So as I searched the internet for obscure comics to highlight. I came across the most peculiar title: Monster-Hunting Dummy.
It started on Webtoon in 2017 with a full chapter spread out in 10 parts, with a second chapter promised by the creator two weeks after the last one. But instead it became a full-fledged comic book in September 2018 by a publisher I’ve never seen before called Rustland Drive. Probably the creator Matt Mann’s portfolio considering I can’t find a hint of its existence. No website or social media presence at all.
Thankfully Monter-Hunting Dummy has enough fans for people to put it on a scan site. Technically illegal, but hey this could turn into a guerrilla marketing move. Because the more I look at this, the more this title looks like a pitch for bigger publishers. Because I would know, I’ve done similar things.
Premise
Anyway, in case you’re one of those people who tattled on the scan sites and don’t know what’s going on, here’s your primer.
The title character Dan had his soul put into a ventriloquist dummy by a monster. Think of him like Chucky but a force for good. Now he works as a Monster Hunter to track down the monster who cursed him in the first place. But he doesn’t seem to be a very good monster hunter. Like when he tried to exorcise a ghost by burning its house down. Not only would that cause legal problems, the ghost ended up possessing a graveyard to try and finish off Dan.
In any case, Dan comes across a young woman on the run from a carny cult.
Alright seriously, this the second time I saw a comic with circus cults; where did this come… Oh…
From what I gathered, the girl Baby Coffin is the daughter of some Lovecraftian nightmare. Much like in Mad Cave’s Show’s End there are occultists trying to use her to get in touch with this monstrosity bent on annihilation.
The Cult of Matt’s Pitch!
The webtoon was received pretty well with a rating of 8.4/10. But it faced a few problems. The biggest is that another Webtoon about a monster-hunting dummy got more attention: The Dummy’s Dummy. No chance of Dan getting the featured pay treatment with Paris around. The artwork and characterizations were just too good in comparison to the generically named pitch.
So Matt Mann had to go a different route, traditional comic books! Full of niches that aren’t really friendly to the occult…
So anyway Mann set up his own company(?) and hired Luciano Vecchio to do an art revision. I’m noticing that Italian artists either put in a lot more effort to make comics with life in them or they do it at cheaper rates than most Americans.
Same action-based plot and pacing, but revised with comic book pages in mind. Also the coloring is a big step up, making the horror aspects more pronounced. This along with some anticipation give a real suspense factor.
Unlike the Webtoon where some of the comedy has to be taken out.
But it’s possible this was just because of page constraints. Or giving Kel Nuttal less lettering to work with.
So yeah, as somebody who struggled and still struggles with making quality comics, Monster-Hunting Dummy became more like a pitch. The polished comic book for example never got past one issue. Speaking from personal experience, making a 20-something page comic book with a cover, logo, lettering and as professionally as possible can cost about $4000. So the minimum issues for a mini-series (4) can cost more than a minimum wage worker’s annual salary. Then you have to consider pacing to make sure the plot isn’t too rushed, etc. etc.
Most of the time you have to save a lot of spare cash to make a followup. Unless you can get picked up by a major publisher with a pitch. And in all of the years since, it looks like Monster-Hunting Dummy isn’t going anywhere. Not enough demand despite the praises it got. And it looks he didn’t have the resources to continue it, less it be more like gambling your life away. Mann probably isn’t much of a social butterfly with the lack of crowdfunding.
Which is why having a fan put this on a scan website was so surprising. Despite the bile this gets, these people can turn this into an opportunity to increase demand for publishers to pick up on. Especially since there’s no legal way to acquire this book without wasting resources. It’s why emulation became the way to go for a lot of old school video games.
So if anyone can get in touch with Matt Mann, maybe tell him his options when it comes to guerrilla marketing.