Stoker & Wells: Order of the Golden Dawn delivers an edge of your seat trip to the endless bounds of the earth in this brand new graphic novel from Steven Peros and Barry Orkin.
Looking for a fun graphic novel to sink your teeth into? Stoker & Wells: Order of the Golden Dawn is a fun read with an absolutely unique and exciting story that pairs Bram Stoker (Dracula) and H.G. Wells (The Time Machine) in a thrilling adventure through time.
The story takes place in 1894 London in the waning years of Victorian England. Bram Stoker is the manager of a theater while H.G. Wells is managing to find himself in hot water with another man’s girlfriend. (She never mentioned her boyfriend, in his defense!) Fate seems to bring these two great men together, only at this point neither man is who we know them to be today. They’re on the precipice of their future greatness, but neither can realize that greatness until something changes.
When Wells is called upon to write a play about a time machine for a wealthy patron, Stoker introduces him to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. They’re a group of well to do folks who enjoy the study of astrology, tarot and astral projection, and Stoker figures that this might provide Wells with the inspiration he needs.
What Stoker doesn’t realize is that this plan will lead them into the hands of one of the order’s most talented members, and when things go awry during an attempt to sneak a peek at a time machine prototype, the adventure truly begins.
The unlikely partnership between Stoker and Wells is immediately endearing as they’re thrown together quite unexpectedly. If not for their introduction at the theater, there’s every reason to believe they may never have come together. Wells’ youthful exuberance balances Stoker’s stoicism, which is a credit to Peros as he breathes new life into the beloved writers.
Barry Orkin brings the story to life with his vivid imagery and an eye for the little details like Stoker’s constantly furrowed brow and Wells’ expressive blue eyes. Orkin captures the underlying grit of Victorian England with ease, but his art really comes alive when the time machine comes to life.
Stoker & Wells follows a long tradition of historical fiction that brings together famous people of the past in works of imaginative speculation. In this case, though, Peros offers a possible (and who knows, maybe plausible?) explanation as to why it took Bram Stoker and H.G. Wells until 1894 to launch their careers: “In 1894, both men had not yet stepped into the shoes of the person they were destined to become. Something was stopping them. I imagined that something to be fear. And in telling a story of how two people get past themselves and become the heroes of their own story, I found the universal theme of Stoker & Wells that would connect it to readers of 2019 and beyond.”
There’s something to that: Stoker published Dracula in 1897 and Wells released The Time Machine in 1895.
Stoker & Wells is a very accessible story that doesn’t need much by way of introduction, and it’s a fun read that will keep readers enthralled the whole time. (You might even be inclined to dust off your copy of The Time Machine after reading it!) If you know who these two literary giants are then you’re right where you need to be, and if you don’t know them it’s fine, too. The interplay between straight man Stoker and brash young Wells is written to perfection, with dialogue that makes sense for the time period while remaining accessible to today’s readers.
Stay tuned, because Bram Stoker and H.G. Wells will be back in Stoker & Wells: The Ashes of Revenge.
Stoker & Wells: Order of the Golden Dawn
Publication Date: October 2019
94 pages
Created and Written by Steven Peros
Illustrated by Barry Orkin
Colored by Chris Summers (pp 1-54) and Studio Haus (pp. 55-94)
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
Edited by J.C. Vaughn
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