The following is an interview with legendary comic book creators Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones regarding their recent return to Kickstarter for the graphic novel, Dracula – Book II: The Brides, through their publishing company, Orlok Press. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Wagner and Jones about the incredible critical and fan response to their take on the vampire lord, what they are excited for readers to experience with Dracula’s vampire brides, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You recently returned to Kickstarter for the second book in your Dracula graphic novel series, this time focusing on the titular character’s vampiric brides. How do you feel that the brides’ human origins shaped their eventual path in your story?
Matt Wagner: Stoker’s original novel presents such a captivating portrait of its vampiric antagonists…and a large part of that fascination stems from the fact that the details are tantalizingly shadowy. The brides’ appearance in the book only lasts for several pages, and yet it’s such a searing narrative moment that they always show up with equally compelling presence in almost every screen adaptation, as well. But, as I said, the details about the specific brides are deliberately vague due to the author’s desire to keep them mysterious and thus, more sinister. One of them does appear to be a bit aristocratic or of a higher social class than the others, who defer to her the privilege of first feeding on their victim. This, of course, left me with a completely blank slate in regards to the portrayal of these women as actual characters. I knew I needed to portray three entirely different women whom Dracula chooses as his brides for three entirely different reasons. I’ll also say that this isn’t a contemporary approach—“woke,” if we must use the word—to their role as Dracula’s consorts. They’re definitely not on an even footing with their vampiric lord. Our Dracula is an imperious monster and, as with every aspect in his life, he expects to be the master of all he surveys. We’re trying to stay completely true to the novel’s parameters and that’s how Stoker portrays him. But, despite his authoritarian nature, Dracula’s relationship with his three brides is complex and, I hope, compelling on many levels.
BD: Kelley, with The Impaler, you previously noted that your excitement to bring Matt’s story to the page would wake you up in the middle of the night. What were the most thrilling aspects of giving life to the brides’ story for this graphic novel?
Kelley Jones: The best thing about putting Dracula: Book II—The Brides on the page is that Matt wrote compelling women who Dracula lusts for beyond his need of their blood. Each bride brings their own delicate horror to this story, and they match his infernal lust and then some! Dracula’s lonely immortality has made him choose his wives without the shrewdness he’s usually known for so that eventually all hell breaks loose!
BD: Book II will be nearly 30 pages longer than its predecessor, produced in a beautiful, high-quality European-sized hardcover. What can you share with readers about your production process for bringing these incredible books to life?
MW: Since Dracula is such a distinctly European creation, it just seemed appropriate to utilize this larger format. And I find that the size really gives Kelley’s magnificent art the space to breathe and be presented in a more panoramic scope. I’ve said it before but I still maintain…I think these books will prove to be the Magnum Opus of Kelley’s incredible career as a comics artist. He’s really giving these stories his absolute best efforts and it shows. In writing these stories for him, there are so many times when I think to myself, “Oh, man…Kelley’s gonna draw the hell outta this!” And then the pages show up and, my god, they’re always even better than I had originally imagined! That’s such an incredible feeling to experience in this kind of collaboration.
KJ: I know for myself I can draw and depict anything as I see it and go to those places comics usually can’t, and Matt is there encouraging me with a “Hell, yeah!” or a “I can’t wait for what everyone will say when they see that!” It doesn’t get much better than that!
BD: Your initial campaign was one of the most successful graphic novel Kickstarter campaigns of all time! What was your experience in seeing the reader response to Orlok’s first title?
KJ: The response was so good to see because it mirrored my own reaction when I first read Matt’s script. It absolutely blew me away and has done the same thing to readers which I always knew it would. It’s so much more than a horror story…but, boy, is it a horror story! Matt really has written something special. Vicious and uncompromising in its telling and I love, love, love it!
BD: In light of the Kickstarter campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
MW: Well, we didn’t want to get too broad with our offered rewards with our first book, because we were fresh of the gate to this and, let’s face it, there are more than a few Kickstarter campaigns that don’t pan out very well in regards to both coming to fruition in a timely manner and the ultimate fulfillment of the backer’s orders. We knew we had to first establish Orlok Press as being reliable and our product had to live up to the hype. As Kelley said a bit earlier…response to Book I—The Impaler had been universally great and so now, we’ve got a rep that we can justifiably rely upon. And so, this time around, we’re offering merch! We’ll have a nice array of t-shirts available and, hopefully, a few hats, as well. So, this is a great opportunity for our backers to not only rep some Orlok Press buzz, but they can, quite literally, get their DRACULA on. Hell, yeah!
