Art and story: Shin'ichi Sakamoto
First published: 2024 (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 they can achieve victory.
The lines between reality and fiction blur as Count Dracula’s influence grows within the halls of Whitby School. The arrival of the eccentric Professor Abraham Van Helsing offers Mina and the others a chance to learn about the foul condition that afflicts their beloved companion. But will the professor’s knowledge be enough to preserve them in the face of this unspeakable evil, or will their fragile bonds be torn apart by the arrival of the son of the dragon?
The Review: Vol. 1 was a revelation and I was, as I said in the review, smitten. Vol 2 has done nothing to break that feeling, if anything I am more enamoured by this manga reimagining of Stoker’s Dracula. We are still in an England divided by race, class and gender – Mina, who is the first female student at the school, also has to clean and is unrecognised and almost invisible when she dons her cleaning uniform, there are racial slurs levelled at Quincy by Holmewood. Where the blurb suggests they are “in a cabal that eclipses gender, nationality, and station” that it is not yet apparent (excepting it being referenced in retrospective storytelling by Mina).
The art is still breath-taking. There is a moment where Mina is trying to clean a corruption on a school wall and as the frames move back, we see the mold creating dancers over the walls. Van Helsing appears in this volume, quickly tracing the Count to the boxes of earth currently stored under the school, and we see Dracula in human form. Lucy/Luke codes mostly female in this volume but is also drawn as aged and decrepit after Dracula’s attacks. In one spectacular moment the bats that Dracula has become form into an actual dragon.
This is one that gives and gives, so long as you can accept the overall reimagining. Bring on Vol. 3. 9 out of 10.
In Hardback @ Amazon US
In Hardback @ Amazon UK
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