"Monster" is a British horror comic strip character, appearing in titles published by IPC Magazines. The strip debuted in the weekly anthology Scream! on 24 March 1984, before continuing in Eagle until 30 May 1985. The opening episode was written by Alan Moore, with the remainder by John Wagner and Alan Grant; art was provided by Alberto Giolitti, and later Jesus Redondo. The story concerned a young boy called Kenny's attempts to get his deformed, abused uncle Terry help.
Creation
Senior editors Barrie Tomlinson and Gil Page were assigned to put together the anthology title Scream! for IPC, despite management reservations due to the illegality of horror comics in Britain since the passing of the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 and the negative publicity received by the controversial Action in 1976. The pair were forced to find a balance for the contents, which Tomlinson would later describe as making the comic "a bit frightening, without being a horror comic".
Alan Moore, who had written "Skizz" and was working on "D.R. & Quinch" for IPC's 2000 AD, worked on the initial story and would write the opening episode before handing over to John Wagner and Alan Grant; Moore at the time was heavily committed elsewhere, also writing "Miracleman" and "V for Vendetta" for Quality Communications' Warrior, and was being tapped by DC Comics to work on Swamp Thing. At the time Wagner and Grant were such prolific contributors to IPC comics that managing director John Sanders insisted they use pen names for some of their work; for "Monster" the pair were credited as 'Rick Clark', which they would also use for - among others - "Invasion 1984!" in Battle. Art for the first episode was provided by Alberto Giolitti, head of the Giolitti art agency and primary artist on Eagle strip "Doomlord"; from the second episode Spaniard Jesus Redondo, whose British work included "Mind Wars" for Starlord.
Publishing history
The Moore/Giolitti 8-page opening episode of "Monster" appeared in the launch issue of Scream! dated 24 March 1984, with the Wagner/Grant/Redondo team taking over from the second issue. However, IPC's nervousness regarding the title saw constant management interference, necessitating many rewrites. After just 15 issues it was cancelled, officially due to the knock-on effect of the 1984 NUJ strike, though many believe that management wariness played a large part in Scream!'s demise.
Instead the comic would be merged with Eagle, which had been relaunched in 1982. Only two strips would make the transition to Eagle and Scream! - "Monster" and "The Thirteenth Floor". Due to the late decision regarding the cancellation of Scream! and the industrial action, the merged comic would not begin until September 1984, some three months after the last issue of Scream! had been published. "Monster" would run in Eagle until 30 March 1985, being dropped to make room for the contents of another cancelled title, the long-running Tiger. Text stories however continued to appear in annual Scream Holiday Specials until 1988. Grant enjoyed writing the story, later describing himself as having a "soft spot" for "Monster".
In 2016, the post-1970 IPC material owned by Egmont Publishing, including the contents of Scream!, was purchased by Rebellion Developments. Shortly afterwards, "Monster" was reprinted in a collected edition. Due to the original negatives for the story being lost, the story had to be remastered from scans of Scream! back issues.