For the better part of a century, the Universal Monsters have been among the greatest horror creatures in cinematic history. Next summer, artist Alex Ross will be paying tribute to the Universal Monsters with a set of eight prints that will make their debut at San Diego Comic-Con 2017. But fans won’t have to wait long to see Ross’ take on the monsters, as he’s already revealed four of the new prints!
Via Ross’ Facebook page, the new images have been revealed in all of their black-and-white glory. The first print features Lon Chaney, Jr.’s iconic werewolf from the 1941 horror film, The Wolf Man.
Next, we have The Invisible Man, as portrayed by Claude Rains in 1933.
And the 1932 version of The Mummy gets its due, as does Boris Karloff’s famous performance as the title character.
Karloff’s likeness will actually be a part of two additional prints in Ross’ set: Frankenstein and Monster Mash, the latter of which will feature all of the included creatures in one image. There’s a pretty good chance that Karloff’s incarnation of Frankenstein’s Monster could appear on the Bride of Frankenstein print as well. The other announced prints include Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Colored versions of these prints will also be offered at SDCC.
Ross is widely known in the comic book industry for his realistic take on superheroes in Marvels, Kingdom Come, and Astro City. But we’d love to see him depict some of the more recent movie monsters as well. As much as we love the creatures from the ’70s and ’80s like the Aliens, Freddy Krueger, Jason, and Michael Myers, even they’re not exactly “modern” any more. It’s hard to say which current horror films should get the Ross treatment, but we’d really like to see his take on The Babadook and It Follows as well.
What do you think about Ross’ Universal Monsters? And which horror creatures should he paint in the future? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Alex Ross/Universal Pictures