Comixology Originals and Stout Club Entertainment’s Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story comic series delivers a historical glimpse into crime and horror centered on a fear that we all have: going to the dentist.
The five-issue series written by Rafael Scavone (with art and colors by Eduardo Ferigato) is a follow-up to the previous Hailstone series, once again set in the isolated Montana town during the Great Depression.
We spoke to Scavone all about the new series (issue #1 is out now on Comixology) in this exclusive interview with the writer.
Your follow up to Hailstone is set in the Great Depression versus the Civil War last time. How did this change your storytelling and approach to the new installment in the series?
Rafael Scavone: I think it changed the tone of the story. In Hailstone Vol 1, the protagonist is trying to save children from a bestial figure in the woods, it’s all under the shadow of a mysterious army factory. That was a story about people trying to save other people in an uncertain time, in the fringes of a civil war, but with collective hope in sight. In Devil’s Luck, the tone is the opposite. It’s bleak and cruel, and people are just trying to save themselves and score high, even if it means running over others. It’s a story full of greed and betrayal.
You specifically set the story in a California mining time in what you described as “the worst year of the Great Depression”. How does this locale and time increase the temptation and poor choices made by your main character?
Scavone: Devil’s Luck is set in the fictional town of Hailstone, in northern Montana. California is mentioned from the story’s beginning and it has an important role for Tim, our protagonist, who feels trapped in that remote town after the 1929 crash and dreams of moving to the California beaches. This is where the temptation steps up, in the figure of Leopold Auberon and his golden mouth, who also stirs up Tim’s greed and morals with his success story. Devil’s Luck is a story set in 1934, but I believe it could also be framed nowadays without much adjustment, especially for the character’s twisted morals.
What was it liking working with Eduardo Ferigato and what does his style bring to the new story?
Scavone: Eduardo Ferigato added a lot to the comics creating a tailor made style for this comic. And since he’s coloring it too, he kind of turned it into a sort of noir with a special color palette. I’m super happy with the visuals of this series! Ferigato also nailed it, bringing a simple suggestion for the series’ ending, that we decided to use at pronto.
What elements are most essential in creating an engaging horror comic in your opinion?
Scavone: I think that a good mystery is one element. It can be an intriguing character, set or a situation, but you need to let the reader alone in the wild for a while, tormented by this mystery you freed out there. The other element is a troubling character, with a personal thing to solve, a vicious attitude or an oppressive situation. For characters, I always like to push them to a more psychological approach, making the readers think they know enough of the character, but they actually don’t. And last but not least is the suspense — the rhythm that you deliver the story beats to the reader’s hungry eyes can definitely shape an engaging horror comic.
How did you balance real life horrors and immorality with tinges of the supernatural in the comic?
Scavone: I do believe that everyone will, someday in their lives, recur to some supernatural explanation or comfort for something and I love playing with that. People often use religion or supernatural explanations for things that bring huge responsibilities too, like a murder. Knowing that, the way you present a rotten moral attitude of a character can open a good way to tint it with supernatural tones — affirming, for example, it’s a Devil’s business, a possession, or any other of these tricks. It’s as if the supernatural was just a blanket to cover real monstrous, but human, actions.
Upcoming projects?
Scavone: For now, the only upcoming comic I can announce is a short story I wrote for the Catacomb of Torment #8, from the classic EC Comics and published by Oni Press. The story’s name is “The Wheel”, and it’s a modern horror starring an app riding driver. “The Wheel” has the art of the amazing Rafael Albuquerque with the unique colors of Marcelo Maiolo. I have more horror comics in the oven but I still can’t talk about them.
Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story #1 is now available on Comixology Originals on Amazon. Hailstone Vol 1 is currently available digitally from Comixology Originals and in a trade paperback collection from Dark Horse Comics.
