Anno Dracula is a superbly written exploration into alternative history, that’s a hallmark of Kim Newman’s writing, he has a gifted ability to take well known and established characters and craft them into alternative versions of their historical selves into the narrative.
Anno Dracula 1895: Seven Days in Mayhem is set in an alternative Victorian era – which strikes me as possibly THE perfect era for vampiric fiction, with the style and mannerisms that can be exuded, the clothing and, as Kim has demonstrated, the rich availability of historical and fictional characters (who have reached pseudo-historical standards in public consciousness) that are readily available.
In this reality, Dracula has relocated to England – but instead of being vanquished, he has become the consort of Queen Victoria and now rules the Britannic Empire. This has caused vampirism to become quite the fashion in society and those who were previously hunted and maligned have now come out of the shadows and a slew of new Vampires have been made – effectively creating a new class structure in England and the world.
Class, it’s a very prevalent element of this comic book series – in fact, it’s possibly the first piece of socialist Vampire based fiction I have encountered. There are anarchists in London, attempting to overthrow the corrupt capitalist regime which has been emphasised even more by Dracula’s presence. With Dracula about to celebrate his ‘Tin’ Jubilee, the anarchist group known as The Council of the Seven Days are out to disrupt his party and are on course for a head on collision with the secret police of this regime – The Grey Men.
Now, this is a follow up to Kim’s novel – Anno Dracula and after reading the first four issues of this narrative, I can’t wait to get my hands on that. The fact that it’s a followup shouldn’t prohibit you in picking this series up first. Kim has done a wonderful job of inducting new readers. The first issue comes with a lovely introduction to each of the female characters and the second introduces the male characters – this one page with beautifully illustrated portraits of the characters concerned makes sure that you don’t feel lost or overwhelmed in anyway if this is your initial foray into this series.
It’s pace of narrative is superb, in the first four pages of the comic we see the combined forces of Germany, Russia and America launch battleships with advanced technology (attributed to Edison – who happens to be on board) with the intent to liberate England from the tyrant Dracula. Dracula responds by unleashing monsters and the elements, which he has complete control over against them, completely destroying their ships and sink their entire fleet to the bottom of the ocean. This is in the first four pages! It completely draws the reader into the environment with a mixture of awe at the imaginative scope and exciting narrative driven action.
Moving to the artwork, Paul McCaffrey has brought an interesting and unique mix of bloody moments (which are to be expected from a Vampire story) and detailed beauty highlighting the Victorian era, with crowded streets, elegant clothing and slight hints of steam punk.
Having read the first four issues, I encourage anyone who is interesting in horror, alternative historical narratives or just damn good story telling to jump in and obtain the first few issues of this series.
