Scan barcode
nigellicus's review
5.0
A prequel to the original Anno Dracula novel Seven Days In Mayhem sees freethinking newborn vampire embroiled in a conspiracy of anarchists to foment revolution and overthrow Dracula, now Royal Consort and effectively ruling the British Empire, having grandiosely defeated a fleet sent by outraged European powers with US support. To celebrate this momentous occasion, there is to be a silver jubilee, and the task of overseeing the celebrations fall to Kate's best frenemy, Penelope Churchward, also a newborn vampire, albeit a more of a social climber than a socialist. With Limehouse villains taking an interest and a traitor in the ranks, Kate would rather not see scores of innocents blown to smithereens, so she is pinned in on all sides, doughtily committed to doing the right thing, if only she can work out what that is, precisely, before her head ends up adorning a spike in the Tower Of London.
The visual nature of the comic somehow brings the breezy pulp wit and satire of the Anno Dracula series to the fore. Paul McCaffey's art is less adept at being horrific than at bringing Newman's world to life in a way that's reminiscent of Bryan Talbot's Grandville series, with its anthropomorphic steampunk alt-universe, and it does look fantastic.
The visual nature of the comic somehow brings the breezy pulp wit and satire of the Anno Dracula series to the fore. Paul McCaffey's art is less adept at being horrific than at bringing Newman's world to life in a way that's reminiscent of Bryan Talbot's Grandville series, with its anthropomorphic steampunk alt-universe, and it does look fantastic.
More...