Interview: David Dastmalchian Discusses the Return of DC’s CREATURE COMMANDOS, the “World’s Weirdest Warriors”

This October, the Creature Commandos are back! The new comic book series, written by David Dastmalchian and with art by Jesus Hervas, harkens back to the original 1980s team of monsters, but takes the story and characters in all-new exciting (and horrific) ways, with twists and turns that have me very excited for future issues.

In my interview with David Dastmalchian, he talks about his longtime love of the Creature Commandos, the creative team, introducing Dr. Barbara West, and what’s in store for this group of monstorous misfits. We also have a 5-page artwork preview you can check out right now!

Why are the Creature Commandos important to you, and how did this series become your DC debut?

David Dastmalchian: Creature Commandos is a team that I discovered very early in my comic book collecting days. I stumbled across them in one of the Weird War Tales from DC, and it immediately spoke my language. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a devotee to all things monsters, and I particularly love Universal Monsters and classic monster themes for werewolves, vampires, invisible people, and reanimated dead bodies in the Frankenstein’s Monster kind of way.

Now, the original arcs of the Creature Commandos were all of that. It was this team of monsters that were assembled and forced, basically, by the government to battle Nazis. What better group is there to take down a bunch of monsters than a bunch of monsters? Visually, it was something that always really spoke to me, and, thematically, it was something that I always thought was just so rad.

Over the years, as my career really developed in the world of film and television with comic book adaptations, I got to build more and more relationships and opportunities. My writing started to really grow from film and TV to comic books, like Count Crowley, and I came up with my own pitch on how to bring the Creature Commandos into the present day.

It’s an idea everyone who reads the book will be able to relate to. We’ve all, at some time or another, felt like there is just something broken within us, and that thing that tends to be seen as something that we are ashamed of and which, in an extreme circumstance, like with Creature Commandos, is something that is viewed as monstrous. There is a world in which, with the right support and with the right opportunity, redemption is possible, and an individual can find purpose and meaning in those afflictions.

So taking that theme and infusing it into the world of DC, which is so rich with so many amazing characters, especially villains, is like my 12-year-old self and my 49-year-old self getting to hang out all the time.

I was so happy to see you revive this Creature Commandos team, and you and DC have also been able to assemble a great creative team for the series. Can you talk about the folks that have joined this project, from the actual issues to variant covers?

David Dastmalchian: How lucky am I? It’s really wild when you think about the fact that Jim Lee was who I first pitched this idea to. Jim, as we all know, is one of the modern masters of the comic book form, and one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. That he loved this idea and got behind it made me feel so incredibly grateful as a writer and as a creator.

Then, he put it in the exceptional hands of Katie Kubert, who has an incredible eye for horror, and she has such a knowledge of comics and storytelling. She’s also directly connected to the original Creature Commandos by way of her grandfather. I presented her with a lot of ideas about the tone, the vision, and the visual world that I wanted us to create. I wanted to find some space between 1980s comic art, classic Frazetta horror-style, and a modern, really artistic take on it.

She introduced the idea and my first script to Jesus Hervas, who is one of the busiest artists in comics right now, and yet he said, “I will make room for this. I’m going to make it happen.” He and the rest of this team have continuously been delivering just one bloodsplattered, gory, beautiful page after the next. It’s the best!

The artwork is really incredible, and the series sits in this sweet spot where it’s clearly horror, but blended with the superhero-style action that you’d expect from DC. And so, whether you’re coming reading this because you’re a fan of DC or a horror fan who hadn’t previously heard of Creature Commandos, there’s something for everyone.

David Dastmalchian: There was a full circle moment because as we were ramping up to release the book, and as we were preparing to go to San Diego Comic-Con to talk about it, I found out that Jim Lee was going to be doing a variant cover for issue one. We released a limited print at San Diego, and now it’s going to be gracing covers in comic shops around the world. And the art is insane. It is just Jim Lee doing monsters in battle, and I can’t believe it! It’s really quite surreal.

This is a “DC Horror Presents” title, so when it comes to the stories and world you’re building, were there any limitations or restrictions, or could you play with whatever characters you wanted?

David Dastmalchian: No, Katie was very supportive, and I wanted to swing big with this first introduction because we have to assemble this team. We have to establish the world in which this team exists, we have to introduce a new character to DC, including Dr. Barbara West, who is a character that I really love. She is deeply committed to her journey as a scientist. She’s being funded by the United States Army Futures Lab in a deeply buried, secretive project. It’s something the government is pretty ashamed of, but they’re using it to run missions that they wouldn’t want the Justice League or anyone else to find out about.

Dr. West truly believes in her M Unit, which some people call the “Monster Unit,” but that’s not what it stands for. It’s “Merge,” and she wants to merge science and the supernatural. She believes the things that we believe are supernatural just haven’t been run through the scientific process yet. And she knows that there’s a way to harness all of that power to help these beings who are so afflicted.

So once our action takes off, and I started getting into the story, and the complexities of this badass battle royal that starts unfolding before our eyes, I reached a crisis in my writing, and I needed someone to help me solve that crisis. I reached out to Katie and asked for approval, and they let me utilize Zatanna to be a character in this world. I know there are so many fans of Zatanna out there, and I can’t wait for everybody to see the way that Jesus has brought her to life in this book, it’s really badass.

I’m excited because, even in the first pages, you’re establishing this large vision for the story. By the end of the first issue, the possibilities seem endless, and you really cleverly tie this into the larger DC world.

David Dastmalchian: It’s really grotesque. And because it’s DC Horror Presents, they let me take my gloves off as a writer, and I put some really gnarly stuff in the scripts. There were very few times that I was asked to… In fact, I really don’t think they ever asked me to dial anything back. There was some stuff we ended up throwing off panel because I think it’s even more fun for the reader’s imagination. But what our villain is up to and the weaponry that’s being developed that the mission is going to ultimately be about is pretty horrifying and pretty horrific. And it is after all DC Horror Presents… it’s like all my favorite things in one beautiful, delicious charcuterie board.

Is this planned as a limited series, is it ongoing with different arcs planned, or is it to be determined?

David Dastmalchian: It is definitely to be determined by you, the monsters out there in the world of comic book land, so please, please give this a shot. I ask that you just try issue one, and if it leaves you hungry for more, if you’re a werewolf or a vampire or whatever it is that feasts on the flesh of good comics, I really believe you’re going to be very satisfied by the way that this story unfolds.

There isn’t an issue that bides its time. In the first arc of the story, I do try to bring my readers some sense of a conclusion or some sense that we’re getting to an important place. But that being said, we’re just getting started, man. Literally, the mad laboratory has just been assembled, we’re just firing up the electrodes, and I want to keep making more. So really, it depends on the appetite that’s out there.

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DC Horror Presents: Creature Commandos #1
(W) David Dastmalchian (A) Jesus Hervas

Release Date: October 2, 2024

“A VAMPIRE, A WEREWOLF, A GORGON, AND AN UNDEAD SOLDIER WALK INTO A GROCERY STORE…AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE! This is the Creature Unit, a team of misfits assembled by a mad…ly talented scientist for a dangerous military mission. In this brand-new era of Creature Commandos penned by Count Crowley creator David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad and Late Night with the Devil), the claws are out, fangs are bared, and blood is spilled–lots of it!”

Tirso Cons Cover:

Jim Lee Cover:

Charlie Adlard Cover: