13 QUESTIONS for Wagner’s 65th birthday…
Matt Wagner cover
Acclaimed comics creators Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones’ fourth and final entry in their years-long Dracula graphic-novel project is live on Kickstarter this Halloween season, and we’ve brought them together to interview each other (!) about Dracula: Book IV — The Undead.
The Kickstarter was funded almost immediately, but there are still about three weeks left, and among the add-ons is this groovy black-light poster, illustrated by Jones:
Matt, who wrote the books, turns 65 today, so what better time for these two 13th Dimension faves to chat about their magnum opus, colored by Jose Villarrubia.
Dig these 13 QUESTIONS:
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Kelley Jones cover
Matt Wagner: Dude, you and I have known each other for decades… and we’d always wanted to, and threatened to, work on something together some day. And I think we both knew we wanted it to be something big, something of lasting significance to both of our careers. So tell me about your honest first reactions when I phoned you up and said, “Hey, I’ve got the perfect thing for us to finally collaborate on…it’s Dracula!”
Kelley Jones: My very first thought was, “Dracula? What can we do? What can I do? To go up against the great Tomb of Dracula from Marvel!?” But within three minutes of you telling me your plans, I was all in.
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Jones variant
Kelley: When did you first think that we could work together?
Matt: I first became aware of your work though Deadman and I thought, “How the hell is this guy getting away with drawing like this… at DC?!” And then when we both drew part of the “Season of Mists” storyline in The Sandman, I realized there’s a real elegance in your work in addition to the horrific elements. I feel like I can write for most any artist once I understand their visual identity and I had hoped for years — decades — that we’d get to create something special together some day. That dream certainly came true.
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Matt: Tell me about your history with Dracula. Do you remember the first Dracula story, or comic, or film that you experienced? What do you remember about it?
Kelley: I was maybe 6 or 7 when I first saw Dracula with Lugosi on TV. I remember the wolf howling (an actor off screen but I didn’t know!) and him calling them children and Renfield’s weird laugh… lights on after that for a while.
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Kelley: Did you ever dress up as Dracula or a vampire as a kid for Halloween? ( I still have my cape!)
Matt: HELL, YES! And then, several years later, I recycled that same cape to become the Shadow for trick-or-treat. Those crappy plastic fangs from those days were a real pain though. They hurt your gums and would fall out anytime you opened your mouth.
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Matt: What is it about Dracula that makes him such an enduring literary icon? How does the character resonate with you?
Kelley: Dracula easily moves with time. As with the character himself, each generation discovers him and he’s reborn. People identify with the mystery and the menace and the tragedy of Dracula. I see him as a thing that you must oppose and must fight and even hate, but also respect.
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Kelley: Did you draw Dracula as a kid? I did…a lot!!
Matt: Dracula. Batman. The Shadow. I was stuck on a theme — spooky dudes in capes — and I never really outgrew it!!
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Matt: I think I already know the answer to this one… but what’s a favorite Dracula movie for you?
Kelley: Dracula: Prince of Darkness from Hammer films, made in 1966. Starring Christopher Lee.
So much going for it! Dracula doesn’t speak but it makes him almost demonic. I love his familiar—Klove — he’s the most evil familiar and clearly an inspiration for Straker in ‘Salem’s Lot. Barbara Shelley going from prim and cold Victorian to a voracious and sexual vampire woman was arresting, and of course Father Sandor, of whom I’d happily watch a dozen sequels!
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Kelley: What’s your favorite dish from Transylvania that you’ve made or wanted to make?
Matt: I’ve tried making chicken paprikash, which is the dish Jonathan Harker describes as eating and liking on his way to Castle Dracula. His journal even provides a basic recipe! And I’ve gotta say… I wasn’t a fan. It’s a stewed chicken dish that leaves the skin on the meat for the cooking process — which is a style that’s common around the world, Filipino chicken adobo for one. Stewed chicken skin ends up having a rubbery texture that I just don’t dig, especially considering that chicken skin is soooo yummy when it’s crispy!
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Matt: As I said, this is the first time we’ve really worked together on such an ambitious project. What was it like working from my scripts? Were they what you expected from me, both in regards to style and content?
Kelley: Your scripts are incredibly visual and emotional. Best of all, the panel descriptions aren’t densely written so they’re not like instructions from IKEA. Scene builds upon scene so that the script provides momentum to the drawing of those scenes. They are perfect and I have to live up to them.
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Kelley: How hard was it to not show or speak to anyone for the first two years or so we were doing this? I was so nuts to tell everyone — and couldn’t — that I was reduced to telling my mailman, who never read comics!
Matt: Ohhhh, man… I could never be a spy or have to retain sensitive government secrets! Like you said, we were both dying to say, “HEY! I’ve got this incredible project I’m working on with a really awesome creative partner!” Of course, my whole family knew and I would show them pages from Book I: The Impaler, so that was some relief.
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Matt: I think we both came into this project hungry for something brand new in our careers, both of which have been lengthy and lauded. How do you feel reaching this sort of creative and professional height at this stage in our careers?
Kelley: I wanted freedom to do my work the way I knew it should be seen and that desire came from anger that I wasn’t allowed to do that on my other most recent gigs. You have that natural anger in you and I had no doubt we’d make something wonderful. And we did.
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Kelley: How do you think these books, our take on Dracula will rank in the pantheon of Dracula stories, movies and all? I feel pretty good about it now that we’ve done four volumes.
Matt: From the very beginning, I wanted our project to feature an authentic version of Dracula. Not romantic or rehabilitative but true to the monstrous character that Bram Stoker created and existing in the same world in which Stoker lived and wrote. I feel like we really managed to do that and I think the reactions we’ve gotten from so many sources show that our version of Dracula will be well regarded for many years to come.
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Matt: What do you hope our legacy is with this project? What do you want people to remember when they think of what we did here?
Kelley: It’s the best work I’ve ever done. It’s the most powerful story I’ve ever drawn. And it was worth every day of these past six years to put all that between hardcovers. Great work speaks for itself and these books certainly do that.
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For more info on the Dracula: Book IV — The Undead Kickstarter, click here.
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MORE
— MATT WAGNER: My 13 Favorite Versions of DRACULA. Click here.
— RED OCTOBER: MATT WAGNER and KELLEY JONES’ Latest DRACULA Book Looks Killer. Click here.
