original post at syfy.com

David Crownson knows how to hustle. When he first started out, the aspiring actor and writer was so committed to his comics series, Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer, that when he wasn’t going on auditions, he waited tables, babysat, delivered pizza, tutored, and did just about whatever it took to make rent and pay his original artist Courtland Ellis. But Crownson’s grind has paid off, and after two successful Kickstarters, the fictional tale that turned the real-life conductor of the Underground Railroad into a demon-fighting superhero is now in stores.

As a child, Crownson wasn’t fond of reading, so his father used comics as a way of keeping his attention focused and teaching him to read. He loved DC Comics and would read anything his father collected. His favorites? The Death of Superman, Batman: Death in the Family, Batman: Broken Bat. (Pretty heavy fare for a 6-year-old!) Those early years had a strong effect on him. If he wasn’t reading comics, he was sitting down by himself making up stories on his own.

After a string of failed auditions, he took some time off to visit family in Ghana, West Africa. During that time, he was inspired to write Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer after watching a Harriet Tubman documentary. SYFY WIRE talked to Crownson about his love of comics, his heroes, and how he incorporated Tubman’s real-life narcolepsy into the story. Read the full story here