Frankenstein’s Monster (Marvel Comics)

Publication history

The first appearance of Frankenstein’s Monster in the Marvel Comics The world of horror comics story “Your Name Is Frankenstein” by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely in  Menace  # 7 (Sept. 1953),  ^{[2]  [3]}  from Marvel’s 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics . The following decade, a robot replica of Frankenstein’s Monster appeared as an antagonist in  The X-Men  # 40 (Jan. 1968), by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Don Heck ,  ^[4]  and was destroyed by the titular team ofmutant superheroes . The actual Monster first appeared in Marvel Comics continuity in a cameo flashback in “The Heir of Frankenstein” in  The Silver Surfer  # 7 (Aug. 1969), by writer-editor Lee and John Buscema penciler .  ^[5]

The character received year Ongoing series, titled  Frankenstein  in the postal indicia and INITIALLY  The Monster of Frankenstein  (issues # 1-5) and later  The Frankenstein Monster  as the cover logo, That ran from 18 (Jan. 1973 – Sept. 1975).  ^{[6]  [7]}  This series began with a four-issue retelling of the original novel, by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog . Several more issues continued his story in the 1890s, until he was in the middle of the film and revived in modern times.

Thomas, Marvel Comics’ editor-in-chief at that point in the 1970s, recalled in 2009:

I’d beens working with [artist] Dick Giordano Adapting Bram Stoker ‘s  Dracula  [in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine  Vampire Tales  , published by Marvel Parent company Management Magazine ], so I wanted to start with the Shelley  Frankenstein  [novel], then bring [Frankenstein’s Monster] into the present. But eager as I was to work with Mike Ploog on  Frankenstein  , I just did not have time. So I turned to Gary, who did a fine job with it.  ^[8]

Friedrich in 2009 Said He Did not recall “whose idea It was to do a Frankenstein book” Noting That “at this time, Marvel Was cranking up the gears on the monster mags” qui Were Introducing Such new characters as Werewolf by Night and Ghost Rider .  ^[9]  Ploog based his rendition of the Monster on a drawing by John Romita, Sr. , Marvel’s art director , who was instructed to make the character dissimilar to the Universal Pictures movie version.  ^[10]

Ploog drew the first six issues, self- inked except for issues # 4-5, which were embellished by Marvel production manager and occasional inker John Verpoorten . The following four issues were penciled by John Buscema. After a final Friedrich-written issue, drawn by Bob Brown , the creative team of writer Doug Moench and penciler Val Mayerik brought the Monster from the 19th century to the present day, beginning with issue # 12 (Sept. 1974). The duo continues through the final issue, with Bill Mantlo rather than Moench writing the finale.  ^[11]

Ploog had departed, Thomas recalled, because “Marvel was in a great surge of growth at that time, which resulted in frequent changes on the artist / writer lineups on many, if not most of the titles.  ^[12]  Ploog recalled disliking the future to the present Marvel Universe. “I could not see Frankenstein battling with Spider-Man on 42nd Street “.  ^[13]  His successor, Buscema, was an established veteran and one of Marvel’s first artists. Friedrich said, “Working with Buscema [on the series] was a wonderful experience … We could never have had anything to do with you. The series ended “because sales are not good enough”, Thomas recalled. “At the start, the book [had] sold well”.  ^[15]

Concurrent with the color-comics series, the character appeared in his own modern-day feature in two of Curtis’ black-and-white horror-comics magazines:  Monsters Unleashed  # 2, 4-10 (Sept. 1973, Feb. 1975 – Feb. 1975), by the Friedrich / Buscema team initially, followed by the Moench / Mayerik team; and in  Legion of Monsters  # 1 (Sept. 1975), by Moench and Mayerik.

