Writer and Artist: Michael Walsh
Colorist: Toni Marie Griffin
Letterer: Becca Carey
Designer: Jillian Crab
Production: Ashby Florence
Editor: Alex Antone
Thanks to Image and Skybound for the review copy!
The next mini-series and collaboration from Skybound and Universal Monsters brings together an awesome creative team in Michael Walsh, writer/artist of Silver Coin and Toni Marie Griffin colorist of Black Hammer and Silver Coin, respectively. A uniquely personal and grounded reimagining of horrors’ first monster. The abomination with the abnormal brain is back and better than ever!
Wow! Just when I thought these Skybound/Universal Monster books couldn’t get any better they up the ante yet again with this bold, creative and emotional retelling of one my favorite horror/monster related characters. This one hits you in the feels folks! It’s unsettling almost from the start and unlike any prior Frankenstein iteration you’ve seen or read. I promise you that! Let me set the stage for you with a minor spoiler of the opening pages. You’re immediately hit with the gut wrenching feelings of loss and longing by a little boy sitting at his fathers fresh grave. A grave that will soon be robbed as part of the mad doctor’s new experiments. As the boy begins the grieving process he’s forced now with the sheer terror of seeing parts of his Dad’s body now back in the world of the living!! Somehow alive! Though he is not whole, there is a sense of attachment and bewilderment about him that remains within the boy. Imagine?? Bonkers right??!! It’s a truly dark yet brilliantly creative way to breathe fresh life into this property and story. A new angle that makes you think twice about what kind of monster Frankenstein is and how he, or it, might be perceived by the innocent mind of a fatherless child? It’s really beautiful to look at too.
On top of the writing Walsh has crushed the art and it’s been delicately colored and brought to life by Toni Marie Griffin. It’s bold and bright but has that old darkly lit and chaotic color palette of the early films. Vibrant purples and greens give way to bright yellow flashes of violent lightning flashing as the Monster is brought to life. The shadows of the castle hiding the creature’s face in some panels and other horrors around each corner. It’s just a really great start through the two issues that I have had the pleasure of previewing. I can’t wait to read the next issue and collect this as a whole when it’s released. Halloween is right around the corner now! Pick this one up today! You won’t be disappointed!
My rating – 10/10 Superb!!
Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #1 is now available.
Are you going to pick up the comic? Have you already, if so what do you think of it? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter/X at @TheConCollectve, Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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