GateCrashers

After recovering from a life-threatening sickness, JH Williams III embarked on an art journey that ended up with the creation of something familiar but almost entirely new, Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio. The book is 50 individual art pieces drawn to illustrate the novel Dracula in a way that only JH could deliver. We had the chance to sit down and discuss the project at length which you can listen to here.

Dracula and vampires as a whole were never my cup of tea until the past few years when I finally committed to prying open the coffin to get into the monster that so many people adore. This version of Dracula is what I think I needed to solidify my love of the monster. JH Williams careful craftsmanship of the story with full-page art mirrored by condensed text pages deliver one of the best ways to celebrate the vampire so many adore. There are so many pages in this book that I lingered on because the scene was so captivating as the powers that vampires themselves possess.

There is a level of mastery in this book that is handcrafted by one person that is unlike anything else. Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio feels like a showcase for Williams to show off what he can do beyond just his art. The lettering in this book is done by him as well, with a few small uses of breaking the form that is so effective for a small tweak of placement. This is one book you need to pick up to have on your shelf because it uses the format of the graphic novel to experiment with more of a storybook-type retelling of the story. It's simply one of my newest favorite books. Getting to see a master at play with full-page spreads with each flip is worth every penny.