Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Frankenstein the Superhero "Resurrection"

We're doing something really scary for Halloween this year...
...presenting the campy "pop art" versions of the Monster of Frankenstein , Dracula, and The Wolfman, 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 over the next two days, beginning tomorrow.
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?

Check out the
Silver Age Frankenstein
Comic Collectibles Shop

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