October’s a time for two things: eating excessive amounts of candy, and scaring yourself silly with horror movies and books. Image is getting in on the act with Dracula, Motherfker!, a new pulp-horror graphic novel slated to arrive in time for Halloween. Written by Alex de Campi and illustrated by Erica Henderson, Dracula, Motherfker! tells a story that alternates between Dracula’s imprisonment at the end of the 19th century and his return in 1970s California, and the crime scene photographer who’s the only one who can stop the vampire.
In a statement, de Campi described the sensibilities she’s looking to inject into the forthcoming graphic novel:
Another thing I wanted to bring to this pulp fantasia was a sensibility from horror anime, with its love of transformation and of the noncorporeal, to push the element of man-as-monster in directions specifically suited to sequential art. Things like the abstract portrayal of Alucard (or Pride in FMA: Brotherhood), and the use of Superflat art in Madoka Magica were tremendously inspirational in this book, especially as that use of flatness dovetails nicely with the work of Gustav Klimt in with the book’s 1889 prologue, and with late-1960s pop art and the psychedelic liquid-light projections of the Joshua Light Show.
Dracula, Motherf**ker! is the first collaboration between de Campi and Henderson, who is best known for her work on Marvel’s The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Henderson’s previous project was another Image series, Assassin Nation, which she created with Kyle Starks. Starks also has a vampire book due out, Old Head, a comedy graphic novel which he describes as “Space Jam meets Fright Night.” So between Henderson and Starks they’ve got several flavors of vampire covered.
Check out a slew of preview pages for Dracula, Motherf**ker! below. The graphic novel is due out in comic shops on Wednesday, October 7th, 2020, with a wide bookstore release the following Tuesday, October 13th.
