This chunky first issue (58 pages with no ads) following the rise of Vlad Dracul is an interesting, if not fully accurate, attempt to tell the life of the man who inspired the creation of Count Dracula. It already kinda lost me on accuracy right at the title though, as I thought Vlad Dracul was Dracula's father, but whatever. I ain't here for a history lesson. I'm here for the schlocky 1970's horror magazine vibes.
Art duties fall on Andrea Mutti, who you've probably seen before at some point in your comic reading career as he's worked for every major publisher and then some. Mutti's style has always been a bit understated to me, his use of heavy blacks and blotted forms creating heavy compositions that create a deep sense of atmosphere and often dread.
I often feel that if he pulled the colors out of his work and applied more of a gray ink wash then Mutti could be the backbone of a horror magazine revitalization. Which isn't to say that his colors are bad in this, but I do feel that they detract at times.
The story is by Matteo Strukul and it has some of that overwrought writing you would expect of some 70's horror magazines. In most places it would normally pull me out of the story a bit, but Mutti's art makes it feel at home.
This is a limited 3-issue run at $6.99 an issue, so you may just want to wait for the collection. As I mentioned they are chunk issues though, so if you are a single issue collector or just a general fan of the Dracula mythos and it's background, this would be a fun addition to your collection.