In the space of two years, University of Chicago Professor Rachel Fulton Brown and the Dragon Common Room produced two epic poems. Now, they are back at it with an upcoming five-act Christian graphic novel—Draco Alchemicus—that, to quote Fulton Brown, will “tell Christ’s story in a way that the world can hear.”
Acts entitled “The Casino,” “The Court,” “The Market,” “The Carnival,” and “The Wedding” will cover protagonist Damian Stone’s effort to kill a dragon that “controls . . . citizens with vice, guarding its hoard of treasure with cruel jealousy.” Complicating Damian’s task, the dragon is a seducer in chief who tempts everyone like the serpent in the garden and Satan in the wilderness: “no one can resist the magnetism of the Dragon’s gaze.”
Underpinning the narrative of Draco Alchemicus is an eclectic bibliography befitting an academic paper. The very first text that the Dragon Common Room cites is the Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, and other selections include the handiwork of greats like G. K. Chesterton, René Girard, and C. S. Lewis.
Thinker alumnus Matthew Heck (‘22) and I interviewed Fulton Brown to get the full down low on her upcoming graphic novel—dragons, literary subtext, and all. We learned that to fund her project, she is stewarding an ongoing fundraising campaign that ends June 20.
Fulton Brown’s goal is to raise as close to $20,000 as possible, which would allow her to fund all five acts in one fell swoop. Depending on his contribution amount, a donor can get everything from a copy of the graphic novel to a “cameo” in the final product.