Ultrasylvania, Vol. 1: King Dracula

3.1/5 ( ratings)

About the Comic:
In this alternate history of 19th century Europe, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and a certain Egyptian resident don’t lurk in the darkness – they’re world leaders, struggling to hold their nations together amid assassination plots, romantic betrayals, and political intrigues.

That’s the world of our story. The setting. And a couple of the major players. But, it’s about a great many things – love, loss, mistrust, espionage, the murkiness of “truth” – and hope in the face of all of that.

Produced in cooperation with the Academy of Art University’s first-of-its-kind Comic Collaborative class, ULTRASYLVANIA was brought to life over the course of fifteen weeks by eleven students, with art direction by Jeremy Saliba and an original script by Brian Schirmer. Meeting and working in the Academy’s state-of-the-art Cintiq studio, the artists employed a variety of media – pencils, pen and ink, watercolor, all digital – to achieve the finished product.

And, it was written to just be fun! It’s a different take on some classic characters with a few surprises thrown in. Should be a little something in there for everyone. Even you.

io9 calls ULTRASYLVANIA “intriguing” – singling out “Richard Healy’s dark and bleeding watercolors”, “Jonathan Aguillon’s clear black lines and unnatural color palette”, and “Valerio Fabbretti’s detailed realism [which] adds an exciting touch of terror to the opening page, and makes me eager to see the story return to Egypt.” And, Stellar Four says, “The strong storytelling is backed by some outstanding artwork…. I was really blown away.”