Known internationally for his extensive body of work with notorious writer and director Alejandro Jodorowsky, GEORGES BESS established himself as a premiere visionary and stylistic chameleon at the height of the European comics renaissance during the ‘70s and ‘80s. While his illustrative talent and fluidity couldn’t be denied, the direction he would take a project was often unpredictable, an improvisational instinct that set him apart among peers such as Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Philippe Druillet, Milo Minara, and Claire Wendling. And now Georges has brought that immense talent to classic horror, adapting Bram Stoker’s DRACULA and Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN into two bold and powerful graphic novels that retell these seminal tales through lush and unparalleled illustration.

These premium, artist's edition, gallery-quality 9x12” hardcover volumes feature linen textured covers and metallic foil design elements along with Magnetic's signature curved corners. Each volume recaptures the gothic romance and horror of the original novels in a way that belies all previous adaptations. Not only does Bess draw faithfully from the source material, but he imbues each with a degree of imagination that supplements the details Stoker and Shelley were themselves inspired by. At over 200 pages each, these books truly stand above the crowd as the ultimate graphic adaptations of these timeless masterpieces.

You may think you know Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but you have not truly met them until you have experienced Georges Bess’s hauntingly beautiful interpretation.

Each 9x12” hardcover features deluxe foil-stamped design elements on the cover, along with Magnetic Press’s signature curved corners. Printed on uncoated woodfree paper, Bess’s intricately detailed line art is reproduced at a stunning archival level of quality.

DRACULA is 224 pages, adapting Bram Stoker’s complete original novel about the world-renowned vampire, plus an epilogue adapting Stoker’s short story "Dracula's Guest" (believed to be the original novel’s deleted first chapter before later revived for publication two years after the author’s passing).

 

FRANKENSTEIN is 204 pages, following Mary Shelley’s original novel about a scientist’s hubris and the pitiable creature who did not ask to be brought to life.

Filled with page after page of stunning pen-and-ink drawings, readers will find themselves lost in each of these classic scenarios, content to soak in every detail before entering the next page. Reproducing Georges's unprocessed illustration boards on uncoated woodfree paper, these artist-edition books will capture the tactile details of his work as if holding the originals.

For the ultimate experience, the Deluxe Boxed Set collects both books inside a premium slipcase that features metallic foil elements, and a coffin-shaped die-cut window that looks into a fully illustrated slipcase liner.

 

Other premium features, such as bound-in ribbon bookmarks and foil gilding on the page edges of the books, may be added pending certain stretch goals.

These deluxe slipcase sets will only be produced for this campaign, unlocked in lots pending demand, not to exceed 1000 copies. The initial "GOLD LOT" will include a golden foil-stamped bookplate numbered 1-500. Additional Lots may be unlocked during the campaign but with un-numbered black-and-white bookplates. THESE DELUXE BOX SETS WILL NOT BE REPRODUCED OR AVAILABLE AT RETAIL!

What makes our edition special, beyond the magnificent adaptation of these classic tales by one of Europe's most talented illustrators, is the gallery quality presentation going into this design. We refer to this as an "Artist's Edition" -- one that not only showcases the artist's work in its most tactile, untouched form, but one that other artists can appreciate through examination of the organic details that went into its creation.

The original publication of these books included a fair amount of digital post-processing before going to print: background textures, digital gradient fills, artificial lighting, etc. While these were nicely done in that original edition, we wished to return to George's original line work without any digital post-process distractions --

In preserving this linework, we also strive to reproduce each page as close to the original tones as possible, allowing the reader to see the brush strokes and ink lines as if drawn into their copy of the book itself. Variations in ink density in large fills and thick lines bring the reader into the work as if holding George's original boards --

This level of care will also go into the binding and cover design, with a canvas-like, linen-textured graining and blood-red foil treatment on the cover, along with Magnetic's signature curved corners.

