If you missed the last one…
The early 1970s brought us several series (though none ran more than eighteen issues) where the monster acts more often as the misunderstood creature than a villain. You might almost say a hero. We also got tales of Victor Frankenstein or his home without the monster. Not as many single stories from the DC Horror anthologies as you might think. More often Frankenstein’s creation appears in a short continuing series rather than a one-off. This is without doubt the height of the Frankenstein comic trend. Enjoy these four years!
“Web of Horror Comic Artist Contest” (Web of Horror #3, April 1970) Draw your own monster and win. It is really too bad Berni Wrightson never did anything really fantastic with the Frankenstein story. Go here.
“Frankenstein is a Clown!” (Creepy #36, November 1970) was written by Bill Warren. The biggest show on TV is The Friendly Frankenstein. Jorjo the actor has plastic surgery, permanently changing him to look like the monster. When the hot lights fire up he throws himself out a twelve storey window to escape his nightmare. The TV shows of the 1960s obviously inspired this one. Is Jorjo really Fred Gwynne?
“Frankenstein Book II” (Psycho #3-6, Nightmare #13, Scream #6 May 1971-June 1974) was written by Tom Sutton and Al Hewetson. Frankenstein’s monster escapes the rural north to be put in a circus, experimented on by the Phantom of the Opera, Nazi zombies and finally the flying cars of 2073. Just an average month for a monster…
“Master and Slave!” (Creatures on the Loose #12, July 1971) was written by Al Hewetson. Frankenstein treats Igor very poorly but he dies leaving the monster to his servant. Once brought to life, Igor learns he has used Frankenstein’s brain and the harassment starts all over again.
“The Man Who Became…Frankenstein!” (Nightmare #5, August 1971) was written by Allan Asherman. A portrait of Boris Karloff and his most famous role.
“Shadows of Satan” (The Heap #1, September 1971) was written by Robert Kanigher. Here’s one without the monster, just old Doc Frankenstein. The Heap stands in for the shambling horror.
“Frankenstein” (Pendulum Press, 1972) was adapted by Otto Binder. This is the only adaptation in this first half of the decade but not the last. Marvel still has one more. Usually they just reformatted the Pendulum press versions but not with Frankenstein. Otto Binder is the second famous Science Fiction Pulpster to use the creature. Like Edmond Hamilton, he became a comic book writer and left the Pulps.
“The Birth of Frankenstein” (Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #43, October 1972) is a one page text account of how Mary Shelly wrote her novel after a rainy summer at Lake Diodati with Lord Byron and Percy Shelley.
“The Brain of Frankenstein” (Eerie #40, June 1972) was written by Fred Ott. Mike Ploog does a trial run for the later Marvel series. Victor Frankenstein dies and has his brain is placed inside a monster by his son. The monster goes on a rampage but not out of insane fury. He wants a new body, that of Hans Kemmer.
Hallucinations Frankenstein #15-21 (June-December 1972) was written by Jean-Claude Carrière as Benoit Becker. A series of adventures for the Monster. There seem to be many women losing their clothes in these.
“Frankenstein” (Psycho #10, January 1973) was written by Al Hewetson. A two-pager joke. Not that funny.
“Spawn of Frankenstein” (The Phantom Stranger #23-30, January-February 1973-December 1988) was written by Marv Wolfman, Len Wein and Steve Skeates. My favorite of all the Frankenstein comics, at last. Mike Kaluta’s Monster of Frankenstein. In the back pages of The Phantom Stranger, the monster is found frozen in the Arctic ice and revived. Dr. Victor Adams, the scientist who brings him to life thinks he is trying to kill him and his wife, Marie, but he isn’t. The monster saves them from the collapsing lab. The creature faces off against satanists, has an adventure with the Phantom Stranger, and takes out a snake god.
The Monster of Frankenstein #1-18 (January 1973-September 1975) was written by Gary Friedrich, Doug Moench and Bill Mantlo. My second favorite, Mike Ploog Frankenstein. Not surprising, the same month DC comes out with a Frankenstein comic, so does Marvel. Like the Swamp Thing/Man-Thing thing, the two rivals are at it again. Marvel’s title runs for eighteen issues at least. Out of the ice, adventures on ships and finally teaming up with a robot.
“The Frankenstein Caper” (Jackie Jokers #1, March 1973) Jackie and his classmates do a play about Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. A real bank robber ends up on stage and becomes part of the show. He doesn’t realize it is all pretend and confesses to the police. Lots of Frankenstein movie cliches.
“Monster of the Frankenstein” (Mystery Comics Digest #10, March 1973) was written by Don Glut. It surprises me I had to wait until 1973 to get a Donald F. Glut story. Glut is one of Frankenstein’s monster’s greatest champions. He wrote a series of a dozen novels about the further adventures of the creature from 1977 to 2017. Oddly, this is one of two stories here that don’t use the created monster but another horror from Frankenstein’s domain.
“Frankenstein 1973” (Monsters Unleashed #2-10, September 1973-February 1975) was written by Gary Friedrich and Doug Moench. The black&white comic builds from the color comic beginning with #12. I usually love John Buscema’s art but Val Mayerik is by far the champ here with work as ornate as a Berni Wrightson image. The stories take Frankenstein’s creature on the road where he faces off against freaks, crooks and zoo animals.
“The Dungeons of Frankenstein” (The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #6 and #16, February 1974 and September 1975) was written by Don Glut. This time we get an actual Glut monster story. The creature meets the erudite Dr. Spektor twice. The second time Spektor has Durak as a partner. (Thanks, Charles.) Unlike so many others, Glut’s monster is actually evil. For an interview with Don about Dr. Spektor, go here.
“The Saga of the Frankenstein Monster” (Scream #7, Psycho #22, July-November 1974) was written by Al Hewetson. A separate tale from the previous Skywald material. Victor Frankenstein is madder than usual, creating a monster and a perfect creature. He kills the godlike one and sends Adam out into the cruel world. He runs across Dracula and his girlfriend. Adam destroys Drac by carrying him out into the sunlight.
“The Frankenstein Monster Meets the Werewolf By Night” (Giant-Size Werewolf #2, October 1974) was written by Doug Moench. Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell, teams up with Marvel’s version of Frankenstein’s monster to take on a band of cultists.
“The Last of the Frankensteins” (House of Secrets #124, October 1974) was written by Jack Oleck. Edmond Frankenstein tries to resurrect his ancestor’s evil creation but gets chucked off a castle tower. The monster and research are burned before the creature can rise. Seeking Edmond’s corpse, they find he was a robot.
Conclusion
The high point of Frankenstian fun that was 1970 to 1974 is devoid of superheroes. No Batman or Spider-man here. The monster has become a star all on his own. When he does guest star with a star character it is a supernatural one like The Werewolf By Night. Horror was big during this half decade or so with The Exorcist (1973) spewing pea soup in the theaters and Kolchak the Night Stalker running around on TV. This was the groovy age of Hippie Satanists, the first Stephen King novel, Carrie (1974), UFOs. Bigfoot and all manner of occult things. As we move into the later half of the decade, Star Wars will turn everything into Science Fiction again.
Great article and I need to track down a couple of these comics.
Oh, and it was Dagar’s friend Durak who teamed up with Doctor Spektor, not Dagar himself. Just caught that.