Review Fix chats with Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher creator David Fremont, who talks about his origin in creation and the future of the series.
About Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher #1: Catch the Munches!and Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher #2: Tater Invaders!: Fast food, monsters, and super funny, madcap adventures combine in this middle grade graphic novel series. Carlton Crumple has been obsessed with ridding the world of monsters ever since his older brother tried to scare him. In Catch the Munches!, Carlton finally has a chance to prove himself when a band of fast food crazed Munchie Monsters start devouring all of the food. In Tater Invaders!, Carlton—now an official Creature Catcher—battles a whole underground world of evil potato creatures.
Review Fix: How did you know a career in comics/graphic novels was for you?
David Fremont: When I was a young kid I loved reading comic strips, comic books, watching cartoons on tv and going to movies. Peanuts, Speed Racer, Bugs Bunny, Tennessee Tuxedo and Underdog were some of my favorites. I knew it was someone’s job to make comics and cartoons, so I wanted to grow up and have my own strip or cartoon show. As long as it involved writing and drawing. My cousin Steve made this shark comic based on Jaws and my older brother Mark drew a lot of great, weird comics, this one called Bouncing Boy Barney. I would draw a lot of comic adventures based on movies I saw, Disney’s Robin Hood, Star Wars, the Poseidon Adventure, The Lost Continent, Godzilla. One of my best memories from childhood is eating chicken pot pies and drawing comics while watching the Doctor Who tv show on Saturday nights. In the summertime my mom would sign me up for a lot of summer cartooning classes. As a teenager I took a class with B. Kliban, creator of the book Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head and the iconic cat calendars. I loved his stuff. He reviewed my drawings on an overhead projector and said something like “These are great, you’re ready to start getting published.” It blew my mind and set up this goal in my head of having a career creating comics and cartoons as a job.
Review Fix: Who inspires you creatively?
Fremont: When I first saw Yellow Submarine on TV it really inspired me to draw other-worldly creatures and characters, those Blue Meanies were the best! Monty Python and SCTV were huge influences on my absurdist-style humor. RAW magazine really changed my approach to comics. It was so outside of what I was used to seeing in comic books, it felt like stuff was exploding and dripping off the page. Gary Panter’s comic Jimbo opened my mind up to the idea that comics can be this scratchy, broken-down mutant thing. One of my big struggles with comics previously was making “perfect” square panels and making the characters look the same throughout the story. I’m not so concerned with that now, things are crooked and bent and my characters kind of squash and stretch as the story progresses. More recent inspirations are Penn Ward’s animated series Adventure Time, it’s just so brilliant. I’m glad the surreal, absurd stuff is getting a bigger audience these days. We need more talking peppermint candy. I also dig James Kochalka’s work a lot, he’s traversed the underground comics and kid’s book worlds quite well and has a huge output of fantastic stories and characters.
Review Fix: How are your comics/graphic novels different or special?
Fremont: I think my stuff has a unique look and sense of humor. Some of that comes from creating my own animated cartoons like Glue at Wildbrain and Public Pool for Dreamworks TV (now Peacock Kids) of which I was thankfully given a lot of creative control. It’s important to me that my animated shows and graphic novels are all hand drawn and that they look that way. I loved cartoons like Bullwinkle and old Popeye where you could see mistakes, it felt like it was made by artists, not mass-produced by machines. My books have a lot of things going on in the background, I like to fill up the page with funny details you might miss the first time reading. Sergio Argones of Mad magazine influenced a lot of that, the drawings in the margins. My books have lots of tiny critters, mysterious locations, and eccentric characters with goofy names like French Fry Thunderknuckle that I think kids are digging a lot. I believe I’ve created a unique universe with Shady Plains, Carlton Crumple’s hometown. And, hey, who else has robotic tater tots and flying couches in their books?
Review Fix: Who do you think will dig it the most?
Fremont: Kids who like monsters, onion rings, comic books, dragsters, spaceships, underground forts and talking lizards.
Review Fix: How do you want your books to be remembered?
Fremont: I hope my books are remembered as stories that inspired kids to read books, write and draw comics. And laugh, that’s important!
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Fremont: It’s super fun getting to create books and do what I dreamed of when I was a kid. But it’s a ton of work that involves writing, sketching, character design, background design, inking, storyboarding and layout. Honing all those skills is essential for making graphic novels. For any kids out there who want to one day make graphic novels, I recommend drawing every chance you get and bring your sketchbook everywhere. Read lots of books and comics. And never give up, the world needs your stories!
Review Fix: What’s next?
Fremont: I have more Carlton Crumple book ideas in the sketchbook. I also think the Carlton Crumple adventures would make a great animated series, so we’ll see what happens with that. After I finished writing Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher 1: Catch the Munchies, I wrote a few YA books that I’d like to get published, one involving a Manga-themed camp for kids who love to draw. I also have a few more graphic novels I’ve completed that I’m excited about: Floaty Goat and another one called Knight Owl. More anthropomorphic animals in mixed-up worlds.
Review Fix: Where can people find out more?
Fremont: Instagram: @dafremont and Twitter: @dfremont
That was a great interview with David Fremont! I love knowing what his favorite characters and influences have been from childhood forward. His characters are zany and fun, and I love that he encourages other kids who have a dream of writing and drawing to go for it. I am wishing him continued successes, and thank David for doing what he does, and doing it well!