Bela Lugosi: the Comic Series?

Let’s pretend for a moment that you, an FM reader, are a fan of classic movie monsters. You know, stuff like Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, etc.

Got it? Ok, good. Just stay with me here.

Now let’s also pretend that you’re a fan of horror films like those that featured, I don’t know, the monsters I mentioned above.

Wow, you’re really good at this game!

Now that you’re all good and hyped up, prepare yourself for an additional dose of excitement if you also happen to be a fan of comic books. Sometime in September, Monsterverse will be releasing a comic anthology entitled Tales from the Grave. Bela Lugosi (do I really need to tell you who he is? I mean, seriously) will be taking on hosting duties for the horror romp.

Kerry Gammill (Superman, Power Man and Iron Fist) and Kez Wilson (Scarlett, Power of the Atom) will be serving as publishers and editors as well as contributing artwork. The book’s cover will also feature a portrait of Lugosi by artist Basil Gogos, who also did cover art for a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

Excited yet? Good, because Gammill was kind enough to answer some questions about the upcoming book.

FM: OK, so what can you tell me about the anthology itself?

KG: Bela Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave will be the first title from my new company, Monsterverse Entertainment. It will be a full color 48 page quarterly comic with several stories each issue. We want the feel to be fairly close to the classic horror comics of the past. It will features lots of monsters and classic horror elements but with a fresh and contemporary edge to it too. The first issue will be out in September 2010 and will be available at most comics stores.

FM: How did the experience of working on Tales from the Grave differ from some of the other pieces you’ve worked on?

KG: I worked in super-hero comics for many years and drew mainly characters like Superman and Spider-Man, etc. I liked doing those but my main passion in life has always been monster movies. I grew up during the time that the classic horror movies of the ’30s and ’40s were first released to television and there was a sort of monster boom in the country. Of course I read Famous Monsters which was great because, in those days, it was the only way you found out that there were other monster nuts out there just like you. By the time I got into comics professionally in the early ’80s, there weren’t many horror comics around anymore. Super-heroes had pretty much taken over, so I rarely got to mix my love of horror with my art career. Eventually I left comics and went to work as a concept artist for a special effects studio. Now that was a cool job! I drew lots of creatures and aliens and things and just had a blast. I left that for a job at an ad agency and have felt sort of out of place ever since, like I left my real calling. With Monsterverse I’ll be able to do the kind of comics I always wanted to do, but never got the chance.

FM: Can you give any specific details about some of the featured stories?

KG: We have variety of stories in the works for the first few issues. We have a cool zombie story written and drawn by Rob Brown (Bane of the Werewolf). It’s the voodoo-style zombie, not the Romero type, and Rob has done a beautifully stylish job with the art. James Farr and Chris Moreno did a rather thought-provoking story about revenge and black magic that shows what happens when you don’t get your spells just right. We also have a ghost story set in the Old West, a vampire story in outer space (by Mike Hoffman), a humorous story inspired by Lugosi’s Ed Wood period (done in a sort of Robot Chicken claymation style), a masked Mexican wrestler vs monsters story by Jack Herman and Neil Vokes and lots more including a Frankenstein-type mad scientist story written and drawn by yours truly. My partners Kez Wilson and Sam Park will also be involved in creating stories.

FM: I understand that Bela Lugosi’s likeness will be acting as the host for the anthology. Why was Lugosi chosen for this role?

KG: I’m a huge Bela Lugosi fan and we were very interested in doing something that would appeal to other fans of classic horror films, who may not have bought a horror comic in years, as well as to current horror fans and comic book readers. Of all the great horror movie stars, Lugosi probably has the most sinister and eerie persona. He has an almost otherworldly ambience. From his dark, mysterious looks to his strange accent, there’s something rather hypnotic about him. Having him act as the host of a horror comic just seemed like the perfect fit. I’ve known Bela Lugosi Jr. for several years and when I approached him about licensing his father’s name and image for the comic, he was very open to it and excited about the idea of a quality horror product that would present Bela Lugosi to a new audience in a creative new way.

Once we had secured the rights to use Lugosi, our goal became to do the coolest and best horror comic possible. Our enthusiasm began spilling over to others and we were able to tap into some major talent in comics and movies who are Lugosi fans and were interested in being involved. Director John Landis (American Werewolf in London) has committed to writing stories for us and a couple more very big movie names are hoping to find time to contribute. Make-up genius Rick Baker gave us a very strange and disturbing image he created in a 3-D computer program for use as a future cover. It inspired a story that will appear in the same issue. Hot horror writer Steve Niles is scheduled to do a story in the near future and comic artist (recently turned director) John Cassaday will be doing a story and a cover illustration for us. Other big talents who will be popping up, if only to provide single page illustrations, include Bruce Timm, Mike Mignola and Brian Denham.

The cover of issue #1 will be a portrait of Lugosi by the legendary Basil Gogos. I’m one of Basil’s biggest fans and was the author of the book on his art published a few years ago. It’s a dream come true to have his art on our first cover.

We are also utilizing Lugosi in other ways in the comic. We will be presenting a series of stories we call “Lost Lugosi Films”. Lugosi will star in some strange stories done as if they were old Monogram movies that were too horrifying to release. Martin Powell and Terry Beatty did the first installment with Bela as a taxidermist obsessed with a beautiful actress. You know that’s not going to end well. We will also be doing a series of stories based on Bela’s character in White Zombie showing how he came to become the zombie master and how he turned each of his enemies into zombies. And most exciting of all, we will be doing a serialized adaptation of Dracula with Bela Lugosi portraying Stoker’s original version of the character.

FM: How did Basil Gogos feel about the project?

KG: Gogos is very supportive of the project and as a favor to Bela Jr. and me, said we could use one of his Lugosi paintings. It is not a new piece, it’s from the collection of Rob Zombie who commissioned Basil to do it several years ago. It appears in the Gogos art book but has never been on a cover before. Basil got permission from Rob for us to use it. Hopefully in the future we can get Basil to do an original piece for us.

Thanks to Kerry Gammill for all the info!

For more details about Tales from the Grave visit Monsterverse.