OPERATION: IRON COFFIN #1 / Written by KENNY PORTER / Art and Colors by TYRELL CANNON / Letters by SHAWN LEE / Covers by TYRELL CANNON, JUAN FERREYRA, EDISON NEO & SERENA MERCADO / Published by IDW DARK

Operation: Iron Coffin is built around a simple B-movie premise. An armored train housing a laboratory full of Nazi mad scientists is assaulted by Dracula. Had it been kept to that, this would be an amusing bit of horror. However, Operation: Iron Coffin is much more than that.

The script by Kenny Porter dives deeply into Dracula’s motivations, explaining just why the most infamous monster of all time is fighting Nazis on behalf of the Allied Forces. The answer involves a quest for redemption and Dracula being restored to life through a Faustian bargain that will spare him Hell should he manage to kill all the evil born of his wickedness. Of course, like with all Faustian bargains, there is an unexpected twist and Dracula finds his humanity restored with his life.

This makes the task before him all the harder, as the full weight of his misdeeds hits him with every innocent accidentally turned he must slay to save their souls. This leads to some great scenes, such as Dracula’s speech regarding the difference between a monster and a devil and his effort to try and get one scared soldier to repent his loyalty to the Nazi regime.

This exploration of humanity and what it means to be redeemed is a welcome surprise. But fear not, horror fans! There is also plenty of Nazi-killing action and that action is astoundingly brought to life (or death, as it were) by Tyrell Cannon. Cannon’s style is raw and visceral, as befits such a bloody tale. The action is exaggerated, with Dracula’s limbs seeming to elongated as he moves, hair whipping about as his claws reach to a new target. This emphasizes Dracula’s monstrous nature, though more realistic proportions are used in the quieter moments.

Operation: Iron Coffin #1 surprised me. I had expected midnight movie shlock, but instead I got art. Fans of vampire horror and WWII will love it, but this is one comic which everyone should sink their teeth into.

Operation: Iron Coffin #1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on July 8, 2026.