While these new volumes have not yet gone to the printers (files in final proofing, printing to begin immediately once this campaign ends), some examples from a previous Magnetic publication (our recent edition of "THE MONKEY KING") can be seen below -- 

Born in 1947, Georges Bess first established a name for himself in both Scandinavia and the United States in the '70s by acting as a luxury substitute for all of the designers in Sweden. He fashioned himself as a self-described "mercenary" hand, capable of matching and surpassing any visual style requested. With this multifaceted technique, he collaborated on the Scandinavian version of Mad Magazine, and illustrated the dynamic adventures of The Phantom, the famous masked hero battling against the forces of Evil, from 1977 to 1987. He returned to Paris in 1987, where he met notorious filmmaker and storyteller Alejandro Jodorowsky, who quickly asked him to illustrate the story The White Lama. Together, they created several other major series including Anibal 5 (1990), an explosive, titillating sci-fi tale about a James Bond-like cyborg, and Juan Solo (1994, released in English as "Son of the Gun"), an action series about a South American killer that won the Alph'art Award for best screenplay at the Angouleme FIBD. In 1998, Georges published his first solo project, a concept he had dreamed of for a long time: Escondida. Other magnificent books followed, including Bobi, Pema Ling, and Lééla and Krishna, a diptych imbued with his love for India. That love manifested itself again with the publication of the series Le Vampire de Bénarès for Glénat and the collection Incredible India for Vents d'Ouest. In 2019, Glénat published his black-and-white adaptation of the epistolary novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, which became an Official Selection at the FIBD in Angoulême the following year. In 2020, he returned to science fiction with the first volume of his original diptych Amen, followed by his prestigious adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He then completed Amen before returning with his definitive edition of Dracula. He currently lives in Paris.
 

Abraham Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1847. He was the third of seven children but was himself bedridden with an unknown illness until starting school at the age of seven. He remarked later in life that this long period of inactivity is what gave birth to his rich imagination. This led to an interest in the theater, but he first approached it from the direction of a critic, which helped establish his general writing acumen. The quality of his writing led to an invitation by the London Society to publish a few of his fictional short stories. In time, his affiliation with theater led to his becoming manager of the Lyceum Theater in London where he was introduced to various notable members of high society, including Arthur Conan Doyle, and led on various tours around the world. During these travels, he became enamored with various locations and histories, including dark tales of the Carpathian Mountains in central Europe. It is widely believed that these myths and folktales inspired him to write "Dracula." Originally published in 1897, "Dracula" was well-received at the time, but it did not become a worldwide legacy until after his death in 1912.

Predating Bram Stoker by 50 years, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in London in 1797. She was raised by her father following her mother’s death two weeks after her birth. He raised her to be an educated freethinker, which as noble as the intention was, led to constant debt and troubles later in life. She married the poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley at the age of 19, dedicating much of her life to supporting and promoting his writings. During a trip to Geneva, Switzerland in 1816, they met and spent some time with the celebrated poet Lord Byron and noted writer John Polidori (who ultimately was widely credited for creating the vampire genre with his 1819 short story "The Vampyre"). It was during this visit that she first imagined the ideas for what she thought would make a haunting short story, but with her husband’s encouragement, it grew into her first novel, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus." Published anonymously in 1818, most people assumed that her husband, already a recognized writer (and a man), had written the book. It wasn’t until the novel was translated into French in 1821 that she was finally credited with the work, properly revised in the 1823 second English edition. By that time, however, she was already plagued by scandal, debt, and the loss of three children. Mary fell into depression as her husband grew more distant, suspected of having an affair with her stepsister before dying in a boating accident. From that moment on, she dedicated herself to her writing and her sole surviving son. She released several novels, including "The Last Man" (1826), "Lodore" (1835), and "Falkner" (1837) before developing chronic headaches and bouts of paralysis. She died in 1851 from what was discovered to be a brain tumor that had likely been gestating for years.

