Issue(s): Frankenstein #12
Cover Date: Sep 74
Title: "A cold and lasting tomb!"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Val Mayerik - Penciler
Vincent Colletta - Inker

Review/plot:
The title on the cover of this series is The Frankenstein Monster, but the indicia just says Frankenstein. This series began as an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and then continued with new stories set in the past. Despite a meeting with Dracula in issues #8-9, the series did not take off the way Marvel's other monster books from this period did. The explanation, according to notes in the lettercol this issue, is that "readers simply couldn't relate to it the way they can to our contemporary Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf By Night magazines. It made the Monster too distant, too remote; despite the fact that it made for some unusual settings and some interesting character possibilities, we finally had to admit to ourselves that it wasn't working the way we wanted it." and "...now that Frankie is in a modern setting, it's highly possible he could encounter the Werewolf... or the Living Mummy.. or the Man-Thing... or even Dracula again!" Finally, while they say "We tend to agree that a Spidey/Monster issue of Marvel Team-Up would be a tad ridiculous (we think...)", that will indeed happen less than a year from now.

In addition to the time/setting change, this series has a new creative team, with Doug Moench replacing Gary Friedrich, and Val Mayerik becoming the regular artist (previous issues were illustrated by Mike Ploog, John Buscema, and Bob Brown).

For the purposes of my project, i'm not directly interested in any of the previous issues, and i wasn't really sure if i needed any of it, since, despite the reasoning behind bringing the Monster to the present, he doesn't actually meet any other Marvel characters in his series. So i originally just got this issue to see the transition to the present, and then the final two issues of the series (which i cover separately, of course). I later gave in to my completest tendencies and bought the Essential trade covering the entire series. But i was originally pretty disappointed, because unfortunately, after getting the Monster to the present (in the aftermath of a battle from the previous issue, he falls into icy glacial waters and gets frozen, and is eventually discovered by sailors on an oil freighter)...

...a footnote tells us that the Frankenstein Monster's actual revival is covered in Monsters Unleashed #2,4, and 6!

The book then just shows the Monster lurching down the street.

So, there's no actual story in this issue.

The coolest thing about this issue is while we see the various eras passing while the Monster is frozen, we learn that in the Marvel Universe, there was a war involving a giant Hitler-hedgehog monster.

This is the most prominent of several Frankenstein Monsters in the Marvel universe, including the Nazi Frankenstein from the Invaders, "Frank" from Marvel: The Lost Generation, and the alien robot from Uncanny X-Men #40. With his fuzzy overcoat, this one at least has a unique look not entirely derivative of the Universal movies (the movie version did wear a furry coat in some of the later Universal films as well, but most people think of his look based on the original Frankenstein and Bride movies).

This issue also has a Ditko reprint from Amazing Adult Fantasy #7.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - Frankenstein Monster brought to the present (but see also the Monsters Unleashed issues)

Chronological Placement Considerations: A footnote says that the Monster's appearance in Monsters Unleashed #2,4, and 6 take place during this issue. In fact, issue #6 begins a scenario that doesn't really end until Monsters Unleashed #10, so all of Frankenstein's Monster's appearances in Monsters Unleashed take place during this issue, and his appearance in Legion of Monsters #1 fits here as well. After getting back to this series for the final page, the Monster's next appearance is in Giant-Size Werewolf #2, which we'll see him returning from in Frankenstein #13.

References:

• The Frankenstein Monster's revival was shown in Monsters Unleashed #2 and Monsters Unleashed #4-6 (and beyond).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

This book had a good fan reception due to the high quality of the Friedrich/Ploog novel adaptation(which was probably the best thing Gary Friedrich ever did), but when Ploog left, the quality plummeted. The concurrent present-day Frankenstein Monster series in Monsters Unleashed was even worse. This issue was an attempt to give the book a shot in the arm and sync up the continuity with both series, but it eventually got cancelled anyway. Besides this, the monster still showed up in modern-day stories in some b&w mags, and did meet Werewolf By Night in a Giant-Size Werewolf. Fortunately, all the 1970s Frankenstein stories(except in Iron Man and, I think,Marvel Team-Up) got collected in continuity order in Essential Monster of Frankenstein.

Its a pity. The Monster in the past stories (issues 1-11) were really good (as Mark states, exceptionally good for Friedrich). When they moved him to the present, the stories got silly with the jigsaw monster and the like.

Ralph Macchio has a letter here.

Moench stated in Alter Ego #146 that he wanted to keep the Frankenstein Monster in a Universal-horror movie type setting, but Marvel insisted on putting him in the present day, which Moench couldn't get a good handle on.