Sunday Mailbag: You Forgot Gerard Butler…

Q: I love your “Dracula” print, but you forgot to include Gerard Butler, who played him in “Dracula 2000”, and what is Grandpa Munster doing in there?

A: I get this or similar questions especially at comic cons, usually from some smug know-it-all that thinks they are being clever and catching me screwing up somehow.

I didn’t forget to include Gerard Butler (although I wish I could forget I ever saw “Dracula 2000”), I left him out on purpose. I also left out Udo Kier, and John Carradine, and Lorne Green and most of the other 77 actors who have played Dracula in films or television because otherwise that print would be just under 20 feet long. Obviously I had to pick and choose which Draculas I was to include. Dracula has the Guinness World Book of Records title for most portrayed fictional character, having appeared in over 272 films not to mention TV and other media.

I get similar comments about my Sherlock Holmes print. Holmes has the Guinness World Book of Records title for most portrayed HUMAN fictional character with over 70 actors who have played him in film and many more on stage, TV etc.

So why did I pick who I picked? I consulted with some experts on the characters as to what portrayals are considered “iconic” and need to be included from a mega-fan’s perspective. After that I tried to pick out examples from different eras and featuring actors whose portrayal was noteworthy for either being especially good or unique, or because they were famous for other roles and few people remember they played this character, or because I thought their portrayal especially ripe for being lampooned a bit. If I left out your favorite… my apologies.

As to why “Grandpa Munster” is included… That’s not Grandpa “Munster”. He was Lily’s father, so he’s just “Grandpa”. In fact, I was told by a fiend of mine who is a big horror movie/TV buff that Grandpa is actually Dracula. He’s referred to as “The Count” and “Count Dracula” a few times in the original series and specifically as “Vladamir Dracula” in the late 80’s early 90’s revival series “The Munsters Today” More importantly, The Munsters was produced by Universal, which is why they were able to use the copyrighted Frankenstein’s monster makeup and the Bela Lugosi outfit.

Thanks to name withheld for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!