Writer: Mike Mignola and Scott Allie Artist: Ben Stenbeck Colorist: Brennan Wagner Letterer: Clem Robins Cover Artist: Ben Stenbeck Variant Cover Artist: Simone D’Armini
Thanks to Dark Horse for the review copy!
FRANKENSTEIN UNDONE is a continuation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein story, with issue 1 picking up right at the end of the original story. The interesting twist with this series is, it is set in Hellboy’s universe, so we can expect a fair amount of occult activity. In issue 1, Frankenstein disappeared into the arctic to process all the bad stuff he did to get revenge on his creator, Dr. Frankenstein. He ended up with an old guy named Arobas, who turns into an ape monster but is otherwise a pretty cool guy. The issue starts at Arobas’ village, where Frankenstein is recovering from a beat down given to him by the ape monster (Arobas is less cool when he is in ape monster form).
The early pages of this issue are heavy on monk style philosophy. Just when I was getting my fill of deep wisdom, there was a very interesting payoff which made it worthwhile. From there, the plot gets moving, putting Frankenstein into a more interesting situation. As the situations become more like the ones we have seen in Hellboy and B.P.R.D., it will be interesting to see if Frankenstein retains his authentic personality. I’m hoping this series can avoid having Frankenstein be a reskinned Hellboy. I like Hellboy a lot, but this story has the potential to be something really original.
This book is a fun mashup. As was the case with issue 1, one of the strengths of this book is how well it fits within the world of Hellboy, with consistent art style and writing, while remaining true to Mary Shelley’s original creation. I did have some difficulty telling some of the supporting characters apart in the second half of the issue, but that is a minor complaint. Given how fast this series has moved so far, they may not end up mattering for long anyway.
Frankenstein Undone #2 is now available.
Have you read the issue? Do you plan to if you haven’t yet? Feel free to chat with me on Twitter or leave a comment below!
