Next year Mike Mignola is adding more to his plate! In between outings in the Hellboy universe, he will now also be giving us a taste of ‘Frankenstein Underground.’ In a new Dark Horse Comics book, we’ll be seeing Frankenstein’s Monster from the Hellboy universe getting the spotlight! First appearing in the 2011 release of ‘Hellboy: House of the Living Dead,’ we’ll be getting five issues that will be penned by Mignola with the artwork being taken care of by Ben Stenbeck.

According to Mignola, “It’s intimidating as hell to take on an icon like the Frankenstein monster. I’m trying to do something that’s true to the origin Mary Shelley created for the creature but also captures a bit of the feel that Boris Karloff brought to the role in the classic Universal films. At the same time I’m throwing the monster into an entirely new environment, so I think the result will be something new. It’s an odd one, but ultimately will add an important new wrinkle to the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. world.”

It’s always great fun when Mignola expands his universe and I can’t wait to see how this will change the world that ‘Hellboy’ and the ‘B.P.R.D.’ exist in as he mentioned above.

Also throwing in their two cents is Dark Horse Comics’ editor in chief, Scott Allie, “This version of the Frankenstein monster has the same thirst for knowledge readers will remember from Mary Shelley’s novel. The monster takes the reader through some of the biggest mysteries of the Mignolaverse, shedding new light on important stuff we’ve only touched on before.”

Oh the teases! What mystery are we going to find out more about? What will the monster be investigating? I can’t wait to find out and only wish we didn’t have to wait until 2015 to do so! Also, before any moaning about the title being ‘Frankenstein Underground,’ while the main character is the monster, Mignola spells it out as “Obviously he is Frankenstein’s Monster, but when I wrote the script I called him Frank, because “Frankenstein’s Monster” is a lot of typing. So yes, he is Frankenstein’s Monster, he doesn’t have a name, but the title of the book, “Frankenstein’s Monster Underground” isn’t quite as striking as “Frankenstein Underground.”

Also of note is that while he did above mention that we’re getting a new wrinkle in his universe that it won’t be a current wrinkle, even though it will probably play into current events. The reason being is that it doesn’t take place in modern times! “This book picks up shortly after the “House Of The Living Dead” graphic novel, so it actually takes place in the ’50s. It’s separated from current events, and only issue one takes place above ground. By the end of issue one, we are underground. Once you put him underground, it’s hard to have him keep up with current events – especially when they’re not current.”