Published Jul 3, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.
Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.
Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.
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An iconic Universal Monsters horror franchise will officially make its grand return later this year, continuing a legacy stretching back 91 years - arguably, even longer than that.
It's a fantastic time to be a horror fan, as the genre creates a rare space where new ideas can blossom across film and literature. However, there's something special about truly classic scares and monstrosities making a comeback with the right creative vision.
That's the thinking behind the Universal Monsters imprint that's bringing back the classic horror of The Bride of Frankenstein. An essential aspect of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, the Bride is assembled but ultimately destroyed before she can be brought to life, shattering the détente between Frankenstein and his creation. However, in the canon of Universal Monsters, the Bride lived - and now she lives again.
The Bride of Frankenstein Lives in New Series
This October, Image Comics will release the first issue of the four-issue The Bridge of Frankenstein Lives series, from Kelly Thompson, Mattia De Iulis and Becca Carey. The series is the latest in Image's Universal Monsters line, and sees the undead bride recounting her monstrous creation, with gorgeous art hearkening back to the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein movie, starring Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester.
A preview shared by AIPT shows the Bride looking back on her life and her first encounter with Frankenstein's monster. The art is astounding, hurling fans back to the creepy, melodramatic trappings of Universal Monsters' heyday without losing the soul of what makes this character compelling.
Alongside Mattia De Iulis' perfectly atmospheric art, Image has revealed some legitimately jaw-dropping cover art, from Joshua Middleton, Christian Ward, Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, Luana Vecchio, Stanley Lau and Ryan Sook.
Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis previously worked together on the critically acclaimed horror series The Cull, acting as a dream team for this modern reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein.
New Bride of Frankenstein Has a Different Focus to the Original Movie
As a modern reimagining, The Bride of Frankenstein Lives will have a unique focus on the Bride distinct from the movie, exploring her perception of her unnatural creation and 'monstrous' existence. Talking to AIPT, Thompson says:
The original Bride of Frankenstein is a brilliant film exploring the creature’s failed attempts to find friendship and community, and then the desperate act to force others to create that which he cannot find. What it’s not about, however, is how The Bride herself feels about her creation. Through The Bride of Frankenstein Lives we get the opportunity to explore her search for who and what she is, as well as her search for the women that were destroyed to create her, all brought to life through Mattia De Iluis’s incredible visuals.
The preview makes it clear how this will work in the comic, with De Iulis depicting the Bride's creation from her own perspective, with her staring eyes commanding the very first image of the character. The artist says:
When I first read Kelly’s script, I knew right away this was going to be something special. We’re finally giving the Bride center stage. She is no longer someone’s property; she is a person fighting for her own story. It’s an honor to bring that journey to the page.
The comic follows on the heels of 2026 movie The Bride! - directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale - as a similarly feminist but far more aesthetically anarchic retelling of the Bride's story, offering fans the chance to compare and contrast very different but equally compelling works.
Universal Monsters Is Bringing Back Horror Icons
The Bride of Frankenstein Lives is just the latest entry in Image's Universal Monsters line, which also includes Universal Monsters: Dracula, Universal Monsters: Frankenstein, Universal Monsters: The Mummy, Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man and Universal Monsters: Creature From the Black Lagoon Lives!
These comics have perhaps the highest pedigree currently on the market, with blockbuster creative teams and reliably meaty perspectives on these classic monsters, often from unusual perspectives. The Bride of Frankenstein clearly isn't about to break that streak.
This Halloween, fans can pick up The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, offering a visually gorgeous and narratively compelling new vision of Universal Monsters' iconic character.
Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1 is coming October 28 from Image Comics.
Character(s) Erique Claudin, Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Henry Frankenstein, The Mummy (Imhotep), The Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin), The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man (Lawrence Talbot), The Gill-Man, R.M. Renfield, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
English (US) ·