ORLANDO, Fla. — A veteran theme park attraction designer is about to show the world his latest passion project.
Here are five things to know:
Dan Carro is Gatorland’s creative director. So all of the things guests are experiencing — including the upcoming Gators, Ghosts and Goblins — are influenced by his leadership. “One of the things I’ve always been in awe of is he’s kind of like a creative MacGyver,” said Carro’s lifelong friend, Dale Lucas. “You can give him any tiny fraction of resources and he can make something absolutely stellar and miraculous out of it.”
Carro’s latest and most anticipated personal passion project is the launch of a comic book series. He and his team are “flipping the script” on traditional comic books.
“We’re not doing what everybody else is,” said Hailey Lewis, who’s the lead artist and co-creator. “We wanted to do something very different.” The book collab was spawned when Carro asked her to help him out at Gatorland a few years back, and she got to know him and his original monster-hunting character. “As a gift,” she said, “I drew his character Raptus. I’m a werewolf person. So I thought he needed a werewolf sidekick to go with him.”
“Hunter and Hound” elevates the classic comic superhero and adventure plots. “They say write what you know,” said Carro. “This is about father-daughter relationships and mentoring.” He added, “As a parent or a manager or a leader or a boss, you’re teaching what you know, but you’re respecting the fact that they are the next generation, and they’re savvy in things that you aren’t.”
The comic book launch party is Wednesday night at Gods and Monsters on International Drive. It’s a full moon, so in addition to meet-n-greets, trivia, and giveaways, an actual wolf dog from “In Harmony with Nature Wolf Sanctuary” will be in attendance. Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m.