It’s a month for all things dark and harrowing, so how about some real-life historical horror, with a dash of supernatural flavour for good measure?
Dracula: Son of the Dragon, from writer Mark Sable (Grounded, The Dark, Miskatonic) and artist Salgood Sam (Dream Life, Sea of Red, Wonder Woman versus The Red Menace!), does just that. Combining fact and fiction, this blood-soaked epic tells the story of 15th Century Romanian folk hero Vlad III, AKA Vlad Dracula, AKA Vlad the Impaler, and his transformation into the world’s most iconic vampire.
As a comiXology Originals title, and, before that, a Kickstarter, Dracula: Son of the Dragon isn’t actually new. It’s been available digitally for the past two years. So you can download it right now if you like. However, the graphic novel is releasing this month for the first time as a physical trade paperback, thanks to the Dark Horse Books and comiXology print partnership. It will be available in comic shops from October 27, and other book retailers, including Amazon, from November 2.
(As a side note, fellow comiXology Original, Forgotten Home is getting the same treatment in April 2022).
It’s important to note upfront that Dracula: Son of the Dragon isn’t an easy read. Disregarding supernatural additions, it’s based on real historical events, and real-life (and history) as we all know is rarely as neat as the stories we consume as entertainment. Son of the Dragon bounces around continually between locations, and characters/historical figures, and it makes similarly broad leaps across the years.
Son of the Dragon covers Dracula’s formative years, but that period overlaps with the power struggles of his lookalike father Vlad II, or Vlad Dracul. Vlad the Elder gets a lot of page time in this first volume of what is intended to be a three-book series. We witness Vlad II’s seesawing alliances between the Holy Roman Empire and Ottoman Turks, depending on which power is most beneficial to his reclaiming rule over the Wallachia region.
Even before you add speculative supernatural extras like Dracula and his siblings attending the legendary Scholomance school for black magic, there’s a ton going on in Son of the Dragon. Friendships and close family relationships give way to rivalries, then flip back again, and the cast is further cluttered by historical figures who are only name-dropped or appear in a single scene.
To improve your understanding of twisty events, it’s advisable to continually refer to the dramatis personae guide at the start of the book, and similarly handy page-by-page endnotes from writer Sable. That helps a great deal. As already mentioned, Son of the Dragon demands a lot from readers. Still, in comparison to a lengthy, tangled Wikipedia article, it offers a more digestible take on a highly complex slice of Eastern European history.
It’s fascinating; so much so that Son of the Dragon would probably have worked just as an unembellished, fact-driven look at an especially notorious period of history. While they are responsible for some of the most striking and chilling moments in the book (which we won’t spoil), its fantasy and folklore aspects don’t feel essential.
If you’re willing to put in the work, Son of the Dragon is cerebrally rewarding. It also looks great with Salgood’s art alluding to period-appropriate scratchy woodcuts. Meanwhile, the comic’s muted colours lean in the direction of aged parchment, and suit the dark subject matter on the page. Son of the Dragon certainly doesn’t skimp on torture and gore.
There is loads to be gained – especially learned – from Dracula: Son of the Dragon, which is a rarity to be appreciated. I would happily read future volumes in the saga, with Book 1 ending just as Dracula prepares to show his battle prowess. However, with Sable and Salgood’s project dating all the way back to 2013, plus the extensive research and elaborate artwork required to realise first part Son of the Dragon, that continuation may sadly be a long time coming. If at all.
As for other season-suitable reads with a historical angle, next week, October 19, sees the release of Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla’s Night of the Ghoul (Issue 1 of 6). The comic is about a horror movie fan who discovers a canister of footage from a 1936 creature feature long believed to be cursed. Until now, the film had been thought lost… which may have been for the best.