Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein in the Adventures of BlooperMan"

You thought the Silver Age version was the first Frankenstein Monster superhero?

Nope!

During the post-war "humorous monster" period of Frankenstein's run, writer/artist Dick Briefer decided to satirize the superhero genre...

As you can see, he's not the grim 'n gritty version (also by Dick Briefer) who wandered the earth during World War II, as shown HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This story from Prize Comics #49 (1945) was at the beginning of his transition from "serious" to "wacky".

This guy could've been inspiration for Frankenstein Jr or Herman Munster!

The Monster even gained a Munster-like supporting cast of humorous monsters who lived with him in an abandoned hotel (though they were friends, not relatives)!

The new "fun" version was popular enough to gain his own title in 1945, but he lost it in 1949.

In the 1950s, during the height of the horror comics fad, Dick Briefer would return to the dark roots of the character to produce some of the best tales ever told about Mary Shelley's creation.

You'll see those stories next week thru Halloween, beginning with his revival at our "brother" blog Seduction of the Innocent™, while we re-present a couple of his wilder humorous eps here before Halloween.

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Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein & the Nazis"

Like most Golden Age series, Frankenstein adapted to stay "fresh"...

...as "Bulldog" Denny was dropped in Prize Comics #29, and the Monster reformed to aid Mankind...until this tale in #39!

They didn't have to destroy him.

The Monster was un-brainwashed and defeated his Nazi captors.

You'll note Dick Briefer's art style is taking on a much lighter, exaggerated, tone despite the dramatic subject matter of the story itself.

In our next entry, with World War II over, the stories also become wilder...and funnier!

We'll be presenting more Frankenstein fun throughout October, so bookmark this blog and watch for another tale of the Monster!

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Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein Meets Bulldog Denny"

And now, the Golden Age origin of "Bulldog" Denny...

...as presented in Prize Comics #11 (1941).

Note that Dick Briefer is no longer using the "Frank N Stein" pseudonym.

...and thus does Bulldog Denny take over from his mentor in the task of capturing the Monster!

Oddly, the previous stories gave no indication that they took place a decade earlier (1931)!

But this tale clearly moves the action to the (then) present day of 1941 with Dr Frankenstein now no longer able to continue the battle against his creation!

Perhaps the first example of a retcon in an ongoing comic book series?

Denny continued to battle the Monster until Prize Comics #29.

The Monster continued in Prize Comics for several more years, reforming, then becoming involved in World War II when the Nazis captured and brainwashed him.

Eventually, he freed himself and returned to America.

After the end of the war, the series changed focus, becoming more humor-oriented and introducing a plethora of other friendly monsters.

It proved popular enough for the Monster to gain his own book for three years.

Both his strip in Prize and his own title were cancelled in 1949.

But that's not the end of the story...

We'll be presenting more Frankenstein fun throughout October, so bookmark this blog and watch for another tale of the Monster!

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Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "New Adventures of Frankenstein"

You have seen the Prize Fighters capture the Monster of Frankenstein...

...now learn why they (and others) were in pursuit of the creature, and how he ended up in (then) present-day America!

Talk about motivation...

This story in Prize Comics #7 (1940) was the Monster's second comic book appearance ever.

(The first had been a comic adaptation of the movie Son of Frankenstein in Movie Comics #1 [1939].)

Dick Briefer both wrote and drew this tale under the name "Frank N. Stein", which was dropped several tales into the series.

With the concept firmly in place, the stories would follow the format of the Doctor trying to stop his progressively-deadlier creation, until a new hero would enter the battle...

Next week, 
The End of Dr Frankenstein!
and 
The Origin of the Monster's NEW Nemesis...
"Bulldog" Denny!

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Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein vs the Prize Fighters"

Before the Justice Society!

Before the Avengers!

There were the Prize Fighters!

And who are these other paragons of justice (all of whom had their own strips in Prize Comics)?

"Well known"?

Most of them recently appeared in the Project SuperPowers series from Dynamite Comics, but beyond that...

Anyway, on with the action!

While the characters did appear in the next issue, it was in their individual strips, not in Frankenstein.
There is a mention of him being subdued by a group of heroes in the next issue's Frankenstein tale, but that's it.

This one-time team-up of the various characters, though historically-important, didn't even make the cover of the issue (Prize Comics #24).
Not even a blurb!

Note: We've covered a couple of the characters in separate entries including The Black Owl (both of them), The Green Lama, and The Monster of Frankenstein himself.
As to who Bulldog Denny is, we'll be explaining (and showing) who he is and how he came to be the Frankenstein Monster's nemesis in future entries during October.
For the record, the super-hero group never had an official name.
Several historical articles in print and on blogs gave the team the "Prize Fighters" moniker, and it seems like a good fit, so we're using it as well.
Frankenstein artist Dick Briefer did a good job trying to match several different art styles including the "bigfoot humor" look of the General & the Corporal strip.

Oddly enough, a cover from several issues (#20) earlier seemed to telegraph the events of this story four issues later...

...even though there was no reference in any of the stories in #20 to an attempt by a group of heroes to capture the Monster, he's clearly shown bound and helpless in the second car!

Of course, the concept of a group of heroes beating up on one misunderstood monster wouldn't catch on...

Art by Marie Severin & Sam Grainger

Art by Herb Trimpe

Art by Jack Kirby & Sol Brodsky

 Uh...yeah...won't catch on...

More Monster of Frankenstein later this week...

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