The character of Renfield is an enigmatic one. To most, the name will be
tantalizingly familiar yet no image of a specific character will appear.
Describe him as the bug-eating patient in
Dracula, and then people remember. But what do they remember? The
introduction of the Renfield character by Bram Stoker in his novel was for many
purposes. It was through Renfield that we learned about the "master" of
darkness. It was Renfield who led Dr. Seward and Professor Van Helsing into the
supernatural world of Dracula. But the Renfield persona also served another
purpose, for it was Renfield that granted admittance to Dracula so that the
blood of first Lucy, and then Mina could be drained. It was midway through the
story that Renfield turned away from Dracula and suffered for it.
Renfield
is a fascinating character that has been victimized by those who have deviated
from the original novel. Renfield was not a grave robber. He was not a lackey
for Dracula that scoured the night for victims. He was not Dracula's day time
helper. Like Lucy and like Mina, Renfield was a victim...a victim of Dracula.
This story is about a man driven mad by his visions. He had seen in Dracula, the
answer to the mystery of life. Dracula was his messiah.
I think of all the that I
have written, Renfield remains one of my favorites. I enjoyed the experience
immensely and the artist, Galen Showman, did a great job with it. It was
his first major project and of course, he has gone on to work with P. Craig
Russell on many projects but he has also provide the art for Justice League: Age
of Wonder, Star Wars, Hellboy, and other work.
THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
Renfield was originally released as a comic series from Caliber Comics.
Three issues came out but the artist, Galen Showman, got sick and the book was
running behind. Eventually, it was decided to release the two unprinted
issues together with the three printed issues into a single collection.
That edition has long been sold out with Amazon purchasing a substantial number
of copies. I don't think its really been available in comic stores for
many years. I have gotten so many requests to bring it back into print and
I very glad to do so and wish to extend my thanks for the support from Desperado
Publishing and Image Comics to allow me to do so.