During the 1970s, the Monster guest-starred in the superhero titles  The Avengers  # 131-132 (Jan.-Feb. 1975);  Marvel Team-Up  # 36-37 (Aug.-Sept. 1975), appearing in the latter series opposite Spider-Man ; and  Iron Man  # 101-102 (Aug.-Sept. 1977); and in the supernatural title  Tomb of Dracula  # 49 (Oct. 1976). As well, writer John Warner and artist Dino Castrillo adapted the Shelley novel in  Marvel Classics Comics  # 20 (1977), in a 48-page story outside mainstream Marvel continuity. The character made only two Marvel appearances in the 1980s.  ^[16]  The first four issues of  The Monster of Frankenstein were reprinted in the miniseries  Book of the Dead  # 1-4 (Dec. 1993 – March 1994). Also that decade, he again confronted Spider-Man in  Spider-Man Unlimited  # 21 (Aug. 1998).

In the 21st century, the Monster appeared prominently in the four-issue  Bloodstone  miniseries (Dec. 2001 – March 2002), and starred in a 14-page story, “To Be a Monster” by writer-artist Skottie Young in  Legion of Monsters : Werewolf by Night  # 1 (April 2007).

Fictional character biography

Frankenstein’s Monster was built from human bodies by a scientist named Victor Frankenstein, in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, in the late 18th century. His efforts to reduce the risk of death were futile due to his horrific form, and he was infuriated. Victor Frankenstein created and subsequently killed for the Monster, who killed Frankenstein’s bride Elizabeth in retaliation. After killing several people, the Monster fled to the Arctic. His creator pursued him, but died due to the cold. The Monster, anguished, tried to kill itself but went into a state of suspended animation from the cold.  ^[17]

In the 1890s, heat revived the Monster and he wandered again. He looked for the descendant of Victor Frankenstein and finally ended up in Transylvania. The Monster clashed with Dracula , and his vocal cords were injured. Vincent Frankenstein finally found him and tried to give him a new brain, he was angry before the monster could kill him. Frustrated, the Monster returned to a state of suspended animation.  ^[18]

At Some Point, the Monster Was temporarily pulled out of time to serve in Kang the Conqueror ‘s Legion of the Unliving to fight the Avengers .  ^[1]

The Monster is coming out of a glacier to the modern world.  ^[19]  After several adventures, then a rat, and later restored,  ^[20]  and another in which he first battled aided Werewolf by Night Jack Russell  ^[21]  ), he retreated from civilization into the Swiss Alps, where he allied with Spider-Man against the Monster Maker, Baron von Shtupf and his pawn the Man-Wolf .  ^[22]  After wandering alone, he was aided by Veronica Frankenstein, a relative relative of his creator. This woman was kindly, and repaired his vocal cords.  ^[23] Later, The Monster met and joined Baroness Victoria Frankenstein and her mutant charges, the Children of the Damned , who were mutated by Basil and Ludwig von Frankenstein’s failed human experiments.  ^[24]

Victoria discovered the man who would become the Dreadknight while he was dying in the wilderness. While under her care, he gained a variety of weapons and took possession of the flying mutant horse employed by the original Black Knight criminal . Castle Frankenstein, but was defeated by the Monster, Iron Man and the Children.  ^[25]  The Dreadknight, left to wounded shell at the final of the battle, was returned to Victoria’s custody, however, later on.

The Monster later departed from Victoria’s company.  ^[26]

Ulysses Bloodstone later befriended the Monster, who came to stay at his mansion, eventually acting as his caretaker. The Monster, sometimes using the name Adam, accompanied by Bloodstone on missions. Bloodstone trusted Adam to give his daughter Elsa a fragment of the Bloodgem in the Bloodstone when she was old enough.

