The Lost Chapter of Dracula begins!
Let me just start by saying, man, this is WAY out of our comfort zone as writers. The ThreeOneFive writes comics – always have, always will – so, to bust out some prose and release it into the big bad world is tad bit intimidating. But, I’m hoping you’ll agree that this is story worth telling, and that we’ve picked the best format for that telling.
Anyway, Dracula is pretty much the greatest villain of all time in my book, and when he shows up out of nowhere at the bottom of the ocean with green skin, gills, and a MULLET an explanation is certainly in order. And, that is exactly what we’re doing for the NEXT FOUR WEEKS! We’re going FULL Alan Moore and re-writing the ending to one of the greatest horror novels of all time – re-jigging a classic to bridge the gap and bring one of the world’s most iconic characters into our humble little webcomic. Brazen, right? Don’t ever let anyone tell you The ThreeOneFive’s got no balls, man.
For those unfamiliar to Bram Stoker’s novel (learn more here), it is narrated entirely by letters and journals “written” by various characters. However, in the actual novel, Dracula only appears in the recollections and descriptions of the other characters. So, the inclusion of a letter written by Dracula himself is quite an auspicious event indeed!
You’ll also have noticed, no doubt, Danilo Guida’s WONDERFUL pencil illustration that accompanies the prose, as well as the various and sundry other Easter Eggs floating around the blotter. Each week along with the prose you’ll be getting a brand new illustration and those other goodies, which add even more layers and wrinkles to the tale. Good times, right?
Speaking of good times…ATTN: Daredevilers! This week we’re unleashing a whole mess of Danilo’s pre-production sketches and character designs in the Member’s Area! ALSO, crack the following code…
IKDAUD
And, you can view this week’s Dracula pencil illustration NOW, full-size and unaltered!
Be here NEXT WEEK for more SPINE-TINGLING summer reading, as Dracula goes MAD at 4,000 FATHOMS! Make sure to RSS, Like, Follow, and please spread the word to any friends who are fans of Dracula/Vampires/Classic Horror.
Welp, that just about wraps ‘er up for this week. Make sure to let us know how you think this little experiment is turning out in the comments. Oh, and read the Sunday Bonus Lunch because *insert really good reason/hyperbole here*.
Anyways, till next week!
-Matt-
P.S. Almost forgot…as requested, a print of last week’s page (the Dracula reveal!) is now available in the Deep Dive Daredevils’ Store.
This Comic (and specifically the AWESOME coffin illustration) is exactly why I read Web Comics.
You never know what talent you will find, off the beaten path, that needs to be brought to the light.
This is also exactly why I prefer the “small press” rooms of conventions to the “big names”, because every once in a while you find something like DDD that really hits home!
KEEP IT UP!!!
As always, T. Gatto, you are too kind! Thank you, sir!
This page is absolutely hardcore. I mean it’s well you captured the villains absolute psychological states all in one page making it all equal bits creepy, fascinating and leaving the reader with an ache for more.
Thanks, TKG!
I have to say, it is A LOT of fun getting into Dracula’s head – as you’ve pointed out, he’s a very complicated, fascinating character. We’re having a blast taking him out for a spin!
For the first page, I groaned. “Another so-called adaptation by people who never read the actual book”, I thought.
When I read the second page, I was wondering “Why didn’t they do it like that in the novel?”
First off, I’m glad we won you over!
Your comment has really struck a chord with me because when we first started discussing how to fill-in the blanks from Dracula’s ‘death’ at the Borgo Pass to his appearance in our comic, the thought of re-writing the end of Bram Stoker’s classic novel made me groan, as well.
Ya see, I’m not a big fan of “remix culture” and the re-jigging of classic works of literature to add in zombies or vampires. Suffice it to say, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is not my favorite movie by a long shot…
However, we felt that we HAD to give our readers an explanation for Dracula’s relocation to the bottom of the ocean. It is just too big of a jump from the “standard” Dracula story and setting to just leave it hanging in the air. But, as the story started forming it became clear very quickly that if we told Dracula’s tale in the form of a comic the page count would be HUGE – nearly as much as the main story for Pitch Black Day.
So, eventually we settled on telling the backstory in prose, and once that happened it was a no-brainer to link it to the original novel.
Anyways, as the story progresses in the next few weeks, we’ll be moving further and further away from the source material as Dracula takes to new his new home under the waves…
Thanks for reading!