We all know the stories of horror’s classic monsters — Frankenstein, Dracula, and the two-faced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, just to name a few. But what happens when they leave the story, and we’re left with just their henchmen? The ones left to do all the dirty work? Well, if you’ve ever wondered what they get up to, David Dastmalchian and Leah Kilpatrick have the answer in their new comic series The Accessories.
Written by Dastmalchian and Kilpatrick, with art by Patrick Piazzalunga and colors by Marco Brakko, the first issue will feature variant covers by Lukas Ketner, Tim Seeley, and Matthew Seaborne. The series’ synopsis is as follows:
Igor, Renfield and Mrs. Hyde have aided their masters’ diabolical missions for decades, but today is the day they stop being loyal. Today, the real horror walks out the front door. The looming question is: what do they do now?
These three discarded servants find each other in the fallout, forming a band of gawky but determined anti-heroes caught between angry villagers, vengeful monster hunters, and furious former employers. Their survival will take more than just guts. Luckily, they know where to procure more.
FANGORIA is excited to reveal the cover of the first issue, designed by Joel Herrera as a spin on classic monster movie posters. Focused on the hunchback servant to Victor Frankenstein, Herrera paints Igor tearing through a poster for 1931’s Frankenstein — detailed down to producer Carl Laemmle Jr.’s name — as he takes his place in the spotlight.
“The roots of this story are the exact same pulse-pounding passions that sparked my young self to seek out the forbidden pages of FANGORIA!” Dastmalchian says. “The sidekicks and henchmen to all of my favorite monsters were often the unsung heroes of horror and I was so excited when Leah initially exhumed this idea from the dark dungeon of her imagination. It’s exciting to work on a comic book where we are not being restricted in any way regarding the gore and horror elements. Cannot wait for all of the Fangorians to get their claws and teeth shredding through these pages!”
“For me, there’s nothing more human than having compassion for the monsters in our lives, even when the monster is ourselves,” Kilpatrick says. “As we created this series, we always knew who our “bad guys” were. But when it came to our leads, Igor, Renfield, and Mrs. Hyde, they were never clear-cut heroes. They are, after all, accessories to their masters’ crimes. That’s what made David and me fall so deeply in love with this trio. They’re flawed. They make terrible choices. They’re haunted by loyalty, survival, addiction, power, and the desperate need to be seen. They may be monsters, but the thing haunting them most is their humanity.”
The Accessories #1 hits shelves on August 5. Check out a sneak peek below:
