Let's Talk About Our Friend, Dracula

“Tiny Update” is a monthly free newsletter that keeps you up to date on the latest news, comic book projects and merchandise offerings from James Tynion IV and Tiny Onion Studios

Ahahaha. OKAY.

So, this month has been pretty wild. As you can tell, the Tiny Update didn’t go out first week of the month.

I’m going to spare you the same sort of “I’m up to secret shit” spiel that I’ve been giving the last few months, but I do think you’re all going to find out a lot more about it pretty quickly. But I have been up to a lot of stuff. We announced THE DEVIANT by me and Joshua Hixson earlier in the month, and I am going to be back next week to tell you a LOT more about that.

BUT TODAY, I am here to bang the drum about UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: DRACULA #1.

Back at SDCC last summer, I had a great catch-up with Alex Antone from Skybound. I had known him from my DC Days. He was letting me know about a few licensed properties they were about to put in production, and I was pretty clear about not wanting to do anything but creator-owned for a good long while. But then he said the magical words “What do you feel about the Universal Monsters?” and my eyes LIT RIGHT UP.

He hadn’t realized that Martin and I were coming up on what we knew was going to be brief sabbatical on Department of Truth, while I worked on the Television adaptation (which I’m excited to get back into now that it looks like the WGA strike is over). I was considering doing something small and outside the box in a creator-owned world, but honestly, once I heard that the Universal Monsters were on the table, I started to think about Martin Simmonds incredible artwork and how it would tackle a character like Dracula. I kept my cool in the meeting, but I’m pretty sure I texted Antone later the same day to be like “What if Martin comes and does this with me?”

The story of Dracula runs concurrent to the original film, working hard not to contradict or overwrite it while giving it a complete shape of its own. I think the best taste of what Martin and I have been cooking comes from my write-up before the first script of the book….

Okay, Let’s talk vibes.

Martin, we’re coming at familiar territory here, and we’re not breaking away from the core. This is a story taking place in Edwardian London, not an aggressive modernization of the source material. Our job is to take that prompt and push it as far as it can go. To capture the central feelings and horror of Dracula and visualize them in a stunning dreamlike way that’s only possible in the comic book medium. We want to SURPRISE people here. We’ve talked about some of this in text, but I want to drill down on the central feel of the project.

I want to play with dichotomies in this book. The most central dichotomy is that between the grounded structured REALITY of Doctor Seward, and the NIGHTMARE FANTASY of Dracula. When Dracula is not on the page, the visual feel of the book should be stripped down, even if it isn’t truly black and white, it should FEEL black and white. Detached, distant, and clinical. When Dracula is on the page it should be a phantasmagoria of color and power. Dracula is pure sexual power and seduction. He does not fit or follow the rules of reality as Doctor Seward understands them. He is man and beast all at once. When we deal with someone under the influence of Dracula, we should see the phantasmagoria almost radiating off of them, even though they are still in the confines of the literal, true world. I want the dissonance between those two tracks to HIT the reader hard every time we lean into them.

One of the key images from the original film I want you to think of a lot are the close up shots on Bela Lugosi’s eyes. The almost hypnotic light and shadow effect there. I want to start there and lean in as far as we can. That hypnosis is how we’re going to capture the transfer of his power from himself to his victims.

The secondary visual theme we’ve discussed Martin, is the idea of using old textbook illustrations and mixed media when it comes to showing the animals in the book. There are the animals that Renfield eats/tries to eat (flies, rats, spiders) and there are the animals that Dracula can transform into (bats, wolves). When we strip the Dracula away from this, they are as they would be to Seward. They are literal and finite and ordered, but when, let’s say, we see Dracula as a bat, we should see the phantasmagoria of horror spilling out from the Bat.

If we push this central idea to its extreme, I think we’ll have a really fucking cool comic book.

Now, let’s get into it.

The thing Martin has tackled exceptionally, and entirely on his own direction, is his depiction of Renfield, which I think might be one of the best horror images in comics this year. I take ZERO credit here. This is Martin just fully unleashed. The entire comic is this gorgeous and this frightening, and more than anything it’s a phenomenal art showcase for him. Check this out…

The series has its FOC on Monday. Let your local comic shop know today that you want to have a copy for yourself. It’s a perfect little Halloween treat. Something any Dracula fan can salivate over.

Order it. Order it. Order it!!!!

This week is also an important benchmark for me personally. One year ago this week, I did my first weigh-in with my nutritionist as I started on a new health regime. I’m just shy of 140lb down now, and while the pounds aren’t shedding as quickly as they did at first because I’m hard at work building muscle, I feel healthier than I ever have in my life. I’m not planning on slowing down any time soon. Boxing, Weightlifting, and Running have become a huge part of my life. Last week I broke a 10-minute mile for the first time in my life and I don’t feel like I’m close to finding my limits. I have more energy, I feel sharper, I feel happier, and I feel more myself than I have in a long time.

