REVIEW: Anno Dracula, 1895 Seven Days in Mayhem #2

Things look bad for our heroes, trapped under the rule of murderous vampires that run all levels of English society. Kim Newman ramps up the danger for his characters in Anno Dracula #2. This issue picks up on the heels of the first with the British Special Branch, lead by an evil vampiric walrus man, bursting in on a meeting of those conspiring to remove Dracula from the English throne.

Our protagonist, Kate Reed and several of her conspirators manage to escape. They are sheltered by the leaders of organized crime who are also being squeezed by Dracula rule. They offer their help for a price to be paid later, but will that price be too high?/

Kate tries to re-group the remaining leaders of her conspiracy and points out that all of their current hiding places are known by the members who were captured and sooner or later that information will be tortured out of them.

Newman is well versed in the late 19th Century literature used as the basis for several of his characters. This andÂ the tight plotting shows that he knows how to wind up a story, but will any of that tension be released in the next issue? Also, Kim’s command of the source material is readily apparent, howeverÂ it is a little disappointing that he seems to want to hand out homework on that pages that introduces us toÂ theÂ characters.

Once again, Paul McCaffrey’s art does a lot of the world building in the details of many of the scenes. Look for what the background characters are doing and the ads he places on walls to get a real feel of the horror of trying to keep your humanity when all around are monsters.

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Writer: Kim Newman
Artist: Paul McCaffrey
Inker: Bambos Georgiou
Colorist: Kevin Enhart
Publisher: Titan Comics

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!