Anno Dracula: 1895: Seven Days In Mayhem #1
Written by Kim Newman
Art by Paul McCaffrey
Colors by Kevin Enhart
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover A: Paul McCaffrey
Cover B: Tom Mandrake
Cover C: Brian Williamson
Cover D: Jeff Zornow
Cover E: Mike Collins
Cover F: Ben Oliver (Forbidden Planet/Jetpack Comics Variant)
Cover G: Ben Oliver (“Phoenix Event Exclusive” Variant)
Titan Comics
Release Date: March 22, 2017
Cover Price: $3.99

I loved the original 1992 Anno Dracula novel by British writer Kim Newman. Let’s just get that out of the way, okay? So it stands to reason that I would jump at the chance to review the new comic book Anno Dracula: 1895: Seven Days In Mayhem #1, right? Well, you would correct. And for a fan like me, the comic was pretty much what I would want and expect. But for the first-time reader, not so much.

This first issue has a lot going on in it and it can be disorienting, to say the least. Not that one cannot wind their way through it all to grasp the primary plot lines, they aren’t that difficult to understand. No, it’s more about the connection a reader needs to the protagonist(s). I loved the original book for its vivid setting and alternative history concept. Unfortunately, this doesn’t come through as much as I would have hoped.

The featuring predominately female leads is a nice touch, as it flies in the face of Bram Stoker’s Dracula storyline which I felt was far more male-dominated for the most part. The multi-faceted tale is in keeping with the converging stories from the original Anno Dracula, allowing a multitude of plots to move forward at once. And as flawed as this first issue is, I hold out hope that it will find its way sooner rather than later.

1895. Prince Dracula has ruled Great Britain for ten years, spreading vampirism through every level of society. On the eve of Dracula’s Jubilee, radical forces gather to oppose the tyrant. Kate Reed, vampire journalist and free-thinker, takes a seat on the revolutionary Council of Seven Days, though she learns that the anarchist group harbors a traitor in its midst. The Grey Men, Dracula’s dreaded secret police, have been ordered to quash all resistance to the rule of the arch-vampire. With intrigue on all sides, the scene is set for an explosive addition to the Anno Dracula series.