When exploring Bloodstone House, an adult Elsa discusses a secret chamber in which she encounters Adam who tells Elsa about her father. Adam gives her the Bloodstone Choker, which attaches itself to her neck. Adam later designs for Elsa, patterned after her father’s. The two have a number of adventures together, Dracula and N’Kantu, the Living Mummy . Elsa lives in Bloodstone Manor with her mother and ally Adam the Frankenstein Monster, while pursuing a monster-hunting occupation.  ^[27]

At some point, an intelligent clone of the monster, simply named Frankenstein, was created. The clone became a member of SHIELD ‘s Paranormal Containment Unit, nicknamed the Howling Commandos .  ^[28]

During the  Fear Itself  storyline, Frankenstein’s Monster, Howard the Duck , Nighthawk , and She-Hulk come together as the Fearsome Four when Man-Thing is driven on a rampage. They later discover a plot by Psycho-Man to use Man-Thing’s volatile empathy to create a weapon.  ^[29]

The Hellfire Club feels an army of Frankenstein Monsters (created by Victor Frankenstein’s contemporary descendant Baron Maximilian von Katzenelnbogen) to attack the Jean Gray School for Higher Learning , but they were defeated by the X-Men .  ^[30]  Learning from the existence of a Frankenstein descendant, the Monster comes to exact his revenge on the Hellfire Club.  ^[31]

Frankenstein’s Monster is later recruited by Phil Coulson to join his incarnation of the Howling Commandos in order to fight Dormammu’s Mindless Plague.  ^[32]

Powers and abilities

Frankenstein’s Monster is a result of a biological experiment by Baron Victor Frankenstein. In the first issue of “The Monster of Frankenstein”, a series of injections is used rather than the traditional electric jump-starting procedure to make the creature live.  ^[33]  The Monster has superhuman strength and stamina, and can be placed in the middle of the process.

Clones of Frankenstein’s Monster

There had been many clones of Frakenstein’s Monster that appeared in the comics:

First Nazi clone

The first Nazi clone of Frankenstein’s Monster was a creation of Nazi sympathizer Anna Frankenstein and her lover Von Rottz in the Summer of 1944. They had hoped to use the works of Victor Frankenstein to create an army of monsters to sell to the Nazis. When Frankenstein’s Monster was complete, Anna wrote a letter to Captain America and Bucky Barnesin order to lure them to her. They were attacked by the Nazi clone Frankenstein’s Monster with the second time had Bucky snatched by Frankenstein’s Monster. Von Rottz Assisted Captain America in rescuing Bucky from being thrown off the castle by the Nazi clone Frankenstein’s Monster. Before Von Rottz could betray Captain America, he is strangled to death by the Nazi clone of Frankenstein’s Monster. Then the Nazi clone of Frankenstein ‘s Monster grabbed Anna Frankenstein and fled into the woods. After freeing Anna, Captain America lured the Nazi clone of Frankenstein’s monster into the quicksand where it drowned. Anna felt guilty over what she did and joined her creation by committing suicide by quicksand. Although Anna Frankenstein’s father set fire to the laboratory, ^[34]

Second Nazi clone

When Jackie Falsworth finds an oversized Nazi cape inside a box of memories, Captain America tells her about the mission of how they acquired the hat and who it originally belonged to. In early 1942, Dr. Basil Frankenstein is a Nazi scientist who is the descendant of Victor Frankenstein. Basil Frankenstein and his Japanese assistant Dr. Kitagowa had moved to Victor Frankenstein’s castle to continue his mission of creating an army of zombie Nazi soldiers. HOWEVER, word of Basil Frankenstein’s activities leaked out to the Allied Forces and the Human Torch and Toro Went out to Investigate. When Human Torch and Toro did not return, Captain America , Bucky , and Namor went out to look for them. When the otherInvaders arrive, they find the villagers that live near Castle Frankenstein about to storm the castle. The villagers explained to the Invaders about the arrival of Human Torch and Toro and about the monster that had torn through their village. Captain America and Bucky went to Castle Frankenstein to investigate while Namor held the angry mob at bay. Captain America and Bucky entered the castle and were overcome by the Nazi clone of Frankenstein’s Monster. On Captain America and Bucky being brought before Basil Frankenstein, he revealed that he was not making an army of Nazi zombies for Adolf Hitler, he plans to transplant his brain into Captain America’s body. It turned out that Basil Frankenstein had been in an accident that paralyzed his hands and legs. Due to Basil Frankenstein being in love with Dr. Kitagowa, Basil wanted her to place her brain in Captain America’s body so they can finally have a physical love. It was then shown that Basil Frankenstein had captured Human Torch and Toro so that Basil Frankenstein can siphon Human Torch’s energies so that he can make his Nazi clone of Frankenstein ‘s Monster bigger and stronger. In the nick of time, Namor arrived at the castle and freed the Invaders. During the battle with the Nazi clone of rankenstein’s monster, the creature was knocked into a wall of electrical equipment. This was enough to free the Nazi clone of Frankenstein’s Monster from Basil ‘ Where did he get Basil and Dr. Kitagowa and took them to the Castle’s parapets. Proclaiming that he was no longer Basil Frankenstein’s slave, the Nazi clone of Frankenstein’s Monster wanted to return to death and taking the castle Basil Frankenstein and Dr. Kitagowa with him. ^[35]

