Frankenstein (DC Comics)
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Frankenstein is a DC Comics character who was revamped by Grant Morrison and Doug Mahnke in 2005. He is a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, and a reworking of Len Wein's Spawn of Frankenstein concept, which is based on Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's original Frankenstein's monster, to whom he bears a strong physical and mental resemblance. Though he bears a resemblance to the creature as potrayed in the 1931 film directed by James Whale, as the original 1818 novel has no description of him (as he is considered too hideous to be representable).
[edit] Fictional character biography
Frankenstein is an undead body composed of parts from several corpses stitched together, created by Herr Doktor Frankenstein some time in the 19th century. He was assumed dead in Europe when he sank beneath the ice, but he survived and swam to America, having 'many adventures'. In 1870, he fought Melmoth, the Ringmaster of the Circus of Maggots, and stopped him from destroying a town with maggot-hominids. Exhausted, he sank into the ground.
In 2005, a high school student, called 'Uglyhead' by all the other children, acquires telepathic abilities, which he uses to torment his peers. At the senior prom, the now-docile students are killed by the Sheeda maggot-hominids. This causes the return of Frankenstein, who makes short work of the maggots and the boy, before burning down the school to cover the bodies. Afterwards, Frankenstein makes his way to Mars through an Erdel Gate, where he confronts Melmoth once again. Frankenstein frees the children Melmoth has enslaved to work in his gold mines, and feeds Melmoth to the flesh-eating, praying mantis-like horses of Mars. But before he is consumed, Melmoth reveals that it was not lightning that brought the monster to life, but several drops of his own immortal blood, sold to Frankenstein's creator, that still course through Frankenstein's veins.
In the third issue of the series, Frankenstein meets an old acquaintance greatly resembling the "Bride" in James Whale's The Bride of Frankenstein , albeit with four arms. She is now an agent of the Super Human Advanced Defense Executive (S.H.A.D.E., a parody of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.), a secret government agency who temporarily drafts Frankenstein as well. Of their previous relationship, she says, "It's nothing personal, but you were never my type."
In the final issue, he stowed away on a time-ship which brought him to the Sheeda realm of Summer's End. There, he threatened to kill the Sheeda-Queen if she did not return to stand trial for genocide. She countered that it was only just to feed on a self-destroying society. He countered by bombing her world-destroying fleet, killing her time-yacht's steersman, and hijacking the ship to the present. Once in the present, though, Klarion gains control of Frankenstein using a witch-brand, used to control Grundies, and forces him to take the castle back to the future. Frankenstein's current fate is unknown.
He appears briefly in Infinite Crisis #7 (which takes place one week after the Frankenstein miniseries) implying his continued activity in the DC Universe.
Frankenstein is armed with a three-foot-long sword, which he claims once belonged to the Archangel Michael, and a large antique pistol, which he calls his 'steam-gun'.
A character called Young Frankenstein has appeared in Teen Titans as a member of the team during the "Lost Year" covered by 52 (comics). More information about the character, including his relation, if any, with Frankenstein, is forthcoming.
[edit] Powers and abilities
- Extreme strength, unliving and thus unkillable.
- Mental access to the S.H.A.D.E. database via a surgical implant.
