Titan Comics are releasing Penny Dreadful #1 on Wednesday May 4. Set in Victorian London, The Penny Dreadful comics are a prequel to the TV series and cover the story of why Vanessa (Eve Green) wanted to find her missing childhood friend, Mina Harker (Olivia Llewellyn). It also has vampires. Lots and lots of vampires. Penny Dreadul #1 is written by Penny Dreadful TV writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns and feature art by Louie De Matinis (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein).
When you look at the previews below you will no doubt notice there’s a lack of words. This is nothing to do with the quality of writing, or even Simon Bowland’s lettering, but it does conceal a bit of a spoiler. You’ll have to satisfy yourself by admiring the artwork. Being set mostly in the dark, De Matinis has employed a low colour style to bring out the main feel of each scene – dim streets, dark forests, vampire-infested buildings and bleak outdoor settings. The characters look exactly like the actors who play them on the TV series so you will instantly recognise them, although as it’s a prequel you don’t need to be familiar with the TV series. With the cover art there is a lot more colour so it does feature when possible. Speaking of covers, there are variants from Guillem March, Ben Templesmith, Martin Stiff and Cat Connery as well as Louie De Matinis.
As the lack of wording in the previews might suggest, it’s not the easiest story to talk about without giving the game away but in #1 Vanessa goes looking for Mina, runs into some vampires and meets someone who looks set to be an important character. It’s a good start to what looks like a promising series.
Variant covers: