely. In fact, we’ve planned this as a series of four OGNs, each telling a different story from the hidden shadows of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. When I first contacted Kelley about us teaming up for this epic saga, I had a general outline of what each of the four books would entail. And, with each and every description, his response was, “Wow…I never thought of that—the how and the why of things. And I thought I already knew all about Dracula!”
Kelley Jones: From the start Matt said he had planned this as an epic telling of Dracula in four volumes, his life leading to his becoming a vampire lord then his existing as one up to the time of Stoker’s novel all based on Stoker’s descriptions and hints therein. When I read the first script I asked him what the second volume would be, and when he said “The Brides” I fell out of my chair. It was perfect.
FS: This sequel is meant to fill in the gaps that Stoker left in the original novel. Dracula’s past has been addressed across media in different forms. How did you two decide on what your version should be? How much are you influenced by Stoker and how much do you inject your own vision?
MW: I’d been brewing on how to concoct a Dracula narrative for years. As you said, it’s been done to death (pun intended) and then some! And the one thing that I kept coming back to was each and every adaptation or continuation claimed to be faithful to the original text. And, in fact, they never really were. There’s never been an accurate film version and most written extensions of the original tale almost always sought to change or correct Stoker’s version in certain ways; i.e.—Dracula isn’t quite the villain as he’s usually portrayed or he’s an entirely different sort of vampire than what’s described, etc.
We’ve sought to stick strictly to the original published manuscript as the source of our tales. Hidden in that narrative are tantalizing hints and evocations that portray Dracula as a complex character with a rich history, even though he’s not actively on stage very much for the novel’s duration. As a result, yes, we’ve had to extrapolate on these background stories, but never in any way that contradicts the novel.
We’re less religious about our approach to the various other material that didn’t make the final cut of Stoker’s published book and the intricate notes and outlines from his writing processes (which are all still intact and housed at the Rosenbach bibliophile museum in Philadelphia). These notes contain scenes and characters that Stoker ultimately cut from his final novel and, of course, there’s also a famous opening chapter that was dropped and later posthumously published as Dracula’s Guest. Since these are all non-canon, I consider all of these elements fair game to either enlist or reject in the construction of our version of Dracula’s history.
DRACULA: BOOK II – THE BRIDES unlettered page 1
FS: For the uninitiated, who are Dracula’s brides? How do you approach their story and look in Book II?
MW: Dracula’s brides–and, to be strictly precise, they are never actually referred to as that in the book itself–are a mesmerizing element from the earliest scenes in the novel, when the book’s protagonist, Jonathan Harker, makes his fateful journey to the infamous Castle Dracula. Much like so many other aspects of the narrative, the Brides strike a searing narrative presence from only an extremely brief appearance—less than three pages! As such, they were a natural subject for us to address in our secret histories of Dracula’s sinister life. And they’re pretty much a blank slate in the book itself which provides a deep narrative well for us to draw from; who were these three women and how did Dracula come to choose them for his bloodthirsty harem?
To answer these questions and more, we had to create the back-stories for three completely different women and three completely different reasons as to why Dracula would be attracted to them. We also really tried to make this period accurate…certainly these women are all strong and independent in many ways, but they’re also creatures of their time and place. This isn’t a romantic tale in the tradition of Twilight and so many other contemporary vampire narratives and in no way does Dracula consider the brides to be his equals. Not only is he a man of his time but he’s an unapologetic monster…he considers everyone subject to his domination. Still, the relationship we portray between Dracula and his consorts is both complex and compelling.
KJ: Matt created the Brides based on the scant few pages in the novel, so I followed suit and disregarded all depictions and based them physically on three women I know in real life. I warned them and they all wanted to be the Brides even after I told the the horrors he had in mind! Dracula really is a seductive guy!
DRACULA: BOOK II – THE BRIDES unlettered page 3
FS: Why do you think that creators and fans continue to be tantalized by Dracula’s story? What does his story evoke in readers and viewers?
MW: Despite the fact that the novel Dracula hasn’t been out of print for the entire 120+ years of its existence, it wasn’t, in fact, an immediate success. But, much like its titular character, this narrative has refused to die and has been adapted into a wide range of other media over the years—film, stage, comic, games, etc.… It says a lot about the enduring quality of this story that it has become so ubiquitous. In fact, I maintain that Dracula is the most famous literary character of all time…no matter where you go, if you mention the name “Dracula”, people immediately have an image in their mind of what you mean. Horror maestro Stephen King divides the icons of horror literature into three categories—Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolfman (with a subset icon—The Ghost). That is; 1) the seductive pestilence that consumes, 2) the unstoppable thing with no name and 3) the raging beast within. Of those three, both Frankenstein and The Wolfman lament their existence as monsters and wish to be relieved of their curse.
Only Dracula embraces his existence and relishes his role as a creature of the night. I think it’s that single-mindedness that people find compelling. Why did Hannibal Lector become such a popular fictional villain…even though he was originally only a side character in his first appearance? I’d say it’s for that very same reason…people love to love the bad guy, especially one who shows no remorse. Certainly, after writing Grendel for over four decades, I’m pretty familiar with this motif!
KJ: Dracula still fascinates because he is his own being. He exists outside our ethical moral view because he created his own. He is his only concern. When he becomes a Vampire it really changes nothing to his nefarious nature. His ruthlessness is still shocking. More refined and insidious. It’s a wonderful pleasant terror that Dracula evokes.
FS: What is the future of Dracula in your lives? Do you have a Book III brewing on the backburner?
MW: Oh, absolutely! In fact, we’ve got this planned out as a series of four OGNs…at this point. Who knows? If we reach the culmination of Book IV (whose title will have to remain mysterious for now) and have a compelling idea to continue on with the series.
Well… Dracula is known for rising from the dead.
KJ: Dracula by Matt Wagner is my future, thank God!
The Kickstarter for Dracula: Book II – The Brides has hit its funding goal over 300 TIMES OVER! Be sure to check out the campaign and preorder this unique spin on the Dracula mythos by two creators at the top of their game!