Frankenstein's Monster is a fictional character based on the character in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The character has been adapted often in the comic book medium. This version is that published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The first appearance of Frankenstein's Monster in the Marvel Comics Universe came in the five-page horror comics story "Your Name Is Frankenstein", by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely in Menace #7 (Sept. 1953), 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, and was destroyed by the titular team of mutant 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 penciler John Buscema.
The character received an 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 18 issues (Jan. 1973 - Sept. 1975). 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 into the 1890s, until he was placed in suspended animation and revived in modern times.
Thomas, by this point Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief, recalled in 2009:
I'd been working with [artist] Dick Giordano adapting Bram Stoker's Dracula [in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Vampire Tales, published by Marvel sister company Curtis Magazines], 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 didn't have the time. So I turned the project over to Gary, who did a fine job with it.
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", which were introducing such new characters as Werewolf by Night and Ghost Rider. 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 familiar Universal Pictures movie version.
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 continued through the final issue, with Bill Mantlo rather than Moench writing the finale.
Ploog had departed, Thomas recalled, because "Marvel was in a great surge of growth at that time, which resulted in frequent changes on artist/writer lineups on many, if not most of the titles. Mike was quite busy then". Ploog recalled disliking the planned change to bring the Monster into the present-day Marvel Universe. "I couldn't see Frankenstein battling with Spider-Man on 42nd Street". His successor, Buscema, was an established veteran and one of Marvel's premier artists. Friedrich said, "Working with Buscema [on the series] was a wonderful experience. John could draw about any type [of] book you could imagine. ... We never had a disagreement about anything, and his storytelling sense was superb". The series ended "because sales weren't good enough", Thomas recalled. "At the start, the book [had] sold well".
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. 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 miniseries Bloodstone (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 corpses by a scientist named Victor Frankenstein, in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, in the late 18th century. His efforts to fit in with regular humanity were futile due to his horrific form, and he was infuriated. Victor Frankenstein created and subsequently killed a mate 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 himself but only went into a state of suspended animation from the cold.
In the 1890s, heat revived the Monster and he wandered again. He searched 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, dying in the process as he was shot by an angry maidservant before the Monster could kill him. Frustrated, the Monster returned to a state of suspended animation.
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.
The Monster eventually emerged from suspended animation in a glacier to the modern world. He was aided by Victoria Frankenstein, a distant relative of his creator. This woman was kindly, and repaired his vocal cords. The Monster joined Victoria Von Frankenstein and her mutant charges, the Children of the Damned, beings who were mutated by Basil and Ludwig Von Frankenstein's failed human experiments. The Monster allied with Spider-Man against the Monster Maker, Baron Von Shtupf and his pawn the Man-Wolf.
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 criminal Black Knight. He attempted to force more resources from Victoria and attacked the new Castle Frankenstein, but was defeated by the Monster, Iron Man and the Children. The Dreadknight, left a wounded shell at the finale of the battle, was returned to Victoria's custody though he later escaped with his steed and personal weaponry.
The Monster later departed from Victoria's company.
Ulysses Bloodstone later befriended the Monster, who came to occasionally stay at his mansion, eventually acting as its caretaker. The Monster, sometimes using the name Adam, accompanied Bloodstone on missions. Bloodstone trusted Adam to give his daughter Elsa a fragment of the Bloodgem in the Bloodstone choker when she was old enough.
When exploring Bloodstone House, an adult Elsa discovers 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 a costume for Elsa, patterned after her father's. The two have a number of adventures together, encountering beings such as 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.
At some point, an intelligent clone of the monster, simply named Frankenstein, was created. The clone became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Paranormal Containment Unit, nicknamed the Howling Commandos.
During the 2011 "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.
The Hellfire Club sent an army of Frankenstein Monsters (created by Victor Frankenstein's contemporary descendant Baron Maximilian von Katzenelnbogen) to attack the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, but they were defeated by the X-Men. Learning of the existence of a Frankenstein descendant, the Monster comes to exact his vengeance on the Hellfire Club.
Powers and abilities
The Frankenstein Monster is a result of a biological experiment by Baron Victor Frankenstein which grafted pieces of various corpses together which were animated through an undisclosed procedure involving electricity. 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. The Monster has superhuman strength and stamina, and can be placed in suspended animation when exposed to intense cold without suffering any physical damage.
Clones of Frankenstein's Monster
There had been many clones of Frakenstein's Monster that appeared in the comics:
Nazi Clone of Frankenstein's Monster I
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 her Frankenstein's Monster was complete, Anna wrote a letter to Captain America and Bucky in order to lure them to her. They were attacked by Frankenstein's Monster twice with the second time had Bucky snatched by Frankenstein's Monster. Von Rottz assisted Captain America into rescuing Bucky from being thrown off the castle by Frankenstein's Monster. Before Von Rottz could betray Captain America, he is strangled to death by Frankenstein's Monster. Then Frankenstein's Monster grabbed Anna Frankenstein and fled into the woods. After freeing Anna, Captain America lured Frankenstein's Monster into the quicksand where it drowned. Anna felt guilty over what she did and joined her creation's fate upon committing suicide by quicksand. Although Anna Frankenstein's father set fire to the laboratory, other people have utilized Victor's technique to create other monsters.
Nazi Clone of Frankenstein's Monster II
When Jackie Falsworth finds an over-sized Nazi cap inside a box of souvenirs, Captain America tells her of 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 didn't return, Captain America, Bucky, and Namor went out to look for them. When the other Invaders 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 the info about the monster that had torn through their village. Captain America and Bucky went to Castle Frankenstein to investigate while Namor held the angry villagers at bay. Captain America and Bucky entered the castle and were overcome by the Nazi Frankenstein's Monster. Upon Captain America and Bucky being brought before Basil Frankenstein, he revealed that he not only was 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 a lab accident that paralyzed his hands and legs. Due to Basil Frankenstein being in love with Dr. Kitagowa, Basil wanted her to place his brain into Captain America's body so that 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 Frankenstein's Monster bigger and stronger. In the nick of time, Namor arrived into the castle and freed the Invaders. During the battle with Basil Frankenstein's Monster, the creature was knocked into a wall of electrical equipment. This was enough to free the Frankenstein's Monster from Basil's mental control where he grabbed Basil and Dr. Kitagowa and took them to the Castle's parapets. Proclaiming that he was no longer Basil Frankenstein's slave, the Frankenstein's Monster wanted to return to death and jumped from the castle taking Basil Frankenstein and Dr. Kitagowa with him.
Intelligent Clone of Frankenstein's Monster
An intelligent clone of the Monster was a member of the Paranormal Containment Unit of the international law-enforcement agency S.H.I.E.L.D. in issues of the series Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.
In other media
Television
- In 1981, an animated television movie loosely based on The Monster of Frankenstein was released called Kyoufu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein. 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 was condensed and many characters and subplots were truncated or omitted. The film was animated in Japan by Toei and sparsely released in 1984 on cable TV in North America by Harmony Gold dubbed into English. The dubbed version never had a title but was advertised as both Monster of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Legend of Terror.
- Frankenstein's Monster appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episodes "Blade" and "The Howling Commandos", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. This version has a sledgehammer for a left hand and has a retractable right hand machine gun. Frankenstein's Monster is a member of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.
- Frankenstein's Monster appears in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "Hulking Commandos", voiced again by Kevin Michael Richardson. He's a member of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.
Collected editions
A number of the characters appearances have been collected into a trade paperback:
Essential Monster of Frankenstein (496 pages, collects Monster of Frankenstein #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)