Quincy Harker and the Brides.
But all things must end. Empires. Reigns. Marriages.
Dracula, motherf**ker! is a 2020 horror noir graphic novel published by Image Comics. It was written by Alex de Campi and illustrated by Erica Henderson.
In Vienna, 1889, the three Brides of Dracula finally get tired of him and nail him to the bottom of a coffin and seal it, content to let him rot for an eternity.
In Los Angeles, 1974, at a party, fading actress Bebe Beauland decides to raise the stakes and reawakens Dracula in an attempt to recapture her youth. What happens next leaves a horrific crime scene, one captured on film by crime photographer Quincy Harker. But while he captures a photograph of a decidedly deceased Bebe Beauland, it turns out that she isn't dead after all. Or is she?
Now, hunted by a creature of darkness, will Quincy accept the help of Dracula's ex-Brides? Or do the three of them merely want to use him as bait?
Described as a "pulpy, pulse-pounding graphic novel of California psych-horror."
Tropes in Dracula, motherf**ker!:
- The '70s: Most of the book takes place in 1974 Los Angeles.
- All There in the Manual: The names of Dracula's Brides are never revealed in the story itself, but rather in the character designs in the back of the book. They are: Marishka, Ateera, and Verona.
- Bittersweet Ending: Dracula is dead, but Quincy Harker is now a vampire. However, the Brides are there to welcome him to the club.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Played with for the Brides: Marishka has bright red hair, while both Ateera and Verona have black hair, but Ateera has much darker skin, while Verona looks South Asian or Middle Eastern.
- Censored Title: The title on the cover asterisks out the profanity.
- Domestic Abuse: It's heavily implied that Dracula abuses his wives, which is why they turned on him.
- Eldritch Abomination: What Dracula is portrayed as, unlike previous versions. Alex de Campi even describes how she wanted to eschew the "handsome Dracula" portrayal and instead portray him as an "unknowable Other":What if Dracula wasn't a handsome Romanian prince, but a nameless, faceless ancient terror?
- Evil Versus Evil: Dracula is evil and the Brides want to stop him. But then again, the Brides are also evil, just in a different way. In the end, they even point out that they used the same techniques as he did to become just as strong as him:Dracula: What have you done?!The Brides: We have been good students and we made our own brides and grooms and harvested their power just like you taught us.
- Extra Eyes: Dracula appears to have dozens of eyes. The brides, when they transform into monstrous wolves, gain extra eyes, too.
- Film Noir: The book plays with noir tropes as well as horror ones. The Brides can be seen as femme fatales, while Quincy Harker is an Intrepid Reporter trying to survive. The color palette also has deep shadows, although it also goes for a psychedelic '70s vibe.
- Fur Against Fang: Played with: the Brides transformed into monstrous wolves, versus Dracula, a monstrous mass of living shadows with fangs. Both vampires, just in different forms.
- Historical In-Joke: The first page shows that Dracula was the one responsible for the Mayerling incident
in 1889. - Homage: It's acknowledged by Henderson that the visual depiction of Dracula in this comic is heavily influenced by how Alucard looks in Hellsing when he unleashes his full power.
- Hypnotic Eyes: One of Dracula's powers, which he uses on Quincy Harker. Luckily for Quincy, they are interrupted by Marishka, one of the Brides, before Dracula can kill him.
- I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Even though Dracula gave the Brides eternal youth, they came to hate him because of the way he played each one off the other, making them compete for his attention, and then feeding off of them, all of which is implied to be similar to abusive relationships. When the Brides finally kill Dracula, Verona even says, "Bye, Daddy," before crushing his skull.
- Intrepid Reporter: Quincy Harker is a crime photographer who pays the police to tip him off about any murders so he can take photographs and sell them to newspapers. Unfortunately, due to the latest murder victim (Bebe Beauland) turning up alive, the newspaper he usually sells to can't pay him that much, so he ends up needing to sell the photographs to a sleazy tabloid, too.
- Living Shadow: Unlike previous portrayals of Dracula, this version only appears as a living mass of shadows and eyes.
- Lucky Charms Title: The name of the book is Dracula, motherf**ker!, complete with asterisks and exclamation point.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Dracula seems to be made out of a mass of living shadows, with many eyes and fangs, while the Brides look relatively normal. Dracula also encourages his wives to feed and makes them compete against each other so that he, in turn, can feed off of them and take their power.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: The Brides, it turns out, can also transform into monstrous white wolves with many eyes. This is how they finally defeat Dracula.
- Paparazzi: Since Quincy Harker also sells to tabloids, he can be seen as a paparazzo. Even Dracula points this out:Rid me of this meddlesome paparazzo.
- The Power of Blood: Dracula turns women into his brides because when they feed, he can then feed from them, gaining all of their power. This is why his original Brides turned on him and how they end up defeating him, since they used the same trick and created brides and grooms to harvest.
- Race Lift: In the original Dracula, Quincy Harker is the son of Jonathan and Mina and decidedly white. In this book, he's African-America. Lampshaded in the behind-the-scenes essay by Alex de Campi:I remember re-reading Dracula and snorting with laughteer when I got to him because that's the most accidentally black name in white literature since Percy Jackson.
- Vampire's Harem: Dracula's Brides. It turns out that he makes vampire brides for himself so he can pit them against one another and then feed off of them. The Brides, in order to defeat Dracula, end up doing this themselves, creating brides and grooms to them feed off of and grow stronger.
- The Weird Sisters: The Brides: Marishka, Ateera, and Verona.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: Bebe Beauland goes as far a releasing Dracula himself to regain her youth. It doesn't work out for her.
