Dracula vs. King Arthur is one of the best "B movie" concepts I've ever heard, but there was so much potential for it to go too cheesy or overly sincere, especially with a relatively untested creative team, that I wasn't sure what to expect. The Beraneks take themselves pretty seriously here, and in so doing, present a story that is an interesting blend of the two legends from which it is drawn. The stories of the two lead characters have been told so many times, and have roots in actual history, that every aspect of the story is open to interpretation, and the Beraneks mix and match familiar elements with new twists to present a premise in which these two legendary characters might be pitted against one another. With Chris Moreno and Jay Fotos providing some impressive visuals, Dracula Vs. King Arthur is off to an intriguing start.
In many ways, this is a trip through familiar territory. The opening five pages cover the legends of Vlad Dracul and Arthur Pendragon succintly and clearly, which serves not only to refresh readers' memory but to indicate what parts of the legends the Beraneks will be using. The later part of the story hinges on Arthur's quest for the grail, and there are hints that the betrayal of Lancelot and Guinevere, as well as the machinations of Morgana Le Fay, will be involved as well. However, that's not to say that the Beraneks don't have a few twists up their sleeve. The personal interference of Lucifer in Dracula's transformation isn't unheard of, but it is a part of the myth that is often glossed over, and of course, once Dracula is put on the path to attack Arthur, what we know of the legends changes somewhat.
One of the things I enjoyed about Dracula vs. King Arthur were the changes in preconceived notions about the characters. Moreno's new design for Merlin, less long white beard and more of a ragged, druid-looking individual, is really nice, and I also enjoyed seeing Dracula at the early days of his power, learning how his new "gift" of vampirism worked as he went. Dracula here is not a suave, deliberately evil man, but a misguided and cruel man whose faith in God allowed him to perform atrocities with a clear conscience, and whose crisis of faith, caused by the loss of his wife and kingdom and outside manipulation by Lucifer, has left him nothing but his cruel and vicious streak to drive him. The duality between Arthur and Dracula, that both are men of destiny guided by faith and a mystical link, is an interesting take on both of the characters as well.
Moreno and Fotos deliver some strong visuals to accompany this unusual story. I would have preferred that Dracula had not looked inhuman even before his transformation, but I can't deny that his sinister visage is a good design, and I quite enjoyed all of the supernatural visuals that Moreno provided, from Lucifer's demon dogs to the shrouded, flame-tinged form of Lucifer himself. I was also quite pleased with Moreno's designs for Camelot, which have a believable medieval simplicity but also an awe-inspiring scale, a blend that works perfectly. Though the action scenes in this issue are relatively sparse, when they do occur, Moreno gives them a nice sense of motion, with Mordred's impulsive charge across the table notably impressive. Moreno's work may not have the sharpness and detail of some of DC and Marvel's top line artists, but his storytelling is top notch, and his visual imagination is firmly in place.
If Dracula vs. King Arthur has any flaws for me, it's that it does border a little bit on the overly sincere side, making everything so dire and serious that there's not a great sense of fun, a shame when you've got a concept that on the face of it seems a little ludicrous. To be fair, this more serious approach, pitting two devoted men against one another, is an intriguing one with plenty of potential, but the characters are all a tad flat and serious compared to the more colorful characters we're used to seeing, and a little more light hearted spark in the dialogue or some more flamboyant, noticeable quirks on the part of side characters like Mordred or Merlin would have been welcome. That aside, though, this looks like a pretty solid little high concept fantasy comic for those who like that sort of thing. 8/10
