With the March 1952 issue of
Frankenstein #18, legendary comics creator
Dick Briefer threw out the cartoony humor stylings of the previous kiddy oriented
Frankenstein adventures and brought
"The Monster" back to his more realistically grim and violent horror roots. Most collectors prefer the latter, but I think both series' are great. Todays
THOIA story, coinciding with
Pierre's "Boris Karloff Blogathon" over at
Frankensteinia presents the first
"rebirth" story from what was then called the
"new origin" series.
For another great Dick Briefer Frankenstein story from this issue, check the THOIA Archives for "The Monster and the Statue" here:
ReplyDeletehttp://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2008/09/monster-and-statue.html
Karswell: Great story! I have the Dick Briefer Frankenstein stuff in the b&w recent release in paperback (man, I wish they would have done that up right with a color hardback edition). It sure is nice to see it in glorious 4 color.
ReplyDeleteI love the sheer size and power Briefer gave his monster - breaking small mortals like kindling, his mammoth hands dwarfing their puny bodies. I also love how this monster wants his creator to live, to increase the suffering. -- Mykal
Wow, this one totally blew me away! "And some men die as the others try vainly to extinguish with fire the spark of life within the monster." -- Brilliant, brilliant stuff!
ReplyDeleteCover is awezum, tew!
ReplyDeleteI'll say it too--GREAT STORY! I love they way the artist holds off showing the monster until page 4, which really adds to the suspense and cinematic feel of the comic. And that monster is indeed horrifying--the backbreak over the knee is just so full of power and fury, it's almost chilling.
ReplyDeleteI also like the neat touch of the maimed villagers showing all their wounds as they discuss what to do--particularly the man laid out on the table, obviously dead. It's a great way to tell the tale of the monster's devastation visually, and nicely done.
Thanks for the great story, Karswell!
"showing the monster's FACE", that is. :P
ReplyDeleteI'll third or fourth the opinion that this story was great.
ReplyDeleteThe later issues of this title are so much better. Not only is Frankenstein back to form, but the filler stories are good, too. But I wasn't sure when the transition happened, so thanks for the info on this.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
BRIEFER WAS A GENIUS, THIS STORY PROVES IT. AWESOME STUFF, AND SCARY TOO UNLIKE MOST COMIC BOOKS CALLING THEM SELF HORROR.
ReplyDeleteAiee! On the cover! It's Michael Jackson! Yaaaah!!
ReplyDeletethe more Briefer, the better!
ReplyDeleteBriefer's Frankenstein kicks all kinds of ass! Thanks for this one!
ReplyDelete>Briefer's Frankenstein kicks all kinds of ass!
ReplyDeleteIndeed! And since I've already posted another story from this issue I've decided that the next THOIA post will be the third and last Frankenstein tale from #18 too, so you completists can now celebrate! I'll even give ya the non-related filler story about a leopard girl. It's coming next, thanks for the comments!
Great stuff. That cover is great -what beautiful color!!
ReplyDeleteBriefer got better & better with the passage of time. And~ HEY~ ! The new Kitty LeClaw t-shirt pic is the shizzle !
ReplyDelete