Image Comics has announced that J.H. Williams III’s Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio will be available in stores on October 9th (October 22nd in bookstores). The storybook contains 150 pages of retellings of Dracula tales, complete with full illustrations and accompanying story sections.
“I talk about my inspiration for this project in the book’s foreword, so suffice it to say I’m very happy to be publishing it,” said Williams III. “I’ve never seen a book like this in modern times. I tried to create something different to what some people might expect. I tried to combine illustrations from my portfolio with short pieces of text to create a narrative structure that most artbooks don’t tend to focus on. Since there is only one narrative subject, the choice of illustrations reflects that.”
Dracula: Storybook Portfolio is a unique picture book format that allows Williams III to dive deeper into the monster myth of Dracula with pages of pictures and stories side by side. With a powerful combination of illustrations and prose, New York Times bestselling author and artist Williams III creates a fantastical, engrossing storytelling experience that goes beyond typical artbook expectations.
Williams III continued, “The prose has a subtle, old-fashioned style, but delivered with a somewhat snappy sensibility, all with the hope of evoking the classic fairy tale collections that are popular every year with readers young and old. With the help of Drew Gill at Image Comics, every aspect of the book is geared towards that simple, yet delightful idea. The result is unique and, we hope, satisfying.”
PORTLAND, OR, September 10, 2024 — Eisner Award-winning creator J.H. Williams III (Echoland, Sandman: Overture, Promethea) imagines a new horror nightmare this October with Dracula: Storybook Portfolio. This stunning storybook retelling of the classic Dracula tale features over 150 pages of illustrations and accompanying story text that transport readers to a beautifully terrifying Gothic world. The hardcover Dracula: Storybook Portfolio will hit stores this October, just in time for the Halloween season.
Dracula: Storybook Portfolio is a unique picture book format that allows Williams III to dive deeper into the monster myth of Dracula with pages of pictures and stories side by side. With a powerful combination of illustrations and prose, New York Times bestselling author and artist Williams III creates a fantastical, engrossing storytelling experience that goes beyond typical artbook expectations.
“I talk about the inspiration for this project in the book’s introduction, so suffice it to say I’m very happy to have it out,” says Williams III. “I’ve never seen a book like this in the modern era. I wanted it to be different to what some people might expect. I tried to combine portfolio illustrations with short pieces of text to create a narrative structure that most artbooks don’t tend to focus on. There’s only one story theme, and the illustration choices reflect that. For the prose sections, I used a bit of a slightly older style, but with a slightly lighter feel to it. It all came from a desire to evoke the classic stories that are popular every year for people of all ages. With the help of Drew Gill at Image Comics, every aspect of the book is geared towards that simple but fun idea. The result is unique and I hope it will be satisfying.”
Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio (ISBN: 9781534371569, Lunar Code 0624IM266), with a cover by Williams III, will be available in local comic book stores on Wednesday, October 9th, and in independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo and Waterstones on Tuesday, October 22nd.
Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio will also be available on many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books and Google Play.
