Ricardo Delgado talks about DRACULA OF TRANSYLVANIA

Ricardo Delgado of Age of Reptiles fame has an exciting new project DRACULA OF TRANSYLVANIA. He was nice enough to stop by First Comics News to let our readers know all about it.

First Comics News: It’s been a while since Age of Reptiles, what is it about Dracula that brings you back to comics?

Ricardo Delgado: DRACULA OF TRANSYLVANIA is a new idea and direction: a full-length prose novel with accompanying concept art. Like an ART OF STAR WARS book combined with a novel like SALEM’S LOT. I was a big fan of the Stephen King/Bernie Wrightson collaboration CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF as a young man, and this is kinda like that but with movie conceptual art instead of traditional book illustrations.

1^st: If “This isn’t your parent’s Dracula” how do you present Dracula differently?

Ricardo: As a kid I was always frustrated with the depiction of the different forms of Dracula, and that’s no slight against those films, but what about if the bat that Dracula transformed into was not a cool for its time rubber bat but a ravenous, menacing, intimidating bat so large it could stand eye to eye with you and rip your head off in one bite? What if said bat could thenk drink all of your blood in seconds? What about the idea that historical figures throughout time were actually vampires and resented Dracula’s rule over the vampiric world? And tried to stop him? What if Dracula’s brides were not subservient victims left behind to guard a castle but instead were ferocious shapeshifting predators that actually traveled to England along with Dracula to kick some Victorian (and vampiric) ass? And what about if you could see conceptual designs for all these effects, iterations and characters in one book? It’s all in this one, DRACULA OF TRANSYLVANIA.

1^st: Why is this story set in England instead of Transylvania?

Ricardo: Oh, that’s just part of the novel. The story takes place all over the European continent. It’s pretty fast paced too, while paying homage to the traditional vampire story but in a new way.

1^st: Who is Jonathan Harker?

Ricardo: In this story he’s not one of those willowy versions we saw in the early films, he’s a fearless at times two-fisted man with resolve who faces the king of the vampires head on. At one point Dracula tells him something like, “I do not think you truly know to whom you are speaking, boy!” Harker sees Dracula for the thug and killer that he is.

1^st: What brings him into conflict with Dracula?

Ricardo: A pretty spectacular meeting that starts at Borgo Pass and reveals truly one of the things I’m most proud of in this story: The most horrible place on earth. Dracula’s castle. No cheaping out on the visual effects here because there’s no VFX budget.

And of course murder. Gristly, bloody murder.

1^st: Dracula is presented as the Son of Satan, are there any redeeming qualities to the character or is he pure evil?

Ricardo: Dracula of Transylvania is Vader, Lector, Sauron and Thanos. Evil incarnate and omnipotent. A true badass. Don’t cut this Dracula off on the freeway, he will kill you, your family, and everyone you know. And keep your car, lol. In this story he has legions of rats, living skeletons, ghosts and other vampires at his disposal. But they do his side work. This Dracula takes pleasure in conquering and killing. No mercy rule here.

1^st: What makes Dracula of Transylvania so cool, no comic fan should miss this Kickstarter?

Ricardo: Not just the amazing story, but some of what I consider to be my best work in Conceptual Design. I created this lavish world in prose and furthered all that with characters, environments and ideas that correspond to the novel I wrote, and any good concept artist takes great pains to create something that has not been seen before, and I feel like I’ve done that. If you’re tired of all the old version and seek something fun, new and terrifying, this artwork’ll do it for you. Especially proud of the demons I’ve conceptualized for this story. If you’re a fan of all that stuff you’ll love all this.

1^st: How many pages?

Ricardo: 720-ish. A full length novel.

1^st: Is this a graphic novel or a prose novel with 20 spot illustrations?

Ricardo: Prose with illustrations.

1^st: What is the minimum pledge for a digital copy?

Ricardo: $15 I believe.

1^st: What is the minimum pledge for a print copy?

Ricardo: $40 for a lavish copy filled with some pretty cool concept art.

1^st: When is the expected shipping date?

Ricardo: April/May 2021.

1^st: The campaign has a new stretch goal of $24,000, you can find it here… Kickstarter.com

About Author

Rik Offenberger

Rik Offenberger has worked in the comic field as a retailer, distributor, reporter, public relations coordinator, writer and publisher since 1990. He owns and operates the e-mail bases Super Hero News service, and his published works in print can be seen in The Comics Buyers Guide, Comic Retailer, Borderline Magazine, and Comics International. On the internet he has worked as a writer and/or editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama and First Comics News. He was the Public Relations Coordinator at Archie Comics for a decade. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief at G-Man Comics. For TwoMorrows Publications, Rik co-wrote The MLJ Companion with Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke, charting the history of Archie’s superheroes, and for Gemstone Publishing wrote chapters of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes.

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