Count Draco Kuckleduster #1

Count Draco Knuckleduster #1

Scout Comics/Black Caravan 2021

Created, Co-Written & Coloured by Peter Goral

Co-Written & Illustrated by Joseph Schmalke

Lettered by DC Hopkins

Black Caravan Imprint:

The Curse of the Cryptocrystalline Stone continues in 2021! Follow the Cosmic Ghoul Warrior and young psychic, Acele Aerglo, as they embark on the next chapter of an adventure that will take them from the vastness of The Void to the depths of an aquatic moon crawling with fantastic creatures! This action-packed tale of sinister celestial sorcery continues, this time told from behind the mask of the mysterious and malevolent Count Draco Knuckleduster and his Cybernetic Chrononautical Exosuit! Can the curse be broken in time... or is it already too late?

I don’t know what it is about this but it’s just so much dang fun to read. There’s this insane quality to it that reminds me of an 80’s underground cartoon that’s cheesy and you cannot take your eyes off it and you love it for reasons you cannot fathom. That’s how I feel about this franchise so far and it’s freakin 'glorious in its ridiculousness and its highly entertaining value factors. When you add into this the fact that we’re getting one hell of a story to boot is just icing on the cake.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continue to flesh these characters out beautifully. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re drawn into this world incredibly well.

I appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge, grow and evolve. I think the way that we see the characterisation, the use of powers and the twists & turns all conspire to add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. Everything we see and how we see it is really expertly done. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

I’m absolutely crazy about the interiors here. The linework we see is great and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create the detail work we see here is amazingly well rendered. That we see backgrounds utilised as we do to enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels as they bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. I love the creativity and imagination that we see on display here and how everything we see just seems to work on every level. The colour work is nicely rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is achieved well. The application of colour and the different techniques we see in that is amazing.

I love that this is a continuation of Phantom Starkiller and the next one out will continue the story and they all come from that specific character's life and point of view. It is different and uniquely handled and it makes for interesting reading, though I am going to have a hard time liking the Count. He's still interesting nonetheless. This has some wonderful writing and stellar characterisation and the absolutely delightfully expressive interiors make this one of the most titles you are going to be reading.