Jonathan Harker

Jonathan Harker is a recently licensed solicitor, which is a type of lawyer. At the time, a solicitor was one of two types of lawyers, not licensed to speak in court, but instead handling all sorts of day to day legal matters, including real estate deals. Jonathan has been taken in by a successful, experienced solicitor, Peter Hawkins, who has fallen ill. Going to Transylvania on his mentor's business is his first real job as a real lawyer. He's left his fiancee, Mina Murray, back in England to do this, and plans on marrying her when he returns. As an intelligent, proper and responsible young fellow, he can look forward to a happy, bright future. At least, so he hopes.

When I started the project, I intended Jonathan to be a fox. Like many young people, self included, who're just starting out on their own, he's nervous about his ability to do the task at hand. As a lawyer, cunning and foresight are important qualities to possess, and for that reason, I pegged him as a fox, and went about drawing the comic.

He didn't look like a fox. People kept asking me if he was a coyote, and I explained that away. But he really did look like a coyote, and looked more and more coyote-ish the more I found myself identifying with the character. I have a particular fondness for coyotes, and see them as my personal animal. I've decided to run with it.

Jonathan is still learning who he is. He hasn't seen much of the world, despite a rough childhood. His parents are dead, and he was raised by his mentor. It's only until we're into the story that Mr. Hawkins tells Jonathan he sees him as a son, though he also says he's known Mina and Jonathan since they were children. In my mind, then, Jonathan spent a portion of his childhood in an orphanage, and never really found a permenant home until recently, probably begining to work for Mr. Hawkins in his teens. Mina never knew her parents, and perhaps they share a common loss. Both are middle class by virtue of their own hard work and ability, not by birth. Unlike Mina, who is not only the much wealthier Lucy's best friend, but also befriends Lucy's three suitors, Jonathan remains somewhat distant from the group. His connection to them is only through Mina, and Mina's struggles. Perhaps he quietly resents the others for their status, or is simply shy around them for the same.

What happens to him in Transylvania certainly taxed him, and compared to the others, he's not very active in the fight against Dracula. An interesting way to view the story is as Jonathan's dream. In that regard, everyone and everything in the story is an aspect of Jonathan, and Dracula is Jonathan's shadow. The more powerful and active Dracula becomes, the weaker Jonathan becomes. The younger Dracula gets, the more Jonathan seems to age and withdraw. The strange relationship between Jonathan and Dracula will show itself throughout the story. Regardless of dream interpretations and whatnot, there is some connection between the two, one that drives Dracula to attack Lucy and later his wife.