Count Crowley Writer Sets Up The Next Amateur Monster Hunt
When Jerri Bartman's life spun out of control, the famed horror icon Count Crowley (and Dark Horse Comics) were gifted their newest warrior against the supernatural forces of darkness. And now that the first mission hasn't killed her, Jerri is back with an official promotion to Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter.
The brainchild of writer/actor David Dastmalchian, the first run of Dark Horse's Count Crowley comic earned accolades thanks to the scribe's clear love of classic horror, bolstered by the talents of artists Lucas Ketner, Lauren Affe, and letterer Frank Cvetkovic. But if a washed-up reporter's reluctant shift into after-hours monster-slaying seemed to be the lifeline she so desperately needed, it sounds like the sequel series will be the exact opposite. As a werewolf hunt and a mysterious vampire threaten to invade Crowley's home of Beloit, Missouri, Dastmalchian is giving Screen Rant a taste of the horrors to come when Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter #1 arrives on March 23. Read our full interview below.
Screen Rant: First off, I have to ask if the fan response to Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter has been what you hoped (or dreamed)? Especially since it is not simply a fun horror story, but one playing some seriously personal and beloved chords in terms of inspiration?
David Dastmalchian: The fan response has been beyond my wildest dreams. When we first released Issue One and the fan art began to appear online, I was astounded. Then I started seeing the Cosplay and the fan fiction and received numerous messages and letters from people who have responded so strongly to Count Crowley. It’s been so rewarding to get messages from young people to folks who’ve been collecting comics and watching horror movies for sixty plus years! I’m so grateful that so many people have been willing to go on this adventure with us. Putting myself out there so publicly as far as my own struggles with addiction and mental illness was really scary and yet the fans continue to make me feel grateful that I was able to speak and write so openly about my own… ‘monsters.'
SR: I don’t want to imply that nostalgia or homage is taking the spotlight, since it’s the original, inventive, and instantly endearing parts of the story that I think pack the biggest punch. Jerri Bartman is definitely the best example of that, so in what direction is she stepping with Series II?
DD: I love that the nostalgia, the setting the backdrop of our story can provide so much wonderful dressing for this lo-fi story which, by necessity, predates the super digital world of the internet and cell phones. I set the comic in the specific year that I did on purpose when given the context of how mass media presented to the news to the public. The world is on the advent of a very important shift for television and journalism as our story begins and this play heavily into Jerri’s battle against evil. She is about to fully embrace her mission to battle monsters. At first, this will be in the interest of protecting her family. But eventually… she could be having to protect us ALL!
SR: Readers would assume from the first issues that your vision and Lukas Ketner’s are lock-step (along with Lauren Affe, and Frank Cvetkovic). But comic fans know to look forward to creative teams who keep collaborating, and the elevation that so often brings in both directions. Safe to say Lukas is dialing things up for Series II?
DD: I am so lucky that I have my WHOLE team back together! Editor Megan Walker, as well as Lukas, Lauren and Frank are ALL back and they are working at the top of their game. Lukas has a talent that reminds me so much of Bernie Wrightson and he is just getting better and better. I really challenged him with these new scripts and he always rose to and soared above that challenge. We pushed some serious bounds this time around in regards to some of the violence and gore we’ve put into frame. I don’t want to be gratuitous but I really think we needed to be as explicit as possible with some of the horror that Jerri is going to confront.
SR: Last time we spoke about Count Crowley, you warned that the Billy’s message at the end of Issue #4 would “summon a force of evil to Beloit,” but stopped short on specifics. In this story, that could describe both monsters and network executives, so what else can you tease?
DD: Well, what could be any more terrifying than network executives….? How about VAMPIRES?! Readers are going to learn along with Jerri that vampires are not so simply defined as we’ve been taught and they are certainly not as simply defeated as we’ve been led to believe.
SR: The first series had some fun with introducing or hinting at familiar monsters (or monster ‘types’), but with new twists or details suggesting readers – like Jerri – have been misinformed. Is that something you specifically enjoy, and is that going to continue into this new ‘level’ of monsters?
DD: I have been terrified in our current social and political climate at how easily misinformation has been able to snake through the minds of consumers who are vulnerable to unverified data amongst the wasteland of social media. By simply decrying inconvenient facts “fake news” we’ve seen our entire government practically toppled by embittered election losses and attacks against science and education. Since monsters and the forces of evil are well aware of how easily the minds of men can be swayed by these seeds of disinformation, it’s no wonder we all have no idea how to actually stop a werewolf!
SR: In the first Count Crowley trade paperback, you quote Emil Ferris from My Favorite Thing is Monsters, and her idea that “good monsters” are scary looking, while the truly “bad monsters want the world to look the way they want it to.” That idea can take shape in classic horror or social commentary, so how important was that idea for you when shaping this setting and story?
DD: First of all, if you’re reading this interview and you don’t own Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing is Monsters, you need to open a new tab and go buy the book. Rush that shipping. You’ll thank me later. Second of all, I went into writing Count Crowley with the mission of swimming in the murky waters where “good” and “bad” monsters can easily be mistaken for one another. I’m nearly 20 years clean and sober right now, and I know that in the throes of my addiction and mental illness, I was very easily discarded by society into the “human refuse” pile. But what if I HAD been thrown away, essentially destroyed by it all? It’s so easy to dismiss those who have the outward appearance and behavior of monsters, when just some compassion, empathy, and communication can be the difference between life and death.
SR: For Jerri in particular, a mission or purpose seems to be what she needs to believe in herself again, but in the last way anyone might expect, the knobby old Vincent Fright’s sexism seemed to offer just the push she needed in her first monster hunt. I wouldn’t want anything spoiled, but Vincent seems poised to take a really fun role going forward.
DD: Vincent is a vital key in Jerri’s journey as a monster hunter. But, man, that old key is a skeleton key. He’s a gnarly, nasty, misogynist of a key with a huge wealth of knowledge about monsters, a horrible attitude towards women and a bad case of the gout.
SR: Was there anything from these coming issues that you were particularly glad to get into the story, once given the green light for a Series II? With werewolves, vampires, and all other manner of monsters at your disposal, how do you choose what to dig into first?
DD: I was so excited to dig into the mythology and “rules” of lycanthropy and vampirism in these coming issues. I have always had some problems with the rules of these monsters and wanted to get a little deeper into the logic of questions like, “How to do you stop a werewolf?” Boy, oh boy, do we get into all of that in these upcoming issues!
SR: Since you have invited the question with your own recent roles -- not just Count Crowley’s werewolves, but Marvel’s What If...? zombies, and Last Voyage of the Demeter’s famous vampire – what order do you rank this horror trio hierarchy? Any metric or logic you choose.
DD: You must climb aboard the cursed ship, Demeter, as you sail off the coast of a cursed land where zombies have devoured your last heroes, and sit under the light of the moon as you read the pages of our new Count Crowley: AMATEUR Midnight Monster Hunter! I hope you enjoy it!
Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter #1 will arrive in your local comic book shops, and digitally, on March 23, 2022.