Bittersweet news was announced today by IDW regarding “Frankenstein, Alive, Alive.” Started back in 2012, the four-issue series was a long-term effort by writer Steve Niles and artist Bernie Wrightson. The first two books in the series were published in 2012, but the third book did not appear until 2014. With Niles and Wrightson together, two greats in the industry and both awardees of the ComicMonsters.com Horror Comic Achievement Awards, this was a book the fans adored even though the wait for each issue grew longer. When Wrightson died on March 18, 2017, it was believed that this series would not be concluded. However, publisher IDW announced today that the fourth and concluding issue of “Frankenstein, Alive, Alive” would be released in January 2018.
IDW noted that prior to Wrightson’s passing he had laid out the entire issue and had even completed several pages. The work will be completed by Kelley Jones who previously worked with Niles on “Gotham After Midnight” back in 2009.
The press release also included this quote from Wrightson’s wife, Liz: “When Bernie realized he wouldn’t be able to complete the series we began discussing his options, and his first choice was to have Kelley jump in…Bernie felt that Kelley’s style would mesh with his own seamlessly, and it was important to him that the arc be finished and that all four issues form a visually coherent whole. He’d have been so gratified to see this issue published at last.”
Wrightson has been famous for his artistic representation of Frankenstein since his 1983 Marvel comic “Frankenstein” was released. For fans wanting to read the complete series of “Frankenstein, Alive, Alive,” IDW will release a collection of the first three issues approximately two weeks prior to the concluding issue in January.
Article by Brian Gray
