#Spooktober ‘Count Crowley, Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter’ by David Dastmalchian, Lukas Ketner, Lauren Affe and Frank Cvetrovic

About the book…

Jerri Bartman never imagined herself dressed up like a ghoul, hosting the late-night creature feature in her small hometown of Beloit, Missouri. Of course, she never imagined that she might be an alcoholic… or the fact that monsters are real.

Not only are these the sobering facts, but Jerri seems to be the only person capable of battling the growing threat of zombies, werewolves, and vampires spinning fake news into the world. Reluctantly embracing her mission as a monster hunter, Jerri will have to swallow her pride, lace up her combat boots, and figure out the real way to slay the stalking creatures of the night.

Was I going to buy the follow up graphic novel to ‘Count Crowley Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter’? Absolutely.

Will I rave about it as much as I did in my review , here? 

But of course!

The collected issues 1-4 of Count Crowley’s second outing, this time she has progressed to ‘Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter’, are available from all good graphic novel suppliers, published by Dark Horse Comics.

A certain amount of acceptance accompanies our heroine’s journey from addict to entering recovery, from journalist to tv show figurehead and monster killer. It’s a transition, for sure, accompanied with an understanding that there is a lack of knowledge handed down with this title, which is rubbed in her face by both Rich Barnes-the first Count Crowley-and the  monsters themselves.

They are re-writing the rules to the vintage cult horror films on which many of us are weaned, so not only does she, in a sense, have to unlearn what is readily assumed as cultural certainties, such as how to kill a vampire, she has to learn to trust which is next to impossible when she doesn’t trust herself to keep to the straight and narrow on a daily basis.

As she negotiates her way through the reality she lives in in 1980’s America, there is a neat parallel between then and now regarding the dissemination of knowledge, and ‘fake news’, a concept with which we are all too sadly familiar these days.

It circles back around to trust, in a pre-internet reality where the people who read, and control the visual media , control what they want the majority of the country to believe in. And for the small tv station which is run by Jerri’s brother, the stakes are pretty high as a corporate takeover by a much larger company with a vested interest in Count Crowley , is circling…

Jerri is having to learn on the job, using her journalistic instincts to pick apart a narrative which she has been thrust into, which, to all intents and purposes , looks like a folie a deux between her and previous Count, Rich, who is now ensconced in the type of old people’s facilities which have locked doors. For their protection and your own..

The rules of the game are something she is not privy to, as she is not Appointed like Rich and his still missing partner, but here we get some back story filled in on how Rich came to know about werewolves during his time in Germany , during World War 2.

On top of this, she is still attending AA meetings, ably supported by her cat whose judgy looks and paw skills removes temptation when she is weak. A four legged furry support system who provides her with a  semblance of reality in someone to come home to whilst she transitions.

It’s also deeply funny, which intensifies how moving the narrative is-Jerri is responsible for keeping herself and others safe from monsters which she knows are real, whilst there are those who hide behind the mask of a human face, all the while paradoxically, she masks up in order to present monsters which hark back to a simpler time.

The deep and redolent colour work is sublime, it makes the fabric look stroke able, the blood appear sticky, you know exactly how it would stick to your shoes, and the monsters have this sickly, subhuman glow . The shadows highlight the details in Jerri’s face, making her feel like a ghost walking through her own nightmare, whilst her stance is so physically present that she grounds herself in both the boxes of the comic and the reader’s subconscious. She kicks and screams off the page, in her retro wardrobe that has neat twists. For example, she wears , I think, a replica of Michael Jackson’s Thriller jacket, and her leather and denim look not only reflects the time it is set in, it creates a costume of sorts that presents her as the monster hunter she is growing into.

All this rambling is to say that this is a book created in love, with passion and an eye for detail you don’t always come across. It is a love letter to retro horror with a very modern feel, the quality of the book that you hold in your hand instantly tells you this is something to get excited about, something to shout about .

The monsters, and the guides/narrators which introduce each chapter are again, retro fitted to be like those characters which introduced the EC Comics of the fifties, but with a style which shows it is an homage, not a parody or flagrant copy. I was genuinely excited by the way in which traditional tropes were both incorporated into, and then taken further, by the shapes of the beasts as they strode through the pages. The confluence between story, art, colour and ink is truly magical when it all comes together as it does here, each complementing the other seamlessly.

The over arching story about Rich’s missing partner, the mysterious letters to monsters alerting them to the danger of Count Crowley, and the  society who appoint hunters to protect society at large, are taken a bit further in this collection, but there is still room to grow in this burgeoning world.

And that gives me hope, as well as the fact that Volume 3 is already available to pre-order, that this series will run and run…

About the author…

David Dastmalchian is an American actor who has acted in TV, films, as well as theater. Born in Pennsylvania in the United States, and raised in Kansas, he began his film career playing a minor role in Christopher’s Nolan hit film ‘The Dark Knight’. The film was a huge success, critically as well as commercially.

His most significant works include his lead role in the psychological thriller film ‘The Employer’. The film, which was directed by Frank Merle, was a success and received positive reviews from critics. It also won several awards. Dastmalchian played a supporting role in the superhero film ‘Ant-Man’ which also earned him critical acclaim. The film was a huge commercial success. Also a proficient theater actor, he is known for his roles in plays, such as ‘The Glass Menagerie’ by Tennessee Williams and ‘Buried Child’ by Sam Shepard. Over the course of his career so far, he has also played guest roles in several popular TV shows, such as ‘Ray Donovan’, ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ and ‘Gotham’.

Twitter @Dastmalchian @DarkHorseComics

Lukas Ketner  is a Portland-based illustrator and comic book artist.

He is the co-creator of the comic book series ‘Witch Doctor’, and sometimes eats erasers while drawing.

Twitter @LukasKetner

Links-http://lukasketner.com/ /Twitter @LukasKetner

Lauren Affe is here, certainly there, but also everywhere. She is very fortunate to work with many talented people.

Including Darkhorse Comics and Boom! By.

Lauren Affe is a comic book colorist. A colorist is usually the last person to work on the artwork after it has been drawn (in pencil or digitally) and then inked.

Most cartoonists don’t color their own work. With comics, thanks to the endless choices available in digital and high-quality print, colorists have become increasingly important and autonomous.

Twitter @laurenaffe  / Links-https://www.laurenaffe.com/

Frank Cvetovic

Frank Cvetkovic is a comic book letterer who hates when people assume that all he does is put words in bubbles. There’s a little more to the job than that. For instance, sometimes he puts them in boxes. His work can be seen in Beast Heart! Strikers, Blink, and The Airless Year.

Twitter @GoFrankGo