Once in a while, something will come along and completely grab your attention and take notice. That’s what Count Crowley has done. In its short time on the shelves and being a mini-series, fans from all over have flocked to conventions and their LCS to get a glimpse at the Count. Please join us for a ghoulish discussion with David Dastmalchian, creator of Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter!

Comic Watch: Let’s go back to a young David and the first time you picked up a comic or monster magazine. What was it, and when did you feel that spark ignite for creating comics?

David Dastmalchian: The VERY first comic I ever bought was the Avengers #249. Demons-Storm Vs a pretty rad assemblage of Avengers including She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp and some help from the Four and Thor. I remember obsessing over that cover art and trying to trace the image with some thin typing paper. This comic was reluctantly purchased for me off of a spinning rack by my parents at a convenience store but it led me to the discovery of my local comics shop, Clint’s Books in KC! I was a huge fan of DC villains and Marvel heroes so I used to make my own comics where I would pair up a DC villain and a Marvel hero. (I loved my Cheetah Vs. Tigra battles FYI).

CW: With your wide range of roles that you’ve done in both movies and television, did you find yourself drawing inspiration from roles past when starting Count Crowley?

DD: One of the things that has always added to the excitement and challenge of my work as an actor has been exploring the murkier, gray area of morality and ethics in human behavior. I have been so lucky to play so many wonderful characters who are racked with moral conundrums and complicated ethical dilemmas. I wanted Jerri to be a hero who is her own worst enemy, an individual that people can relate to and will hopefully cheer for even though she is a train wreck of destruction.

CW: Regarding the creative process between you, Lukas Ketner, and Lauren Affe…did you have a feeling of the direction you wanted to go in regards to getting that 70’s/80’s Monster magazine feel, or did Lukas and Lauren just take the wheel and just go?

DD: Before I knew that Dark Horse was going to make Count Crowley and long before my first meeting with editor, Megan Walker, I had created extensive “mood boards” and vision books for the way that I wanted Crowley to look and feel. I had assembled hundreds of images from the classic Creepy, EC, Ghost Castle, etc world and was envisioning a mash-up of the legendary iconography of artists like Bernie Wrightson or Al Feldstein with some artists I love like Cat Staggs, Joelle Jones and Carl Moline. Once I met Megan Walker and told her about my vision, she suggested Lukas. I was a huge fan of his work on Witch Doctor and was very excited by the prospect of his involvement. We sent him the script for Issue 1 and I was very nervous. Within about 24 hours, Lukas had responded with some initial sketches and a glowing, enthusiastic response to the idea. It’s no exaggeration that I had tears in my eyes when I opened that email and saw that renderings of Jerri that Lukas created. I had been imagining this character for 30 years and suddenly she was looking back at me. After Lukas got into the work and we developed a wonderful short-hand about the look and feel of the comic. Megan understood exactly the goal as my descriptions of both color and lettering were shared with the team. She introduced my to Lauren Affe who has brought such a dynamic and gorgeous palette to the book and Frank Cvetkovic who has made some really classic and specific choices with his letters. I’m a kid in a candy store.