Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Reading Room: Silver Age FRANKENSTEIN "Origin"

Before we present the Golden Age origin of Frankenstein's nemesis, "Bulldog" Denny...
...we jump ahead to the Silver Age for a slightly-different version of the Monster of Frankenstein as seen in the Swinging '60s, when everyone in comics was either a spy, a superhero, or both!
Will the Monster use his powers for Good instead of Evil?
And how the heck did this whole thing come about, anyway?

In 1964, Dell Comics published a line of comic adaptations of Universal Monster movies to tie in with their successful revival on tv.
Two years later, Dell decided to take the monsters' base concepts and rework them into then-trendy superheroes and spies!
Frankenstein and Dracula became superheroes while WereWolf (the name Wolf Man was trademarked) was a secret agent (albeit one with a "stealth" suit to avoid detection).
Yeah, it was as dumb as it sounds, and none of them ran more than three issues.
This was part one of the Silver Age Frankenstein's three-part origin tale from Frankenstein #2, illustrated by Tony Tallarico, who did a lot of work for Dell and Charlton in the 1960s.
(Frankenstein #1 was the previously-mentioned movie adaptation.)
We'll be presenting the other two parts of the origin in the near future
Here's Part Two with Part Three to come shortly...
You'll get a better look at how Dell shamelessly ripped-off both Superman and Batman by taking elements from both of them for this series.
Scary, eh?)
But, first: we'll return to the Golden Age for the intro tale of the Golden Age Monster's greatest nemesis...the Man called Bulldog!

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1 comment:

  1. I remember this from when I was a kid. Awful and great at the same time. I can't explain it.

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