The target goal of this campaign is meant to cover the costs of the campaign exclusives being offered, specifically the campaign-exclusive Limited-Edition Slipcase Sets and any other bonus stretch goal incentives that are unlocked along the way.

A RETAILER TIER is available at a 50% wholesale discount for five (5) copies of one or both books. YOU MUST BE A VERIFIABLE RETAILER WITH A BUSINESS ADDRESS/LINK AND TAX ID/EIN to qualify for this tier. If you do not qualify, do not select this tier as your reward prices will be adjusted accordingly.

NOTE: If you are a retailer and wish to order more or other titles for your store, please message us directly with your requests and we can manually configure your desired order at a discount through Backerkit after the campaign has ended.

In addition to your pledge tier rewards, ALL BACKERS WILL RECEIVE A NUMBER OF AMBASSADOR POINTS FOR THEIR TOTAL PLEDGE VALUE. If you aren't familiar with our Ambassador Point program, visit our webstore for more information.

Should we exceed our initial goal, we will reveal a series of stretch goals to unlock material improvements, bonus items, and more that will be added to various pledge tier levels for FREE.

This project ships worldwide. That means Customs-friendly delivery with VAT accounted for prior to shipping.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The pledge prices listed DO NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING OR VAT, which will be calculated and applied when you fill out the final survey after the campaign. This helps us ensure sufficient postage is collected without overcharging you with unspecific estimates upfront. Trust us – with shipping rates fluctuating as rapidly as they have for the last 2 years, this is best for everyone!

Final rates will be calculated based on actual weights and current postage rates AT THE TIME OF CAMPAIGN CLOSURE, but as of today's estimates, you can expect a 5-6lb order (~2 books plus extras) to be somewhere in these ballpark ranges:

Lesser weights may come in a bit lower, and heavier packages may come in higher, but we will do our best to offer the most reasonable rates available at the time of fulfillment.

Global Shipping conditions continue to make international shipping rates and delivery times somewhat unpredictable. While we have built our schedule with what should be ample padding for unforeseen delays, things happen. We will do our best to be prepared for anything that could impact our shipping estimates.

The books are in the final stages of production and will be delivered to the printer before the campaign is over. The campaign-exclusive bonus items will be ordered immediately following the campaign. We aim to have all items in our hands by the end of August so that we can begin fulfilling orders in September. This estimate includes what we hope will be sufficient padding for any unexpected shipping delays that might arise. Who knows -- if things go well, we might even be able to start shipping sooner!

Having successfully completed and fulfilled over two dozen Kickstarter campaigns over the years, we're quite experienced at delivering everything as offered. With over 200 published titles, Magnetic Press is ready to continue that expectation with this particular title. Aside from Force Majeure surprises (pandemics, natural disasters, significant global or domestic shipping disruptions, etc), this should be extremely straightforward. The books themselves are print-ready, and additional production work brought about for this campaign such as stretch goal production and ancillary items will be completed in a timely fashion for a late September 2023 release.

Magnetic Press publishes graphic novels, art books, and tabletop games curated with a focus on internationally recognized content and talent presented with premium production value. The Magnetic brand was founded by writer and video game producer Mike Kennedy in 2013 featuring creators both new and established from around the world, sharing their stories with an English-language audience often for the first time. Their award-winning library includes numerous celebrated titles such as the Love series of wordless wildlife graphic novels, The Collected Toppi artbook series, and several titles by multiple-Eisner Award nominee Tony Sandoval. Magnetic has earned a total of 27 Eisner Award nominations in each of their first seven years of eligibility since their debut. Magnetic also won the Gold Medal of Excellence in the graphic novel category of the 2015 Independent Publisher Awards for Love: The Fox.

Since 2020, Magnetic Press (under the production account Neurobellum Inc) has launched and fulfilled over 25 successful Kickstarter campaigns, producing and shipping over 28,000 pledge packages to satisfied, returning backers. The premium quality of their exclusive boxed sets and deluxe slipcase editions have set the bar for collectible editions.