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A review by stadkison
Dragon by Nate Cosby, Chris O'Halloran, Saladin Ahmed, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
4.0
The biggest gripe here is that I wanted more. In other words, the pacing felt a bit off, such that this could been a nice ten issue maxi series or a 50 page one-shot. Don’t let my gripes get you too much, because there is a lot to love here.
First and foremost is Acosta’s art, colored wonderfully by O’Halloran. It feels very classic comics filtered through contemporary widescreen sensibilities. The process pieces in the back are a wonder to behold. The action flows naturally and coherently, conveying straightforwardly what is happening and how it is going. Some of the full-pagers would make lovely posters. Otsmane-Elhaou too adds some beautiful touches, especially Dracula’s voice.
The second killer element is how the team weaves in a fascinating historical element to the Dracula narrative. I simply don’t know why I haven’t seen a story incorporating these before. The closest I can think of is the Netflix Castlevania, but this is even more grounded than that. This comic sent me on a Wikipedia binge in the best possible way. This is why I want a full miniseries with this material (or at least a longer graphic novel).
Returning to the slightest of nitpicks, I do wish more was done here thematically with religion. It plays a huge prt of the narrative, but we don’t get much religious internal depths to the characters. This goes especially for Dracula himself. I don’t need a full backstory or origin, but I would have liked to see flashes of something I can piece together. The epilogue thus feels tacked on to get a theme out.
I don’t know if this is available to those outside kickstarter backers. If it is, I do recommend checking it out!
First and foremost is Acosta’s art, colored wonderfully by O’Halloran. It feels very classic comics filtered through contemporary widescreen sensibilities. The process pieces in the back are a wonder to behold. The action flows naturally and coherently, conveying straightforwardly what is happening and how it is going. Some of the full-pagers would make lovely posters. Otsmane-Elhaou too adds some beautiful touches, especially Dracula’s voice.
The second killer element is how the team weaves in a fascinating historical element to the Dracula narrative. I simply don’t know why I haven’t seen a story incorporating these before. The closest I can think of is the Netflix Castlevania, but this is even more grounded than that. This comic sent me on a Wikipedia binge in the best possible way. This is why I want a full miniseries with this material (or at least a longer graphic novel).
Returning to the slightest of nitpicks, I do wish more was done here thematically with religion. It plays a huge prt of the narrative, but we don’t get much religious internal depths to the characters. This goes especially for Dracula himself. I don’t need a full backstory or origin, but I would have liked to see flashes of something I can piece together. The epilogue thus feels tacked on to get a theme out.
I don’t know if this is available to those outside kickstarter backers. If it is, I do recommend checking it out!