One of my favorite comic writers is Steve Niles, especially due to his special work on the 30 Days of Night comics. That series, with its debut in 2002, ushered in a golden age of horror comics and made vampires in comics cool again. Niles has gone on to work on a slew of other things including Batman: Gotham After Midnight, Batman: Gotham City Line, DC Infinite: Strange Cargo, Simon Dark, The Creeper, and Criminal Macabre that I have absolutely loved, so when IDW issued a press release for his newest project I naturally got excited. It is called 'Monster & Madman' and features Frankenstein joining forces with the most famous serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper. Yup, that's right... Jack the Ripper and the original man made monster in a period piece. Penned by Niles. Drawn by Damien Worm. Good god... I for one can't wait. They book hits stands around March of 2014. Check after the jump for a full size shot of the cover and the full press release from IDW...
The characters:
The covers:
The Press Release:
A New Twisted Tale From Steve Niles! Author Returns To IDW To Unite A Monster And A Madman
San Diego, CA (December 12, 2013) – Visionary author and celebrated comic creator Steve Niles is returning to IDW in 2014 and bringing the most nefarious fiends along with him. Debuting in March, Niles weaves together a grave team-up between Frankenstein’s monster and Jack the Ripper in the terrifying new series, Monster & Madman.
A lost soul, Frankenstein’s monster seeks refuge from his waking life but finds no comfort in the bitter harshness of his surroundings. He sets out to free himself from his lonely isolation and during this journey he finds himself at the doorstop of a creature more sinister than he could have imagined, the madman, Jack The Ripper.
“Niles reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief, “In the same way that Ozzy was always finding great new guitarists to bring his macabre visions to life, so too is Niles always finding amazingly talented and dynamically creepy new artists to bring his dark fantasies to life.”
Ryall added “And yes, we know Niles is also shepherding another Frankenstein series inFrankenstein Alive, Alive with Bernie Wrightson. That one is still happening, with a third issue coming in April, is unrelated to this one, and happens whenever Bernie’s amazing and meticulous art for each issue is complete. All of us are very vested in that series as well as this one, and we’ve appreciated readers’ and retailers’ patience on Alive, Alive. M&M will nicely fill the gap between those issues, and the entire series will be complete before the first issue is released so there will be no waiting here. Monthly creepiness awaits!”
Niles reinvigorated the horror genre in American comics with his lauded IDW series 30 Days of Night,with artist Ben Templesmith. Since the widely successful and Eisner-nominated series debuted in 2002, 30 Days of Night has gone on to spawn 10 additional series and a major motion picture from Sony.
"I think this is the 5th or 6th time I've used the Frankenstein Monster in a story. I've always been fascinated with Mary Shelley's creation and I've found the creature lends himself to all sorts of new stories," says Steve Niles, "There were eleven White Chapel Murders. Only five of them were attributed to Jack the Ripper. I became obsessed with the idea of a ‘what if’ situation where these two monsters crossed paths.”
Joining Niles in this terrifying new series is Damien Worm, whose macabre style brings the undead to life. In addition to penciling, inking and coloring the covers and interior pages, Worm will also be handling lettering chores on the three-issue series. Niles added, “I'm very excited to be working with Damien. He has that dark edge to his art I love for horror stories. I'm constantly impressed with just how macabre his images can be."
IDW is eager to share the world of a monster and a madman in this twisted tale from Steve Niles,debuting in March 2014.
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