This whole last year has been a big transitional year, and I can see what comes next, and I am excited and ready for it.

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Okay, well, this month is pretty much over, but just so you know what you should go back and pick up… I’m locking in and scheduling this month’s SKTCHD x TINYONION for this Thursday today so we have it ready to go.

And next week, I’m going to be back to start banging the drum for THE DEVIANT with me and Joshua Hixson. I think it’s fair to say that you’ll be hearing a lot more from me in the next few weeks. And then one of these days I can tell you what I’ve been building in the shadows of this year…

September 13th

HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #17

W: James Tynion IV & Sam Johns / A: Werther Dell’Edra & Letizia Cadonici / C: Francesco Segala / L: AndWorld Design / Cover A: Javier Rodriguez / E: Eric Harburn & Ramiro Portnoy

While Bait does his best to ignore the cruelty of the children in the home with him, a monstrous assault leaves him with more questions than answers.

What does Nannette, the mysterious girl who's been one of the only ones to show Bait kindness and keep the monsters indoors at bay, have to do with the monsters on the outside?

September 20th

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #32

W: James Tynion IV / A + Cover: Werther Dell'Edera / C: Miquel Muerto / L: AndWorld Design / E: Ramiro Portnoy & Eric Harburn

Help finally arrives in the town of Tribulation, but whose side are they on?

Most importantly, with Cutter in deadly pursuit and the Duplicitype still very much a threat, what chance does Erica stand?

BLUE BOOK Vol. 1: 1961

W: James Tynion IV/A+C: Michael Avon Oeming/L: Aditya Bidikar / E: Greg Lockard, Daniel Chabon

An ambitious, non-fiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.

BLUE BOOK VOL. 1: 1961 retells the infamous case of the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill of New Hampshire of that year — the very first widely-publicized UFO abduction that went on to shape and influence all future encounter stories.

Collects the Dark Horse Comics series BLUE BOOK #1—#5!

September 27th

THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS #4

W: Tate Brombal + James Tynion IV / A: Isaac Goodhart / C: Miquel Muerto / L: Aditya Bidikar / Cover A+B: Nick Robles / E: Greg Lockard, Daniel Chabon / P: Dark Horse

Christopher, Dracula Boy, and the rest of our teenaged monster team are rescued by a mysterious sewn-up giant and teleported to safety, but the group is split on how to go back to normal in a world of monster hunters who want them dead.

This Wednesday, Scott Snyder and I are going to be at Midtown Comics Grand Central from 5-7PM to sign all of your copies of THE DEVIL’S CUT from DSTLRY.

And then in a few weeks, I’ll be at New York Comic Con. I’ll reveal my full convention schedule next week when I come back to ramble more about THE DEVIANT, but I DO have something special that I’ve been excited to unveil to you all. It’s an old idea that I’ve been chatting about with Martin since LAST New York Comic Con. And Since Dracula isn’t dropping until the end of the month.

The nice thing about Image Comics is that we have all the rights, so we can do pretty much whatever weird thing we want. I remember sending an email to Eric Stephenson being like “I’m gonna do this, even if i’m not allowed to.” And he was like “That sounds cool. Why wouldn’t you be allowed to?” Which is the sort of answer that I like from my publishers.

We’re calling it DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH: THE BOOTLEG EDITION. It’s printed in black and white, on newsprint, right here in NYC. We’re not making these available for sale online, they will only be available. We did a print run of 500 of these suckers, and they’ll be hand-numbered on the back. They are gorgeous, designed by Courtney Menard based on the incredible design work of Dylan Todd in the series. The ink literally comes off on your fingers. It’s everything we’ve ever wanted out of this scratchy weird little series, and a great introduction to the book if you’ve never picked it up before. These will be available from my booth at NYCC, Artist Alley Table C-27.

We’re going to limit the number we put on sale each day and I’m going to have more news about that, and pricing, closer to the show. If this is successful, we’ll try and do more stuff like this in the future. I want to have cool stuff you can only grab from us at conventions!

Anyways! These are my last two scheduled public appearances in 2023! I miiiiiight sneak one more signing in before the end of the year, but no promises!

So, I’ve been doing a SHITTY JOB at calling this stuff out, but we now officially have W0RLDTR33 merch available over on ShopTinyOnion.com! Get your hands on some PH34R pins or WT shirts to show your love for the series! We’ll have some on hand for NYCC, but don’t wait, order yours today!

Otherwise, I’ll be back later this week with that SKTCHDxTINYONION article, and I hope to see some of you at Midtown on Wednesday.

James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
9.26.23