Kolchak: The Night Stalker is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. And now he’s returning in time for Halloween, though not how I would have ever expected.
That’s right, all you weirdos out there looking for more Halloween fun. Abbott and Costello are getting back into the monster business, and their next case brings them face-to-face with one of horror television’s strangest reporters. Monstrous is bringing the legendary comedy duo into a new comic book series, Abbott & Costello Meet the Monsters, beginning with a crossover featuring Carl Kolchak from Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Written by Bram Stoker Award-winning author James Aquilone, the three-issue series marks the first new Abbott and Costello comics in more than 50 years. The first issue, Abbott and Costello Meet the Night Stalker, sends Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into the path of Kolchak and the vampire Janos Skorzeny, the supernatural killer at the center of the original 1972 television movie.
As a fan of Kolchak, I’m already sold on this one. There’s something wonderfully strange about bringing Abbott and Costello into the same story as a rumpled reporter who refuses to stop investigating things everyone else would rather pretend don’t exist. The pairing also brings back memories of watching Darren McGavin, the actor who made Kolchak such an enduring character. McGavin reminds me of Dr. Chilcoat, my film mentor in college, which gives this particular crossover a personal connection for me. It’s like I’m back in class all over again. Thanks, Chilcoat.
According to Aquilone in an interview with IGN, the comic begins in 1943, with Bud and Lou serving in the Army during World War II. The pair stumble through an experimental portal while on leave, sending them hurtling through time to Las Vegas in 1972. Their arrival puts them right in the middle of the events of The Night Stalker, where Kolchak is trying to get to the bottom of Skorzeny’s vampiric activities.
The opening pages also pay tribute to the comedians’ classic movies. Aquilone explained that the story begins in black and white before switching to full color when Bud and Lou arrive in the future, taking a cue from The Wizard of Oz. It’s a fitting way to bridge the visual language of old Hollywood comedy with a supernatural mystery rooted in the early 1970s.
Artist Dave Acosta illustrates the first issue, with colors by Zac Atkinson and lettering by Taylor Esposito. Cover artists include J.K. Woodward, Lukas Ketner, and Atkinson. The Kolchak adventure is only the beginning. The second special, Abbott and Costello Meet the Morlocks, sends the duo into the world of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, while the third, Abbott and Costello Meet Cthulhu, takes them into the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft. Each comic also includes Abbott and Costello comic strips.
The concept builds on a long history of the comedians facing monsters on screen. Their 1948 film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein famously put them in the company of Frankenstein’s Monster. The new comics take that familiar formula into stories and fictional worlds the duo never got to visit in their original films.
For Aquilone, who runs Monstrous and has worked with classic horror properties including Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the project is a chance to continue that tradition rather than reinvent the characters. He told Daily Dead that getting Abbott and Costello’s voices, personalities, and comic timing right is central to making the books feel like lost adventures.
The Kickstarter campaign for Abbott & Costello Meet the Monsters is live now. Along with the three comics and their variant covers, backers can find collectibles and other merchandise, including T-shirts, trading cards, and a collector coin.
Putting Abbott and Costello opposite Kolchak feels like a natural fit for a series built around classic comedy colliding with horror. Bud and Lou have spent decades making audiences laugh at their encounters with monsters. Now they’re getting a chance to meet a reporter who might actually believe what he sees, even if nobody else will. Here’s those comic variant covers for you to check out.
