Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters Brings Comedy Legends Back to Comics

WEPAAAA! Who’s on first? This time, it might be Cthulhu, and I’m not sure even Lou Costello has a comeback ready for that one. Comedy legends Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are returning to comics after more than half a century with Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters, a new three-comic series from Monstrous that launched on Kickstarter October 19, 2026.

The project is written by Bram Stoker Award winner James Aquilone, with art by Dave Acosta, George Quadros and Zac Atkinson across three different adventures. Rather than simply retell one of the duo’s classic monster movies, the series sends Abbott and Costello into encounters with characters and creatures they never had the opportunity to meet on screen. That’s a fun way to honor the originals while giving longtime fans something new.

The first issue, Abbott and Costello Meet the Night Stalker, brings the comedians face-to-face with Carl Kolchak, the supernatural investigator who made a career out of chasing stories nobody wanted to believe. Dave Acosta handles the interior art, with covers by J.K. Woodward and Zac Atkinson. If you know Kolchak, you already understand the comedic possibilities of putting his relentless monster-hunting beside Bud and Lou’s classic confusion.

Issue #2, Abbott and Costello Meet the Morlocks, dives into the world of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. George Quadros provides the interior artwork, while Russ Braun and Colton Worley contribute covers. The Morlocks are unsettling enough on their own, so watching the comedy duo stumble into that underground nightmare could deliver the kind of chills-and-laughs balance their old films handled so well.

Then comes Abbott and Costello Meet Cthulhu, which takes things into full cosmic-horror territory. Zac Atkinson handles the interior art, with covers by Robert Hack and E.V. Cantada. Cthulhu isn’t exactly famous for playing the straight man, but that’s what makes the premise so ridiculous in the best possible way. The series will also include classic Abbott and Costello comic strips alongside the new stories.

The creative inspiration goes all the way back to the duo’s beloved monster comedies, especially 1948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. That film famously brought Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolf Man into the comedians’ world, proving horror and comedy could strengthen each other rather than compete. For generations of fans, those movies were an introduction to classic monsters as much as they were an introduction to Abbott and Costello.

Aquilone says Abbott and Costello helped introduce him to both horror and comedy, and the project is clearly personal to him. The estates of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello have also expressed support for bringing the pair to new readers. According to the announcement, the characters are licensed through Unforgettable Enterprises, and the Kickstarter includes additional merchandise such as shirts, trading cards and original artwork.

I’m all for giving legendary performers a new stage when the people behind the project understand why audiences loved them in the first place. The trick will be translating the duo’s timing to the comic page, where a pause, a facial expression and the turn of a page have to do the work that voices and movement did on film. With the right artists, that can be a whole lot of fun.

The Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters campaign is live now. Visit the official Kickstarter for campaign details and rewards.

Credits: Writer James Aquilone; interior artists Dave Acosta, George Quadros and Zac Atkinson.
Publisher: Monstrous.
Format: Three full-length comics, crowdfunding on Kickstarter.