Art and story: Shin'ichi Sakamoto
First published: 2025 (UK)
Contains spoilers
The Blurb: In this beautiful, evocative, and often surreal retelling of Dracula, a fearsome enemy comes from the east, bringing with it horrors the likes of which have never been seen in the British Empire. Standing opposed are Wilhelmina “Mina” Murray and her stalwart companions, united in a cabal that eclipses gender, nationality, and station until the day that they can achieve victory.
Mina’s world begins to unravel as her connection to Jonathan Harker reveals the secrets of his journey to Castle Dracula—as well as the unthinkable fate that befell him. Now, with Mina already reeling from the loss of one of the most important people in her life, will she be able to stand strong as the Camellia Club seeks to save the soul of her beloved midnight friend through the mercy of a true death?
The review: The fifth volume of this magnificent series, Volume 4 had moved back in time to tell Harker’s story and this completes that, viewed by Mina through a psychic connection, before returning to the cliffhanger with the insect-formed Lucy and her fate – the crew of light escaping her webs with the aid of silver. Mina tries to use the method she accidentally employed to see Harker’s story, to connect with Lucy and we discover that her gender fluidity (she is Luke by day and Lucy by night) has been psychologically split by the vampirism with the Lucy side vampiric and the Luke side not so.
Then Mina makes a connection between their enemy and the serial killer of their recent past, Jack the Ripper. Joe Suwa, the series’ version of Seward, has opportunity to travel to London and searches Whitechapel for the vampire. He uses a mechanical device in a suitcase to try and track him – we later discover that the Renfield he had sequestered in his dorm was not quite the gender swapped nun we assume from the earlier volumes but a karakuri doll (an automaton) built as a salve for loneliness. He used Lucy’s hair with the doll and it has imbued her with a connection to the vampires, perhaps even caused the karakuri to be vampiric in her own right. Its detection seemed to suggest the vampire was everywhere and then Joe realises what has happened – and it is a stroke of genius. The count has had his earth used to make mortar and had buildings erected around Whitechapel, turning that area of the city into a giant coffin that is based upon his imported earth.
As beautiful and surreal as always, the ideas in this are wonderful. 9 out of 10.
In Hardback @ Amazon US
In Hardback @ Amazon UK
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