Talking Dynamite’s ‘Cruella De Vil’ With Writer Sweeney Boo

To quote her famous theme song, if Cruella De Vil, “doesn’t scare you, no living thing will,” but what exactly happened to Cruella after the events of the original 101 Dalmations movie? Writer Sweeney Boo, and artist Miriana Puglia are about to tell all in their series, Dynamite’s Cruella De Vil. With colors by Dearbhla Kelly and letters by Jeff Eckleberry, find out more about what to expect from Cruella’s post-dognapping attempt life in this interview with Boo:

Rachel Bellwoar: Cruella De Vil is being released as part of Dynamite’s Disney Villain line, but is there a side of Cruella that’s been misunderstood?

Sweeney Boo: Like every Disney villain, we’ve only seen one side of Cruella. In the movie she is portrayed as very apathetic, driven, and downright mad. It’s impossible to excuse her original desire to kidnap the dalmatians, but I feel like there is more to her than that. She’s obviously missing something in her life, maybe a lack of parental figure and desire for approval, which makes her act a certain way, that when she wants something she needs to have it, no matter the consequences.

Bellwoar: It’s easy to forget that 101 Dalmations ends with Cruella’s fate unclear. What was it like, getting to run with that ambiguity with this series?

Boo: It was actually a perfect jumping point! What happened right after, did she get caught? Did she need to lay low? Did she have any remorse and was ready to learn from her mistakes? Or on the contrary, did her anger grow bigger and she wanted revenge? It offered so many possibilities to choose from and develop her character even more.

Bellwoar: In the past, Cruella has always been in stories with the puppies. Was it important to show that she has a life apart from theirs?

Boo: Cruella is obviously part of the wealthy, she is glamorous, loves fancy clothes and probably attends lots of galas. This is who she was before the puppies misadventure, and this is still who she is after. So it was important for me to show what kind of impact her actions might have had on her persona among London’s high-society. But don’t worry, there will still be a lot of puppies, except this time the cat and mouse game might just be a tad reversed!

Bellwoar: As both a writer and an artist, are there certain projects where you gravitate more towards one role than the other?

Boo: It’s usually a gut feeling really. This time around when I received Nathan [Cosby]’s email about the opportunity to write Cruella I didn’t even think twice. I loved getting to write and draw my own stories in the past, but getting to write with Miriana’s art is a beautiful learning experience, and honestly, the way she interprets every page makes my work so easy; she’s incredible!

Bellwoar: How did you come up with the concepts for your variant covers and did you approach them as a group or individually?

Boo: I think the very first cover I did was kind of on its own, we were still developing the story and I was still trying to figure out my way to draw her. Then, it just became easier and more natural, we matched the covers to represent the events that happen in each issue!

Bellwoar: Assuming that Cruella will be trying to disassociate from fur, what are the new trademarks of her fashion empire and is she a formidable business woman?

Boo: Before the 101 Dalmatians live action movie – which had Cruella as the head of a London Fashion House – in the cartoon Cruella was more or less just simply a rich aristocrat. This is pretty much where we are at in this story, she used to love fur for the luxurious aspect of it, but it’s going to be hard for her to maintain if she wants to get back into peoples good graces. On top of it, her fortune might not be as plentiful as it once was, she’ll have to rethink who she is, and what she wants, which might take her on a path of becoming the devilish fashion designer we all know now.

Bellwoar: Will Cruella be changing her appearance as a sign that she’s changed or are there certain aspects of Cruella’s character design that can’t (or shouldn’t) be touched?

Boo: Expect to see Cruella in her bold fur, black dress and classical look. I didn’t feel the need to really change this aspect of her, but she does love clothes, and fashion, so we will definitely be playing with that in some context of the story.

Bellwoar: Is there anything you can reveal about the supporting cast for this series? 

Boo: There will be familiar faces, but also some new ones! And maybe… we might hear from some of our four-legged friends, directly!

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Sweeney!

Disney Villains: Cruella De Vil #1 goes on sale December 13th from Dynamite Comics.