Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1
Created and Story by Kurt Busiek
Written by Daryl Gregory
Art by Scott Godlewski
Colors by Stephen Downer
Letters by Johnny Lowe
BOOM! Studios
Release date: August 25, 2010
Price: $3.99

Apparently, vampires are kind of popular these days, for some reason. Fortunately, Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1 isn’t about just any vampire, but it’s about the biggest granddaddy vampire of them all, so it’s definitely trying to set itself apart. The story goes into the “real” history of Dracula, as told by Evan, a researcher for some kind of large, family owned company. Evan has been tasked by uncle to track down information about Vlad the Impaler, specifically the spells used to turn Vlad into the big D. From there, it looks like Evan’s uncle want’s to bring old Drac into this century and do…something? I don’t know exactly what they plan to do, but if it involves a blood sucker, you know it’s going to be evil.

Good news horror fans, this August, BOOM! Studios will be debuting a new ongoing comic book series titled Dracula: The Company Of Monsters.

The book will feature a stellar crew including acclaimed writers Kurt Busiek and Daryl Gregory (Pandemonium) along with artist Scott Godlewski (Codebreakers). It will also feature covers by artist Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals) and Ron Salas.

Busiek had this to say about the upcoming book:

Codebreakers #1
Creator: Ross Richie
Writer: Carey Malloy
Artist: Scott Godlewski
Colorist: Stephen Downer
Letterer: Johnny Lowe
BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
Released April 7, 2010

Spy stories can work great in comics when they’re done well. The realism of Greg Rucka’s Queen and Country, the psychedelia of Jim Steranko’s Nick Fury stories, and the plain insanity of Matt Fraction’s Casanova each offer something unique to the spy genre. Now, we’ve got a new series from BOOM! Studios that is a more or less realistic look at a unique branch of spying, with their new series Codebreakers.

The story follows the members of the FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit, the elite codebreakers for the Bureau. We see a day at the office through the eyes of Stanley Grouse. The first part of the issue is a mundane look at what this group does, but things take a turn when one of the members of the team is filmed committing suicide. That sets the mystery in motion and sets us up for the next issue.

BOOM! Studios has been producing some really interesting mini-series lately and we’ve just learned about another intriguing series coming soon.

Codebreakers, written by Carey Malloy with art by Scott Godlewski, promises “clandestine thrills and excitement that only BOOM! can deliver.” There will also be covers by Unthinkable‘s Julian Totino Tedesco and Brett Weldele (The Surrogates).

I’m pretty much on board with anything BOOM! produces so I’ll be picking this one up.

Crack the code with Codebreakers this April, but in the meantime, check out the official press release below.