Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1
Created and Story by Kurt Busiek
Written by Daryl Gregory
Art by Scott Godlewski
Colors by Stephen Downer
Letters by Johnny Lowe
BOOM! Studios
Release date: August 25, 2010
Price: $3.99

Apparently, vampires are kind of popular these days, for some reason. Fortunately, Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1 isn’t about just any vampire, but it’s about the biggest granddaddy vampire of them all, so it’s definitely trying to set itself apart. The story goes into the “real” history of Dracula, as told by Evan, a researcher for some kind of large, family owned company. Evan has been tasked by uncle to track down information about Vlad the Impaler, specifically the spells used to turn Vlad into the big D. From there, it looks like Evan’s uncle want’s to bring old Drac into this century and do…something? I don’t know exactly what they plan to do, but if it involves a blood sucker, you know it’s going to be evil.

From what I understand of the original novel (never read it myself), Dracula is told as a series of journal entries by various characters, and that’s kind of how this feels from the narration. Evan tells the story as he grows more and more concerned about what is going on, and the growing fear carries over to the reader. I’ve seen enough History Channel specials to know that they have based the vampire parts of the story on the actual history of Vlad, but then make up new bits about how he became a vampire. It’s an interesting enough story so far, and I’m curious to see where they take it. It looks like the story will be about Dracula taking over a company and running it like he did his ancient kingdom, and that could be an interesting take. Kurt Busiek has made an interesting enough story, and writer Daryl Gregory has turned the idea into a decent script. I do wish I had a better understanding of what the series is actually about. As a first issue, the story didn’t have a big enough twist to make me super interested, but the general plot may get me to come back.

The art for the story is pretty decent, especially for the parts dealing with Dracula’s history. The first few pages really grabbed my interest. Artist Scott Godlewski has a good handle on his characters and the story telling is just fine. It’s not what I’d call mind blowing, but it’s pretty good none the less. I’m curious to see the next issue brings, particularly if they bring in more hot vampire action.

If you’re crazy for vampires, especially the one true blood sucker, you’ll want to give this book a shot. This issue is a little slow on getting to the premise, but the scenes detailing Dracula’s history are pretty interesting and I’m really curious to see where the story goes. This issue is interesting enough to get a solid 3 out of 5. It’s a good start, but it’s a bit too slow moving for me to recommend. Hopefully the next issue will really kick it into high gear.