Howling Commandos’ clone

An intelligent clone of Frankenstein’s Monster nicknamed “Frank” was a member of the Paranormal Containment Unit of the international law-enforcement agency SHIELD in issues of the  Nick Fury’s  series  Howling Commandos  . Unlike Frankenstein’s Monster and his other clones, Frank has a mace for a right hand where it can be launched. There is a large cannon where the radius of his arms is separated. How this cloning process did not produce different clones of the various parts of the body making the original monster was briefly mentioned in issue # 1. The response was “Do not go there.”  ^{[28]  [36]}

When was Merlin ‘s army was attacking.  ^[37]  Frank held his ground while Warwolf and Gorilla-Man released all the giant monsters in their possession where they trampled over Merlin’s army. When Frank opted to tend to the injured, the Howling Commandos thing to pursue the remaining members of Merlin’s army.  ^[38]  Frank was present when Mole Man’s forces showed up to help fight Merlin’s army.  ^[39]

In other media

Television

• In 1981, an animated television movie loosely based on the  Monster of Frankenstein  was released as Kyufu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein .  ^[40]  This was the second and final animated project that Marvel did with Toei , the first being  Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned  which was loosely based on the Tomb of Dracula . Much of the main plot has been condensed and many characters and subplots have been truncated or omitted. The film was animated in Japan by Toei and sparsely released in 1984 on cable TV in North America by Harmony Golddubbed into English. The dubbed version never had a title Monsters  of Frankenstein  and  Frankenstein Legend of Terror  .  ^[41]
• Frankenstein’s Monster appears in the  Ultimate Spider-Man  episodes “Blade” and “The Howling Commandos”,  ^[42]  voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson . This version has a sledgehammer and has a retractable right hand machine gun similar to the clone version in the comics. Frankenstein’s Monster is a member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos.
• Frankenstein’s Monster appears in the  Hulk and the Agents of SMASH  episode “Hulking Commandos”, voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson. He’s a member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos. During the fight against Dormammu, Frankenstein ‘s Monster is about to be scared by people. In the episode “Days of Future Smash: Dracula,” Hulk encounters Frankenstein’s Monster in 1890 during the Victorian erawhere they work to free N’Kantu the Living Mummy and Werewolf by Night’s Grandfather from Dracula. After that, Frankenstein’s Monster, N’Kantu the Living Mummy, and Werewolf by Night’s grandfather help Hulk thwart Dracula and Leader’s plans to blanket the Earth in darkness with their Gamma Furnace. In the episode “Planet Monster” Pt. 2, Frankenstein’s Monster was with the Howling Commandos when they help the Agents of SMASH and the Avengers fight the forces of Supreme Intelligence .

Collected editions

A number of the characters appearances have been collected into a trade paperback :

Essential Monster of Frankenstein  (496 pages,  Monster of Frankenstein  Collection# 1-5,  Frankenstein’s Monster  # 6-18,  Giant-Size Werewolf  # 2,  Monsters Unleashed  # 2, 4-10 and  Legion of Monsters  # 1, October 2004, ISBN  0-7851-1634-6 )

See also

• Dick Briefer
• Frankenstein (DC Comics)
• Frankenstein (Prize Comics)

References