Steve Niles Returns to IDW with Frankenstein’s Monster and Jack the Ripper

Fan-favorite comic book creator Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, Ash and the Army of Darkness) will be returning to IDW Publishing with a new ongoing series. This March, Niles will be teaming up Frankenstein’s monster and Jack the Ripper in his three issue mini-series Monster & Madman. According to IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall, “Niles reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne… 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 also commented on the status of Niles other series, Frankenstein Alive, Alive, saying “…we know Niles is also shepherding another Frankenstein series in Frankenstein 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!”  However this is not just the second time Niles has used Frankenstein’s monster in a story. Niles muses that “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… 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.” The penciler, inker and coloring of the cover and interior pages for the series will be Damien Worm. He will also be doing the lettering. This appears to be Worm’s first comic book but he has some amazing horror art, including the covers for this series, despite some somewhat disappointing preview pages. The three issue mini-series Monster & Madman will be available in March 2014.