54 BATMAN & DRACULA
Batman & Dracula: Red Rain is a moody and disturbing graphic novel that posits
what would be the result of Count Dracula’s leaving Transylvania for Gotham City.
Doug Moench was quite familiar with Batman and the other denizens of Gotham, as he
had written both Detective Comics and Batman from 1983 until 1986. He later returned
to write Batman from 1992 to 1998. Artist Kelley Jones also has had a long association
with the Caped Crusader. He illustrated the 1994 Elseworlds graphic novel Batman:
Dark Joker and served as the regular artist on Batman from 1995 to 1998. In 2008,
he returned to the character to illustrate a 12-issue series titled Batman: Gotham After
Midnight , written by Steve Niles. Jones’s exaggerated style is often described as grim
or macabre. His drawings are more reminiscent of classic horror and pulp magazine
illustrations rather than the traditional superhero style.
Th e plot of Batman & Dracula: Red Rain revolves around a series of brutal mur-
ders taking place throughout Gotham City. All of the victims have had their throats
slashed. Batman soon discovers that these crimes are being committed by Dracula and
his minions. He also encounters Tanya, a rogue vampire who was once a member of
Dracula’s clan but ultimately fl ed his brood when she saw him ruthlessly kill an in-
nocent child. Years later she developed artifi cial plasma that allowed her to escape the
vampire’s hideous cycle of killing and creating more undead. Over the course of the
graphic novel, Tanya enlists Bruce Wayne (Batman) to destroy Dracula and begins to
transform the hero into a vampire. Her “blood substitute” imbues Batman with the
physical strength he will need to defeat his enemy and while allowing him to retain his
humanity. Moench’s Count Dracula off ers an interesting perspective on modern society
when he explains to the kidnapped Commissioner Gordon that Gotham has changed
him. He states that the blood of all humans in this modern world is driving him mad
and that he is more dangerous than ever because he no longer cares. His monstrous
transformation is complete as he mutates into an enormous humanoid bat with massive
wings. Bruce Wayne’s exposure to Tanya’s serum has likewise physically transformed
the hero as he has sprouted bat-like wings from his back. Batman and Dracula’s fi nal
confrontation occurs in the Batcave. Tanya and her compatriots battle Dracula’s forces
until Batman detonates several explosives that destroy Wayne Manor and expose his
Batcave to the sunlight, destroying all the vampires within it. Tanya achieves her own
“blessed peace” as she sacrifi ces herself to destroy Dracula’s last follower. Th e fi nal phase
of the battle sees Batman impaling the infamous vampire on a tree that has been de-
stroyed by lightning. Although Dracula has been defeated, it has not come without a
great cost: the Count drained the last of Bruce Wayne’s blood and humanity. Th e con-
clusion showcases the reading of Wayne’s will in which he has bequeathed his entire
fortune to Alfred Pennyworth, his loyal butler. Th e fi nal pages reveal that Bruce Wayne
may be “dead” but that Batman is now fully transformed into a vampire. He assures Pen-
nyworth that, thanks to his new supernatural powers, Batman’s mission to fi ght evil will
now go on forever.
Th e popularity of the Batman and Dracula meeting caused DC Comics to pub-
lish two sequels: Batman: Bloodstorm (1994) and Batman: Crimson Mist (1998). Each
