I Hunt Monsters



A collaborative comic from the minds of Antarctic Press artists Rod Espinosa and Craig Babiar. IHM tells the story of William Warlock, fresh out of college and on the verge of starting of his life. However, he gets a note from his father to go to South Africa for an inheritance. Upon his arrival, he's whisked away by a sorceress named Aarna to a graveyard, where she explains is his duty to re-power a seal that keeps very powerful demons dormant. However, Will is understandably confused and dubious, and he takes his hand off the seal before the recharge is complete. The end result is all the monsters breaking free and flying off to wreak havoc in the world. Now it's Will's responsibility to find these monsters (helped along by Aarna, a vampiress named Delilah, and Will's high school friend Tayesha) and re-seal them before they bring darkness to the Earth.

Ran from 2004-2005 going into hiatus afterward, just as the comic was starting to move into an overarching story arc. Hasn't seen a new issue since then, as the creators have moved onto other projects.

The series provides the following tropes:

 * Amulet of Dependency: Justified, as only a Warlock can activate it.
 * Black Best Friend: Tayesha to William
 * Betty and Veronica: Aarna and Delilah
 * Bittersweet Ending: The Chupacabrah arc
 * Car Fu: Tayesha does this to the Werewolf Lord during the final fight against him.
 * Circus of Fear:...run by werewolves
 * Flying Car: Kirby
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The title can't make it any clearer for ya.
 * Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Delilah
 * Gotta Catch Em All: Recapturing the monsters, plus the last arc before the hiatus had the group searching to collect the pieces of Van Helsing's cross (which destroyed Dracula) before a powerful vampire lord does.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door: Delilah during volume two, though this is mostly due to the influence of a vampire lord controlling her.
 * Heroic BSOD: Will has one after his first encounter with the Vampire Lord.
 * How Do I Shot Web?: Will, of course, since he's just coming into his powers. Luckily, he has a locket with the spirit of his predecessors to help him.
 * Hunter of Her Own Kind: Delilah is constantly called a "traitor" among the monsters she helps hunt. Not that she cares in the slightest.
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How the  Can also count as Hoist by His Own Petard since the circus was his idea in the first place to lure in victims.
 * Monster Mash: Really, what did you expect?
 * New Powers as the Plot Demands
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: What kicks the whole plot off. To be fair, someone was supposed to train Will in using his powers, but never showed  before the letter was sent to him.
 * Noodle Incident: Rather a plot point they never got to resolve; the explanation of why Delilah did a Heel Face Turn against the forces of darkness. It's implied Will's grandfather saved her at some point and she's helping out of a debt to him.
 * One-Winged Angel: If the group is working at night, then Delilah can change into her much more monstrous form.
 * Sassy Black Woman: Tayesha
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Tayesha, as her father is a respected ambassador. Conveniently, this gives Will and his group access to travel around the world without worrying about funds.
 * Series Hiatus/Orphaned Series: The last issue claimed they'll continue it when they can. But Craig Babiar, the artist at the time, left the company and went on to other projects. Leaving the series stranded in the middle of the vampire lord conflict.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can}}: The graveyard Will inherits is this.
 * Secret Legacy: Which Will learns about at the worst possible moment.
 * Spirit Advisor: Lucky for Will, he gets three.
 * The Cameo: At the start of the first issue, you can see characters from other Antarctic Press series.
 * White Magician Girl: Aarna