SDCC ’24: The future of horror comics is in good hands

by Gabriel Neeb

In a joint effort by publishers DSTLRY and Dark Horse, many of today’s best horror writers and artists came together for “The Future of Horror Comics” panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.

Moderated by Bryce Gold of DSTLRY, panelists Tule Lotay (Somna), Becky Cloonan (Somna), James Tynion IV (Spectregraph), Scott Snyder (Book of Evil), and David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley) spent the afternoon discussing their projects for a very receptive audience.

Gold opened the panel by congratulating Lotay and Cloonan for their victories at the Eisner Awards, where their joint DSTLRY series Somna won Best New Series and Cloonan’s “The Kelpie” from the Dark Horse anthology Four Gathered on Christmas Eve won Best Short Story.

Gold then announced DSTLRY’s new one-shot horror anthology Come Find Me, curated by Cloonan and featuring “all her favorite artists” including E.M. Carroll, Molly Mendoza, Céline Loup, and HamletMachine.

Gold asked Cloonan to discuss some of the elements of Somna. Cloonan said she did extensive research into the writings from the 1700s and crafted the story around them. She also detailed her working relationship with Lotay in creating the series: Cloonan drew the ‘real world’ segments, while Lotay illustrated the dream sequences.

The panel then turned to Dastmalchian’s Count Crowley, published by Dark Horse Comics. The protagonist is based on an idea Dastmalchian developed when he was 12 years old and watching horror host Crematia Mortem on TV41 in Kansas City. He liked the idea of a TV horror host who fought actual monsters and kept thinking about the idea… until he saw the 1985 film Fright Night, which dealt with a similar idea.

Dastmalchian put his story on hold. (Now that I think about it, I’m wondering if the world of Count Crowley exists with the characters of Late Night with the Devil, the Dasmalchian vehicle that recently debuted on Shudder). He revived the idea a few years ago and has been working with artist Lukas Ketner (“the Bernie Wrightson of our time”) on the series ever since.

The next project highlighted was DSTLRY’s Book of Evil from Scott Snyder and Jock about a world filled with psychopaths and sociopaths. Snyder developed this idea while trying to escape horror only to find “psychos kept creeping into everything.” Much of the story and world created ask questions like, “Is empathy a vestigial limb?”

Focusing on a cast of children who haven’t been determined to be “normal” or psycho/sociopathic, Snyder described the story as having the feel of Stand By Me but existing in a world where bad behavior is celebrated.

Snyder also writes DSTLRY’s White Boat, drawn by Francesco Francavilla, about a future where the “insane elite” decide to artificially evolve humanity. He described it as inspired by H.G. Wells’s Island of Doctor Moreau with a strong Lovecraftian feel to it.

In November, Snyder and Jock will team up again for the new DSTLRY series You Won’t Feel a Thing. Snyder described it as a psycho-killer with an autobiographical quality. It tells the story of a man who investigated killers for years before early-onset dementia took hold. He’s now in a rest home. However, the first murder he ever investigated returns in his life and he realizes the killer responsible may have never gone away in the first place.

Snyder described the autobiographical quality as relating to the demands of writing that keep him busy and away from his family, and the ensuing internal conflict he’s dealing with.

Last but not least, the panel turned Tynion, who was eager to discuss his series Spectregraph (art by Christian Ward and letters by Aditya Bidikar). This “spooky house” story follows someone who spent his life trying to prove ghosts exist… and once he found they don’t exist, he tries to figure out a way to make them exist. The series focuses on a real estate agent trying to make a quick sale and everything that ensues.

After each panelist talked about their work, Gold opened the floor to questions. The first question was about how much of the human element creators felt they should focus on. Tynion said he starts with the human level to build the necessary tension of a scene.

The next question was about the ‘line’ between thematic interests and the grotesques of a horror story. Cloonan said she finds it best to leave things to the reader’s imagination.

Another question was about recent films that may have influenced the creators. Dastmalchian said he’d been very impressed by several films like When Evil Lurks and Exhuma, along with the works of Jordan Peele and Ari Aster. Tynion said it’s hard to nail down anything but he expressed an appreciation for “sleepover horror” like M3GAN and the recent Abigail.

Lotay added that she was pleased by the emergence of more women directors on horror films like Relic, Saint Maud, and (a favorite of hers from the UK) Censor. Tynion threw out one last selection: I Saw the TV Glow.

One of the last questions was about earlier horror comics that may have inspired some of the works discussed during the panel. Dastmalchian immediately jumped in Werewolf By Night and Tomb of Dracula. Cloonan suggested the manga Blood on the Tracks by Shuzo Oshimi (“so fucked up,” in her words). Finally, in a masterful level of circular reasoning, Lotay was influenced by the dream-focused Domu by Katsuhiro Otomo.

Stay tuned for more SDCC ’24 coverage from The Beat.