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DF Interview: Cullen Bunn transforms an exorcism-gone-wrong into a new horror-comedy in ‘Lucky Devil’ By Byron Brewer A down-on-his-luck schlub is possessed by a malevolent demon. Just when he thinks things can't get worse, the exorcism goes wrong . . . and he finds that somehow he's retained all of the entity's supernatural gifts. After a path of revenge on all the people that have wronged him, he begins to gather worshippers and form a cult. But the legions of Hell don't take kindly to this, and they send demonic agents to murder the schlub-turned-god before he gains too much power. From Dark Horse Comics comes Lucky Devil by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Fran Galan, I wanted to do another deep dive for you, so I chatted this book up with my friend, author Cullen Bunn. Byron Brewer: Cullen, just when I think you have covered and combined just about everything that can be done with horror as a genre, this is new to me: an exorcism gone awry! What was the genesis of the new miniseries coming from you and artist Fran Galan, Lucky Devil? Cullen Bunn: I’ve always loved horror/comedy, since the early days of watching movies like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and, later, Evil Dead 2 and House. I love the idea of playing in both those genres and giving both of those genres their due. I also love stories where a simple, average person is suddenly shouldered with incredible responsibility. It’s a classic! But, I started to think, what if that person was given evil power? And what would such power do to someone, even if they were trying to do good with it? BB: Give us an expanded elevator pitch on the coming book. Cullen Bunn: In Lucky Devil, we meet Stanley, an ordinary guy with ordinary guy troubles. A dead-end job he hates. An unfaithful girlfriend he loves. A tendency to let everyone walk all over him. This downtrodden life makes Stanley the perfect candidate for possession by a demonic spirit, which begins unleashing pure chaos and misery on the world. In a moment of lucidity, Stanley approaches a bargain basement exorcist for help. The exorcist manages to expel the evil spirit, but the procedure somehow leaves all of the demon’s powers with Stanley. With those powers at his disposal, Stanley starts to take control of his life. He also starts a kind of religious movement. But the powers of Hell do not approve of a mortal wielding such authority. BB: So how hard is it to do a genre mashup with horror and comedy on the comic book page, to insure one doesn’t become dominant over the other? Cullen Bunn: There’s always a little give and take, you know? There are moments that lean more into comedy. Then there are moments that lean more into horror. The important thing for me is that the horrific elements are never played for laughs. The horror is always dangerous and frightening. How the characters react to it, though, could very well present some comedy into the story. This is a dark comedy, and I don’t shy away from the darkness. BB: Introduce readers to your key protagonist, a downtrodden everyman named Stanley. Cullen Bunn: I think Stanley will be easily recognizable to readers, because there are times in everyone’s life when they feel like him, both before he has any power and after he acquires his gifts. He’s a guy who had no power at all. And now he has incredible power and influence. That’s a lot of pressure that could easily crush someone. Seeing how he deals with it—and how he deals with the idea that he is using evil to improve his world—is all part of the fun! BB: This may be the first time I’ve seen a character get on the wrong side of demon lords by doing evil acts. How do those of the inferno react to this? Something I heard about demonic assassins? Cullen Bunn: Oh, yeah. You’d think the infernal powers would approve of Stanley’s behavior. But it is Stanley’s message to the world—which I won’t spoil here—that troubles Hell. He’s spreading thoughts and ideas that the demons simply cannot abide. And, yes, they send their minions into the world to do Stanley in. As you can imagine, Hell is just full of assassin types. BB: All this going on and Stanley is worried about… his new girlfriend?! Cullen Bunn: Stanley meets Dez at a support group for people who have suffered through demonic possession. They have an instant connection, and Dez becomes Stanley’s biggest supporter and source of encouragement as he sets out on his mission to build a new religious power in the world. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day when you’re forming your own infernal church, though, so Stanley has to make time to support his relationship. He also has to worry about those aforementioned demonic assassins, because they’re not just coming for Stanley. BB: Talk about the awesome art of Fran Galan. Cullen Bunn: Fran and I worked together on Knights Temporal for AfterShock, and I knew I wanted to do something new with him after that project wrapped up. While we were working on Knights, I had this idea that Fran, with his skill at depicting monsters and violence as well as his amazing character interpretations, might be perfect for a horror/comedy mashup. That realization is what got me thinking about doing a book like this and set me down the spiraling path of brainstorming the book. He just has a knack for comedy and horror and comedic horror and horrific comedy. He brings the cast—because we’re dealing with many characters other than Stanley—to life in such an amazing way. BB: Cullen, what else is coming from your kinetic keyboard in the near-future you can tell readers about? Cullen Bunn: Always more books! I’ve got several more unannounced comics in the works right now, as well as announced comics like The Ghoul Next Door (HarperCollins, July 13), Parasomnia, Tales from Harrow County: Fair Folk, and others. A great way to keep up with all the new stuff is to follow my e-newsletter or join my Discord server. You can follow all the links you’ll ever need about me at https://linktr.ee/cullenbunn Dynamic Forces would like to thank Cullen Bunn for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Lucky Devil #1 from Dark Horse Comics is slated to be on sale August 4th! For more news and up-to-date announcements, join us here at Dynamic Forces, www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/, “LIKE” us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dynamicforcesinc, and follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/dynamicforces. ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: SCREAM #1 SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN DUAL PACK! ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: SCREAM #1 SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN! MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1 SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN DUAL PACK! MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1 SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN! DEADPOOL: SPECIAL MISSIONS #1 SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN VENOMVERSE #1 ULTRA-LIMITED SYMBIOTE SILVER EDITION - SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN X-MEN: BLUE #1 SKOTTIE YOUNG VARIANT ULTRA-LIMITED BLUE SIGNATURE SERIES SIGNED BY CULLEN BUNN
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