Blade fans will absolutely love this! The anti-hero of this story is the one and only Dracula. Set in 1945, during WWII, he is dropped on a train occupied by Nazis. When i say dropped, I mean literally dropped. He is in a coffin which is thrown out of a plane, like a missile, straight into a moving Nazi train! That's just the start. That sets the tone, and from there the story propels at 100mph. Dracula is maiming, slicing, gouging, devastating a whole bunch of Nazi soldiers as he saunters menacingly through the train. It's a bloodbath and the way the gore is drawn is impressive. Gorehounds will love it. There is one panel where a Nazi soldiers face is shown as mush, eyeballs flying about, skin torn.
The legend of Dracula is repeated here. There are flashbacks which look to the original text by Bram Stoker. Characters like Jonathan and Mina Harker are re-introduced briefly. Dracula narrates this flashback in a very knowing and post-modern way. In that respect, it's a layered narrative- looking upon his own death like an omniscient narrator. But when Dracula is killed by the Harkers and Van Helsing, he is sent to purgatory. That is where he is given a mission by a powerful demon to go back to Earth. I mentioned Blade earlier because Dracula has the same mission : kill all vampires. Only then will he leave Purgatory and go to his rightful (and less painful) place in Hell. These flashbacks are where the story becomes convoluted and maybe the gaps will be filled in later issues.
When Dracula is sent on his mission it is during the 1890s. The main narrative is set in 1945 so there is a gap in the timeline and story. A gap that hopefully will be filled in later on in the series so we get to understand Dracula's motives a bit more. This lore enshrouding Dracula and the flashbacks slows the story down a bit. But it is setting up our protagonist as a 'good guy'. There is one point in the flashbacks where Dracula walks in on a mother who has killed and drank the blood of her children. After he kills the mother, who has become a vampire, he questions his conscience. He remarks that the demon in purgatory has restored his humanity and this bothers him. This shows that the element of his 'humanity' will probably grow throughout the series. However I don't think this works quite aswell. If you have the old legend of Dracula present in the comic, readers will know that Dracula shouldn't have any redeeming qualities. So trying to convince the readers to believe he is a 'good guy' will be difficult for the writers. We'll have to see how it can be done.
Despite this issue with Dracula as a character, he is the lesser of two evils in this story. He's taking on Nazis and dispatching them effectively, so he is the reader's hero. There is a panel which features Hitler and he is described as the devil. This real life historical depiction is not out of place, but for a B-Movie homage comic, it's surprising. You don't want to deal with real-life too much when the concept is based on non-chalant laidback schlock. I'm not complaining though, it's schlock is great and makes comics fun and absorbing. But the Hitler panel was too forward, and there was reference to Jews being creamated in internment camps which felt out of place. The book is determined to make Dracula as likeable as possible so the contrast between him and the evils of Hitler is trying to achieve that. Whether it works is up to the reader, but personally I don't think that's the right way to endear us to Dracula.
Despite this issue i have, he looks badass killing Nazis. Many would compare this inglorious b**terd to John Wick, but he looks more like a souped up Rasputin. His appearance is very heavy metal with his long dark hair, long moustache, boots and long coat. He also has claws! These claws are sharp and lethal so he is more animalistic than your usual suave assassin. There has always been a connection between vampirism and Nazism in past pop culture and fiction, especially horror films and books. This is linked to the occultist elements of Nazism mixed with German folklore. The absurd idea that super-soldiers could be created to help the Third Reich can be compared to the idea of hordes of evil Vampire soldiers or ancient monsters taking over humanity.
This trope has been explored in Bloodrayne and Wolfenstein. But in this comic that is turned on its head whereby the vampire super soldier is the bane of Nazism and he wants to destroy a vampire virus that could help the Nazis. So Dracula here is an intriguing character who throws in the odd quip like an action hero, but ultimately he is a gothic legend with his own selfish motives. It is necessary to forget about previous depictions of Dracula to fully get onboard with this one.
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