(View entire post here)

Many of you have wondered how accurate is our depiction of Vlad the Impaler.  The quick answer is that our graphic novel is filled with factual happenings, but it is also a work of fiction. Ernie Colon and myself imagined the kind of private life such a man would have lived and shaped that into our story.

To begin with, Vlad and his brother Radu were truly left in the hands of Sultan Murad of the Ottoman Empire by their father, the elder Vlad This was part of the price for the Sultan's help in gaining the throne of Wallachia. Young Vlad and Radu did indeed become  janissaries of the sultan's.  And Vlad later did have the sultan's aid in his attempt to gain the throne of Wallachia.

These kind of historical details are accurately portrayed here, from Vlad's and Radu's beginnings to the crucial battle between the two brothers and to the astounding final outcome of Vlad's epic adventure. The man's life was thoroughly researched, and as gory as the book seems to be, that is how it happened---and, yes, as gory as it still is happening today.

Some weeks ago, a publication asked me what was the most amazing thing I learned from researching the life of Vlad.  The following is what I told them...

I had recently met two native Romanian women and shyly told them that I was working on a graphic novel concerning the life of Vlad the Impaler. The eyes of both of them lit up. "Oh, yes," one of them cried. "He is one of our greatest heroes.  We learn about him in school."

"But do you learn ALL about him?" I asked in astonishment.  "Do you know about the thousands he impaled? And," I was about to continue with a list of his further atrocities, when she smiled, nodded and interrupted me saying, "Of course, that was how he protected us."

Dumbfounded, I kept quiet. And realized that it was simply a matter of perspective.

So when you read "Vlad the Impaler," please make up your own mind.

Vlad the Impaler Dracula Sid Jacobson Hudson Street Press Bram Stoker