Actor/Writer David Dastmalchian Talks The Future His Retro & Subversive Horror Comic

Nothing is what it seems in the pages of Count Crowley. The ongoing comic book series written by actor David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Dune), drawn by Lukas Ketner, and published by Dark Horse wants you to forget everything you think you know about the horror genre and its pantheon of things that go bump in the night.

Vampires can’t be killed with stakes through the heart, silver bullets don’t do jack against werewolves, and lumbering automatons that resemble Hollywood’s iconic depiction of Frankenstein’s Monster are actually walking corpses called Billatombias (or “Billy’s” for short). Our agreed-upon rules for combatting the supernatural have been nothing more than an eons-old propaganda campaign perpetuated by a cabal of immortal bloodsuckers looking to keep humanity as ignorant as possible.

“I loved the idea that we could explore the horror of ‘fake news,’ Dastmalchian tells me. “The monsters in the world of Count Crowley, who have been getting more and more powerful in media, just use ‘fake news’ and fake information to keep people off the trail of the really bad things that they’re doing.”

Moreover, the actor found himself a bit fed up with the fact that popular monster-killing methods are just too darned easy. It was high-time someone ramped up the difficulty settings. “You can’t even kill a vampire in the world of Count Crowley, you can only immobilize one,” he explains. “I wanted to make it sooo hard to stop a werewolf. A zombie, which we call Billatombias…you can’t just do a headshot and take it out. You have to literally sever all of its limbs and its head before the center of the creature dies. So that was really fun for me, kind of like reinventing the monster wheel.”

Following a brief period of uncertainty stemming from the COVID-19 health crisis, Dastmalchian finally received the go-ahead for a second volume of the critically-acclaimed series, which is set to drop its fourth and final issue (at least for the time being) next month. But I might be getting ahead of myself here.

For the uninitiated, Count Crowley takes place in the early 1980s and follows the exploits of Jerri Bartman, a once-respected journalist and current struggling alcoholic who seemingly hits an all-time low when she’s asked to serve as late-night horror host for her family’s local TV station in Missouri.

Entertaining a bunch of insomniacs watching the nightly schlock movie marathon is the least of Jerri’s worries. It turns out her predecessor was an honest to goodness monster hunter who has disappeared and left her with the check. Now, every snarling, neck-biting, and bone-snapping beastie from here to Timbuktu has come to collect.

While the ‘80s are huge in pop culture right now (see: Stranger Things), Dastmalchian didn’t just choose the decade for nostalgic purposes. The malevolent beings in the reality of the comic realized long ago that fighting mortals head-on doesn’t always work out in their favor. Instead of confronting us in the harsh light of day, they remain the shadows, pulling our strings through the manipulation of media.

“[In] 1983, we are at the beginning of a total revolution in the way that news and media and information was shared with people,” Dastmalchian says. “I thought it was a really opportune time to set the story [in] because Jerry’s just a local horror host on a local, small TV station. There used to be these really small, independent TV stations all around the country and the world, but what’s happening is cable and large networks are starting to take over. And as we get to know the vampires, we’ll realize that they’re using their power to raise the financing to start the first 24-hour cable news network.”

The only person Jerri can turn to for help and advice is Vincent Frights, a womanizing, bigoted old geezer and originator of the Count Crowley persona. According to Frights, the only good monster is a dead one. Ms. Bartman begs to differ.

“Jerri is starting to get the idea that maybe there’s another way, especially with a monster like, say, Steven, her friend at AA, who is a werewolf. She’s like, ‘There’s a good person in there. I don’t think he needs to die.’ So we’re going to deal with that,” Dastmalchian says. “We also have this vampire from New York who is doing some recon on what happened to the Billatombia that Jerry killed. She’s gonna have to figure out, ‘How the heck does she keep herself safe around a vampire?’ Or does she? Can she? Is there any way? Is a vampire able to be helped or cured? Is that something possible? Who knows?”

When the conversation turns to a potential series or film adaptation of the comic, Dastmalchian rubs his hands together in excitement. “I believe we are creating and telling a story here that would translate very well into the world of film and television,” he says. “I’m excited to someday see someone — I don’t know who that person would be — donning the the cape.” As for who might oversee the adaptation, his only hope is that it’ll be “someone with the sensibilities of Joe Dante and the insights and writing acumen of someone like Jeremy Slater or the Duffers.”

He continues: “Here I am, a cisgendered, hetero white guy who has written this story about a woman who, ultimately, I think, is queer. And as proud as I am of the story I’ve been able to flesh out in the comic book, I think there are insights into the experience that I would love to have a woman write create and tell the story of Count Crowley when it comes to the movie or TV show. It would be really important to me that they identify as a woman.”

As of this writing, there is no official word on a third volume of the comics, though Dastmalchian is hopeful that the outpouring of fan support will convince Dark Horse to order more tales from this burgeoning universe.

“There’s so much that hasn’t been uncovered yet,” he teases. “So far, we’ve really only explored vampires, werewolves, and Billy’s. There’s all other manner of monsters that we haven’t gotten to see yet. And Jerri’s journey is just beginning. Who is she? What is this calling that she has? What is going on with her fate? That’s all in my mind and I’ve written a lot of scripts to come.”

Fortunately, things won’t end with the fourth issue. Just two weeks after Vol. 2 closes out, Dark Horse will publish a Count Crowley crossover with Steve Niles and E. M. Gist’s Criminal Macabre mythos. “It’s going to be like throwing dynamite and kerosene together,” promises Dastmalchian, who co-wrote the event with Niles. In terms of plot, readers will see Jerri head to sunny Los Angeles for a supernatural romp with hardboiled hero, Cal McDonald.

“Her brother runs the TV station where she’s a horror host. She’s starting to get more and more popular and he really wants to milk that to help benefit the station,” Dastmalchian says of the general premise. “She’s become kind of a quasi-celebrity in the horror host circles. So he sends her to California to go to this horror convention where she’s going to sign autographs and meet fans and it’s the last thing Jerry wants to do … She and Cal crash into each other. It’s fate and the sparks definitely fly.”

Issue #4 of Count Crowley Vol. 2 goes on sale Wednesday, Oct. 12. The trade paperback collection of all four installments will hit stands in early 2023.