Frankenstein Alive, Alive: The Immortal Being

This is a guest post written by Alan D. D. 

Mary Shelley’s story of a mad scientist and his creation has left an undeniable print in popular culture. Not in vain, the story has been described as ‘one of the most adaptable and adapted novels of all time, spurring countless renditions in film, television, comic books, cartoons, and other products of popular culture.’ (Braid, 2017, p. 232). One of the most praised works is the comic series Frankenstein Alive, Alive. Ironically, ‘the least known works of Frankensteiniana appear to be examples of the comics medium’ (Torregrossa, 2018, p. 1), but ‘Frankenstein-inspired comics may also be the most numerous adaptations of the novel’ (Torregrossa, 2018, p. 2.)

(Frankenstein Alive, Alive)

The comic, written by Steve Niles and with art of Bernie Wrightson and Kelley Jones, offers a pretty accurate summary of the original story, which was enough for me to fall in love with it. Although it would be pretty easy to ignore it, the comic goes along with the rules of the myth and remains loyal to them, but this doesn’t mean the series has nothing new to offer. You don’t always find a respectful, yet original, sequel as this one.

Frankenstein Alive, Alive takes place after the events in the original tale. The Being attempts suicide several times to end his suffering, and he apparently succeeds, before he is awakened once again by a man who seems to be more benevolent than his creator, Victor Frankenstein: Dr. Simon Ingles, who has thoughts similar to Victor’s. Ingles also tries to control the limits between life and death, but for different reasons. While Victor was obsessed, driven by vanity, in creating a new species using dead bodies, Ingles genuinely tries to save a life, although he does considers murder as a way to ensure his success. If forced to decide between the two of them, I would consider Victor to be the most ethical, for he is honest before and after accomplishing his goal.

The narrative is pretty fluent and respects the original style of the novel, but due to Wrightson’s death, the last issue had to be completed by Jones, presenting a lot of light in the images and curved lines that contrast a lot with Wrightson’s art. The story, on the other hand and as I said before, follows closely Mary Shelley’s ideas and narrative, with a couple of modern dialogues I suspect were not corrected. However, the comic does an incredible job both capturing the emotion, the feelings of the story and the actual events in it. The Being’s inner and outside worlds are captured in his narration. This is mostly done by Wrightson’s use of dark colors, several somber scenarios and lack of light. He describes in graphics what Shelley did with words 200 years ago.

The Being created by Victor keeps his self-conscious character and tells his story in his own words, assuring that ‘my very appearance in any town or village provoked such agitation, fear and hostility that I was quickly run out of town. I had done nothing. Their fear was based solely on my appearance.’ (Niles, 2018, p. 14).  Because of this, he ‘is forced into alienation in order to survive, and becomes the savage that mankind believes it is.’ (Brännström, 2006, p. 23) He also remains as a martyr, thinking that: ‘I seemed invulnerable, but it made the pain no less.’ (Niles, 2018, p. 14).

(Panel from Frankenstein Alive, Alive)

Morals play an important role on the comic, in which The Being reasons: ‘Who was I to point and cry “murderer”?’ (Niles, 2018, p. 8). Although he is often perceived as a monster, it seems like that, with the correct education he received after the events in the novel, The Being is even more conscious of humanity, life and death. Does this mean that to be a monster is the same as being an ignorant? A question open to debate.This matter is taken seriously even at the beginning of the series, when The Being says that ‘I am never what they expect... So I have also learned it is always best to give them what they expect. Give them what they want. A monster.’ (Niles, 2018, p. 6-7). This he says when he appears in front of a crowd who wants to see “The Frankenstein Monster” and is disappointed: The expected an angry, blood-thirsty creature, not a peaceful one, and so think they have been fooled.

The last issue ends with a powerful reflection, and that could support the idea that ‘monster’ and ‘ignorant’ are the same thing: ‘Even if not a man, I am still alive... and any creature of this world, whether born by science or sorcery, deserves to live.’ (Niles, 2018, p. 20). Seems like The Being and I agree in something.

References:

Braid, B., 2017, The Frankenstein Meme: Penny Dreadful and The Frankenstein Chronicles as Adaptations, Open Cultural Studies 2017; 1: 232–243

Brännström, C. (2006). An Analysis of the Theme of Alienation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.

Niles, S. (2018) Frankenstein Alive, Alive Trio. IDW Publishing, San Diego, United States of America.

Niles, S. (2018) Frankenstein Alive, Alive. Issue #4. IDW Publishing, San Diego, United States of America.

Torregrossa, M. A., 2018, Frankenstein in the Comics: A Neglected Tradition, 49th NeMLA Annual Convention, 14 April 2018, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

Bio

Alan D.D. is an author, blogger and journalist who has been freaking the world since 1995. Hailing and writing out of Venezuela, Alan D.D. has worked with books, comics, music, movies and almost anything else that catches his attention. 99% of the time, it’s something about witches. He’s currently publishing a dark fantasy saga in Wattpad and searching for a 24/7 chocolate supplier.