February is a tough month – if you live anywhere like where the two of us do, your house is probably covered in snow and freezing cold, football is over, baseball has yet to start, and Hollywood is releasing dreck left and right. What can help you get through February unscathed? How about a look at one of the most anticipated minis of 2015? If that’ll help, we’ve got you covered!
Written by Mike Mignola
Illustrated by Ben StenbeckThe Frankenstein creature is alone, abandoned, and wandering underground, where he will discover other strange creatures—and dark secrets to the universe.
David: We are pleased to provide a special advance review of next month’s “Frankenstein Underground” #1 from Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck. I’m not sure where you were at with this, but I had no idea what to expect. No expectations led to a great experience for me. What was your take?
Brian: I agree – I am a huge fan of Frankenstein’s Monster in pop culture – I love the Universal films, the Hammer Curse of Frankenstein, and Shelley’s novel is one I come back to every few years. Mignola clearly shares that love for the character, and tosses in a lot of hints and references to various incarnations of the character throughout the issue.
First of all, let’s talk about the last time we saw Frank in the Mignolaverse – wrestling Hellboy in Mexico. This picks up, seemingly, not too long after that. When we read that book, did you think that Hellboy was wrestling the Frankenstein Monster? Because I surely did not.
David: I honestly don’t even remember that. Was that in Hellboy in Mexico? Or one of the other Mexico stories? I’m the worst Mignolaverse fan.
Brian: I believe it was in the O.G. “Hellboy in Mexico,” but don’t hold me to that.
David: Well, shit. There’s your answer. Clearly I did not think he was wrestling that Frankenstein Monster. Clearly I didn’t think anything besides “Lucador Hellboy is dope!” when I was reading it, and then blacked out myself. That’s the funny thing about the Mignolaverse though. You never know where the next series or story beat is going to come from. Hell, the Sledgehammer suite previously appeared as a small element in “B.P.R.D.: The Dead” and in “Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus”. Next thing you know, it’s getting its own minis years and years later. Any guesses from you as to why now for this book?
Brian: Well, I think that if you look at the way the Mignolaverse has been going lately, we have “B.P.R.D.” as the highway, taking us to our final destination (the end of the world), and then we have all these weird little tributaries and side roads that bring us stories that fill in the gaps and color the world in interesting and fun ways.
It also seems that Mignola, as he further removes himself from the mainstream of comics, is happy to indulge in some of his odder or more eccentric interests, and all the promotional materials for this book mention his extreme love of the character.
Plus, right now we have the two monthlies (“Abe Sapien” and “B.P.R.D.”), as well as the ongoings “Hellboy in Hell” and “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.,” but those all have a more singular focus right now – this is a chance to take a serious detour into the weird.
So, I guess to answer your question: because he can, and because we will eat it up. Do you have another reason in mind?
David: Well, my only guess besides yours is it will somehow integrate into “Hellboy in Hell”. It probably won’t, but it seems that Franky is headed to hell, and if he’s in hell, that opens up the opportunity for his path to cross with Hellboy’s. Is it likely? Not really. Is it possible? Sure. Besides that, I think it’s just fun for Mignola.
And let’s get to talking about the comic itself, as for a story that’s about the tragic life of a not-man man, it’s a pretty zippy, fun story (albeit with sadness around everywhere). What did you dig about this comic?
Continued belowBrian: Well, it is funny to hear you describe it as a “fun” story, for all the inherent sadness that lurks on every page. But what I really dug was the seamless (pardon the pun referencing a man literally stitched together) way in which the character pops up in this world, and believably so. Again, as a big fan of the character, I loved the little touches that stitched (again, sorry) together so many different incarnations of the character into, what feels like, a “greatest hits” monster. He is articulate like in the novel, he looks like the Karloff version, with a bit more steampunk thrown in, like those random extra bolts, with the Christopher Lee haircut.
But more than anything, I love the humanity that exists within this decidedly not-human creation. In that way, he reminds me a lot of Hellboy; he exhibits the best of the people he lives alongside.
David: Yeah, I agree with all of that. I guess why it feels fun to me is it is such a quick little adventure story with so many little neat tidbits thrown in. I mean, it has Marquis Adoet de Fabre in it, plus his full run of accomplices! We haven’t seen them in a looooong time, and they were so great the first time in “B.P.R.D.: The Universal Machine”. It may be a sad story, but it made me pleased to read it. I may be sick. As you said, the integration into the Mignolaverse was spot on, and throwing us back to a character like the Marquis really took it to another level.
Let’s talk Ben Stenbeck. He’s off his ass here. That’s all I got. That dude draws good.
Brian: Yeah, Stenbeck’s work here is amazing. There were a few moments that felt almost jarring, because his work takes such unexpected detours. He certainly can channel Mignola at times, but the work always finds a way to completely de-Mignola itself just a few panels later. His humans are far more subtly expressive than Mignola’s tend to be at this point in his career. What I love about modern day Mignola is that it’s all sharp angles and blacked out sections – Stenbeck isn’t that at all, but he manages to find certain ways of framing and layout that just absolutely scream Mignola.
This is a stunning work by Stenbeck, perhaps the best I’ve seen him do.
David: Yeah, he’s really on point here. I think he does an incredible job of framing sequences and shots. Like, when the Marquis and his minions were watching the fight in the latter half, it felt like he structured that to almost interact and engage with the fight as a viewing party. It added tension to the story. Plus, his Franky was spot on, as you noted, and Stenbeck was able to dial up the drama of moments like the death of the witch up many levels. He’s got a real sense for the dramatic, and as you noted, he was very good at channeling Mignola without removing his own style from the equation. The guy is just super talented.
What else do you have to add about this book?
Brian: Honestly, not too much. I am excited to see where this story goes and, as you hinted at earlier, I hope he winds up in Hell with Hellboy, though I would suspect that would take place in “Hellboy in Hell” and not here.
This is a solid 8.5 for me – what do you think?
David: I’ll give it an 8.0. It’s a really, really solid opening chapter to something that could become great later on. That Stenbeck and Stewart combo is hot, though.
Final Verdict: 8.25 – A solid start to this exciting new mini
