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Kerry fights "Dracula" in Vietnam

By Mark Rahner
Seattle Times staff reporter

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in his younger days battles a vampire in Issue 5 of "Sword of Dracula."

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Kerry doesn't drive a stake through Nixon's heart, and his appearance as a swift-boat skipper in the Mekong Delta is just a flashback within the modern-day "military horror" story — in which writer Jason Henderson reimagines Drac as the world's foremost terrorist.

Combining Bram Stoker's source novel with the real Romanian prince, and a drop of Japanese animé influence, Henderson, 32, says from his Austin, Texas, crypt, "This is the guy, who in the 15th century was the greatest war criminal of all time. If he were alive today, he'd be a nightmare of a character."

Issue 5 of the six-issue arc just hit the stands (check your neighborhood comic shop or www.swordofdracula.com). Vampire-hunter Ronnie Van Helsing has captured her nemesis, but springs him to face an even greater horror.

The black-and-white interior pages started as a cost-cutting measure, Henderson says. But producers of the "Die Hard" series and the coming "Spy Hunter" movie have optioned it, and a "Sword" video game is in the works.

Henderson says Kerry will be back, "because we're going to have to find out what happened in 1968." But why use him in the first place?

"I didn't put Kerry in to push a leftist doctrine. I just thought people deserved to remember that this man, when he was a young man, actually walked away from a wealthy and comfortable life and went to a place where there were pieces of metal flying around that could tear you apart."

Henderson hadn't planned to make George W. Bush into a character but says, "I do believe in equal time."

If fans want to see the president during his Air National Guard stint, Henderson says he's game, and considers the possibilities: "... stuffing envelopes?"

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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