One day back in late 2024 I determined I had enough "Frankenstein" comics and decided not to buy any more.
MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN STARRING BORIS KARLOFF:
My newfound resolution was soon put to the test in November with the release of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Starring Boris Karloff by Kerry Gammill. I hadn't pre-ordered it, but I flipped through it when it came in and it was beautiful. It is exactly what it sounds like: a faithful adaptation of the novel with the creature drawn in the image of Boris Karloff. The art reminded me very much of a 1970s-era b&w Marvel magazine. I met Kerry Gammill in person once, back when he was doing Superman. It was at the annual Superman festival in Metropolis, Illinois, and he was one of four guests. (The others were Alex Ross, Gerard Christopher and Sarah Douglas.) There was a single line for all three tables, otherwise I might not have stood in line for his. I never know what to say to artists. "I like your art"? I got his autograph and picked up some of the free prints he was giving away, but he didn't really seem to me to want to be there. I didn't have a strong opinion about his art at the time one way or the other, and we didn't speak. But I digress...
Rather than buying Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Starring Boris Karloff on the spot, I decided to take a week and think about it. I decided to buy it the following week, but by the time the next Wednesday rolled around, it had sold off the shelf. I waited a few weeks for the owner of my LCS to restock it. I finally asked about it. He had already re-ordered it, but it immediately went on "backorder" where it has remained ever since. After four months I got tired of waiting, ordered it online, and received it in the mail two days later. If I ever meet Kerry Gammill in person again, I will definitely have something to talk to him about.
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: FRANKENSTEIN:
The next project I passed on after that was Universal Monsters: Frankenstein. I read about the premise in the solicitation (it is a retelling of the Universal Studios movie version, but told from the POV of a character who is not in the movie). Cap and Rob have both had good things to say about this version, however, so I decided to tradewait. It is better than I expected it to be, but it is not without its flaws. For one thing, every issue begins with a flashback. That wouldn't be so much of a problem in serial form, but the collection has no breaks between chapters, and no visual or textual clues that a flashback has begun. That was disorienting the first time... as well as all subsequent times if I'm going to be honest. To a lesser degree, I didn't like the fact thay writer/artist Michael Walsh had to alter the personality of the genial, jovial, laughable, affable Baron Frankenstein (Victor Henry's father) in order to get the plot to work. It's an interesting experiment and I'm glad I read it, but ultimately I think Walsh took took many liberties with the source material (which was my fear in the first place).
FRANKENSTEIN by Georges Bess:
Apparently my decision to scale back on my "Frankenstein" purchases predated late 2024, because this adaptation was released in 2023 and I didn't buy this one, either. I remember the day I first saw it on the shelves. I had somehow missed the solicitation and it came as a complete surprise to me. The art was gorgeous, but Bess's adaptation of Dracula shipped the same day, and I figured I need to buy either both or neither. I decided on nether, but changed my mind after reading the Gammill and Walsh versions. I'm going to quote liberously from Cap's review, so I've reposted it below.
Frankenstein, adapted by Georges Bess, was released by Magnetic Press in 2023.
Bess is a European artist best known for collaborations with Alexandro Jodorowski. His work here is entirely in pen and ink, more or less in the Franco-Belgian school, with echoes of Moebius. It is elaborate, ambitious and starkly beautiful. Marvel's Frankenstein with Berni Wrightson spot illustrations (1983) is still my favorite visual adaptation of the book, but this is a close second.
Although Bess' monster isn't anything to write home about. He hews closesly to the book's description, which will be a disappointment to those married to the Boris Karloff version. He's basically a big, ugly guy in what amounts to a raincoat. And Bess isn't action-oriented; dramatic moments have no more emphasis than scene-setters. If you're looking for action, action, action in the mighty Marvel manner, then I'd suggest Marvel's adaptation in the first four issues of Monster of Frankenstein.
What this book offers is page after page of stark, elemental beauty -- German forests in winter, ice-covered Arctic wastelands, desolate Alpine mountains, windswept Orkney islands. The figures often take a back seat to these lush illustrations of forbidding environments, which themselves become part of the story.
Speaking of which, the book diverges from Shelley's novel at the end, with the creature taking Frankenstein's body off the ship. I knew that wasn't right; I have remembered the final lines of the book lo, these many years. ("He was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance.") In the book, the monster does visit Frankenstein in the ship's cabin as Victor dies, and then addresses the captain and leaves on an ice floe -- to be born away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance. (Bess slightly amended the end of Bram Stoker's Dracula, too.)
This raises the issue of whether Bess diverges elsewhere, and for the most part I cannot tell you. It's been too many years since I read the original. But I will say that all the story beats I remember are there -- how the monster learns to speak, read and write; the actual scene with the blind man referenced in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931); the actual scene with the girl in the stream in that same movie; the principals the monster kills (Henry Clerval, William Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza), or causes to die (Alphonse Frankenstein, Justine Moritz); and so forth.
I will note that Frankenstein has a hunchbacked assistant throughout, a fellow named Sven, who I'm pretty sure wasn't in the original novel. No doubt he is a sop to Frankenstein movie fans (where there's nearly always a hunchback), but he also serves a narrative purpose. Having now accepted Igors and Svens in the narrative, I can no longer imagine Frankenstein doing all the things he did without reliable assistance.
It is elaborate, ambitious and starkly beautiful... What this book offers is page after page of stark, elemental beauty -- German forests in winter, ice-covered Arctic wastelands, desolate Alpine mountains, windswept Orkney islands. The figures often take a back seat to these lush illustrations of forbidding environments, which themselves become part of the story.
I agree with all of that.
Marvel's Frankenstein with Berni Wrightson spot illustrations (1983) is still my favorite visual adaptation of the book, but this is a close second.
I agree with that, soo, but only to an extent. Because Wrightson provided only spot illustrations and Bess adapted the whole thing, it's really a comparison of apples to oranges.
His work here is entirely in pen and ink, more or less in the Franco-Belgian school, with echoes of Moebius.
I can see that, but perhaps because of Bess's extensive maritime imagery, I also see the influence of Hugo Pratt.
This raises the issue of whether Bess diverges elsewhere...
He does. The section with the "Greek Colossus" circus performer is Bess's own invention (presumably added to account for the Monster's great size). Also, the section with the Turkish merchant and his daughter is likewise Bess's own invention (presumably added to better account for the Creature's language acquisition). There are others as well, but for the most part I think the liberties Bess took better serve the narrative than those taken by Walsh.
Once thing I can tell you for sure is that when I return to my LCS this coming Wednesday I plan to buy Bess's Dracual adaptation (and hope that it's still in stock).
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That first cover gives me Dark Shadows vibes.