Faith Erin Hicks unwraps The Mummy for Skybound

Skybound continues its unexpected casting with Universal Monsters: The Mummy, a four issue mini from Eisner Award winner and New York Times bestselling comics creator Faith Erin Hicks (Pumpkinheads, The Nameless City Trilogy). It’s part of their ongoing partnership with Universal Products & Experiences and it comes out in March.

Hicks will be aided by colorist Lee Loughridge (Standstill) for what promises to be a bold new take on the classic horror character, who shambled to fame in the 1932 Boris Karloff classic film, and has been released from his tomb for many takes, including the 1999 Brendan Fraser version.

“What I enjoy the most about The Mummy is the romance underlying all the horror. A mortal man defies ancient gods to bring his dead lover back to life and pays the ultimate price, transformed thousands of years later into a walking specter of death. The Mummy is intrinsically a tragic figure driven by his own pain and loss, his understandable human emotions twisted into acts,” said Hicks in a statement. “It’s been a thrill to tell this story from the point of view of Helen, the modern incarnation of The Mummy’s long dead love, and illustrate her growing awareness of the heartbroken horror that is lurking in the shadows of early 20th century Egypt. I hope fans of all versions of The Mummy enjoy my take on this romantically horrifying (or horrifyingly romantic) story.”

Helen Grosvenor is a woman born to two worlds and belonging in neither, forever haunted by a cursed encounter as a child. When unknown voices bring her back to an Egyptian dig site from her past, Helen will unknowingly play an unexpected role in the rise of a monster known only as…THE MUMMY!

Previous Skybound/Universal collabs include James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds’ Dracula (which netted Simmonds a BEST PAINTER/MULTIMEDIA ARTIST (INTERIOR ART) Eisner Award nomination); Ram V, Dan Watters, and Matthew Roberts’ Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives!; and Michael Walsh’s Frankenstein.

Of course, no comics horror tale would come without a full retinue of variant covers, and we got them….and a sneak peak.