Review - Madame Frankenstein #1

Review by Paul Fiander
When it comes to my top five books Frankenstein; on the modern Prometheus is definitely in the select few. Mary Shelley’s look into man playing God is a great piece of work and made quite an impact on me the first time I read it. There are many people who consider Shelly’s work to be the first science fiction novel as its main character actively seeks to use science to overcome a problem. Whether it is or not is a matter for scholars to debate. As such anything with the name of Frankenstein has always sparked my interest, Madame Frankenstein is no exception.

For this all new Image story the setting has been moved in time and location form the gothic vistas of central Europe to 1930’s Boston. Obviously one of the central features of the original story was its multi country setting; however this is a first issue so we have not travelled too far afield. What we do find is a doctor hell-bent on restoring his lost love to life. This is a central part of the story as the restoration of life is the central driving force needed to tempt man into trying to achieve the impossible. We do get some backstory into what appears to be a whirlwind romance as well as the circumstances of the couples parting.

Jamie S Rich does a great job of making you understand why the doctor is partaking in his endeavours but I do have one major issue with his storytelling and that is the use of fairies. I hope this will play out with as a useful plot device and not a way to explain the science but I will reserve judgement until finding out the answer. The visual story has been created by Megan Levens and it is really suited to the text. The black and white art feels like it comes from the early days of comics, the clean lines make for well structured faces especially on the doctor. Her monster model feels a little too clean it does fit with the rest of the art. There is not much sequential art on show but panels that demand a motion aspect are well created.

Overall Madame Frankenstein does show promise; the setting is interesting and as long as the story stays in the scientific realms. This is personal to me and my history with the character and many may enjoy a fantastical element to the legend. For now though it’s a wait and see.

Issue Rating; 3.5/5
The Comic is available in both print and digital from Image comics. Follow this link for more details.

Variant cover and another take on a literary classic

Variant Cover

Fagin the Jew 10th Anniversary Edition
Images courtesy of Image Comics
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