Last Updated on September 3, 2025 by Ryan Scott
When we talk about the Universal Monsters, that naturally includes Frankenstein and Dracula, two of the most seminal classics in the history of horror. But The Invisible Man is right there in the mix as well, with director James Whale’s 1933 adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel serving as a twisted entry in the early cinematic horror canon. Now, the folks at Skybound, in collaboration with Universal, are bringing us an evil new look at the Invisible Man himself, Jack Griffin.
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Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man, out now, is a brand new miniseries from writer James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children) and artist DANI (Coffin Bound), which unravels the unseen origins of the classic monster, existing perfectly alongside Whale’s original film.
“I wanted to treat the original Universal film as continuity,” Tynion said in an interview with Fango. “Everything that happened as it happened in the film.” The Eisner-winning writer previously did something very similar with Universal Monsters: Dracula in 2023.
In the new book, Jack Griffin makes an experimental breakthrough and presents a path to make his dreams of invisibility a reality. Determined to see his vision through, no one, not even the woman he loves, will stand in his way. As Tynion explained, the film itself, though a stone cold classic, left lots of rich area for further storytelling in this universe.
“There was a huge opportunity with the story of The Invisible Man because the story in the film starts where he’s already fully transformed and he’s desperately trying to transform himself back. For me, the story that always seemed interesting was the story of him doing the experiments that transformed himself into The Invisible Man. That felt like a really, really rich bit of material.”
“James is the best with writing psychos for some reason,” DANI quipped.
The four-issue series helps build on what already exists, but it’s also perhaps more sinister than anything we’ve seen from Griffin in the Universal Monsters films. So much so that Universal actually got a bit nervous with where things go as the series progresses. “There was a beat in Invisible Man that actually made them a little uncomfortable,” Tynion teased. “We did do a little tweaking, it comes in a few issues. Issue #3 is one of the most evil issues of comics that I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on.”
While Tynion naturally didn’t want to divulge too much, he did explain that this uncomfortable moment traces its roots back to the Wells text.
“There are a few characters from the original novel that don’t appear in the feature, and there’s one character who is essentially a kind of lab assistant to Griffin. The way we approach a version of that character, that’s what sets us up for the big final conflict at the end of the series. It’s us still operating within the rules of the feature and everything that was laid down in the Universal film, but also us having a few little nods towards the original H.G. Wells novel.”
The opening of the first issue is ripped right from the film and it should look familiar to those who know the 1933 Universal Monsters classic. “We made sure that certain things aligned,” Tynion explained. “But the story itself exists on its own timeline and has a conclusion that then still sends you directly into the events of the film.”
“It just came naturally,” DANI said of translating the world of the film to the page. “The film was in black and white and I always think in black and white when I draw. Visually, it was easy for me to depict the atmosphere.”
“DANI does such incredible work with negative space,” Tynion said. “This is a story about an invisible man, so you need to be able to work with negative space.”
Though he enjoyed Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man starring Elizabeth Moss, it really was all about servicing the legacy of Whale’s classic adaptation of the novel. Tynion classified it as “constantly regrounding himself” in the world of the film. “I haven’t watched anything else, to be honest,” DANI said. “It was a really pure inspiration, just this film.”
“The James Whale Universal films are the pinnacle of everything done across the Universal line,” Tynion said. And while he admitted that The Bride of Frankenstein may be the best of the bunch, he also classified The Invisible Man as something personally special. “Every time I wrote a new issue I rewatched the movie.”
Tynion also got at the heart of what makes Griffin so unique amongst his Universal Monsters counterparts. “The Invisible Man is a psychopath, and a human psychopath,” Tynion pointed out. “He’s not one of these tragic monsters like Frankenstein.” He also notes that he has the highest death count of any of the Universal Monsters, just in that first movie.
“I spent 10 years at DC Comics working on the Gotham books. I’m sitting in a room that’s filled with Gotham City art from various projects,” Tynion said, discussing the difference between working on a character like Batman, which he did for many years, or taking on a cinematic character such as this. “Working with someone else’s continuity is an exciting creative challenge. Actually living in it and making yourself abide by those rules. It stretches different muscles because there are things that you cannot do.”
With Tynion’s original work, there is nothing he can’t do. It’s totally up to him. It’s his world. That’s not necessarily the case when playing in the Universal Monsters sandbox. “There’s just something, it’s fun to play with the toys,” Tynion concluded. “It’s fun to pick up an iconic figure and try to make your own mark on it.”
“You want to leave your mark on the character visually but also somehow evolve it and respect the previous ones,” DANI added.
As anyone who knows the original films notes, they all exist in the same universe. That means crossover potential is there. So, has Tynion put any thought into delivering a crossover of some kind in the pages of these new comics? Only over a few drinks with friends.
“Working with Michael Walsh on the Exquisite Corpses project over at Image Comics means that we’ve been spending a lot of time together. When we’ve had a few drinks, we start talking about what it would be like if there was Frankenstein Meets Dracula, because he did the Frankenstein book.”
The writer admits, for now though, he’s focused on his original projects. Touching briefly on other topics, I had the chance to ask Tynion about the long-gestating Something is Killing the Children TV show? He only confirmed that it’s still in development at Netflix when asked if he had any updates. “Nothing I am allowed to say,” Tynion teased. “There are many things I could say.”
Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man #1 is out now. For more, check out our full list of 2025 horror comics worth putting on your radar.
