View source for Frankenstein (Prize Comics)


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{{Infobox comics character
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|image=Frankenstein-Prize-12.jpg
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|caption=The monster, from [[Prize Comics]]' ''Frankenstein'' #12 (April 1948), art by [[Dick Briefer]].
|character_name=Frankenstein
|real_name=
|publisher=[[Crestwood Publications]]
|debut=''[[Prize Comics]]'' #7 (Dec. 1940)
|creators=[[Dick Briefer]]
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| subcat = Crestwood Publications
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| sortkey = Frankenstein (Prize Comics)
}}
There have been many [[comic book]] adaptations of the monster story created by [[Mary Shelley]] in her 1818 novel ''[[Frankenstein|Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus]]''. Writer-artist [[Dick Briefer]] presented two loose adaptations of the story in publisher [[Prize Comics]]' successive series ''Prize Comics'' and '''''Frankenstein''''' from 1940 to 1954. The first version represents what comics historians call [[American comic book]]s' first ongoing [[horror fiction|horror]] feature.

==Publication history==
===Comics' first horror feature===
In ''Prize Comics'' #7 ([[cover-date]]d Dec. 1940), writer-artist [[Dick Briefer]] (using the [[pseudonym]] "Frank N. Stein" in the latter role) introduced the eight-page feature "New Adventures of Frankenstein", an updated version of 19th-century novelist [[Mary Shelley]]'s much-adapted [[Frankenstein monster]].<ref>[http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=1155 ''Prize Comics'' #7 (Dec. 1940)] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref> Considered by comics historians to be "America's first ongoing comic book series to fall squarely within the [[horror fiction|horror]] genre",<ref name=don>[http://www.toonopedia.com/franken1.htm Frankenstein (1940)] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240525141418/https://www.webcitation.org/631zP6eZ9?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/franken1.htm Archived] from the original November 7, 2011.</ref><ref>Watt-Evans, Lawrence. "The Other Guys", ''The Scream Factory'' #19 (Summer 1997), reprinted as "The Other Guys: A Gargoyle's-Eye View of the Non-EC Horro Comics of the 1950s" at ''[[Alter Ego (magazine)|Alter Ego]]'' #97, October 2010, pp. 3-33.<!--[http://www.watt-evans.com/theotherguys.html Watt-Evans.com: "The Other Guys"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422090241/http://www.watt-evans.com/theotherguys.html |date=April 22, 2009}}.--> On page 5 of the latter, the author notes, "...there were no horror comics as such in the earliest days. The first real horror series seems to have been the 'Frankenstein' series by Dick Briefer, in ''Prize Comics'' ... [which was]  a superhero title, featuring the [[Black Owl]], the [[Green Lama#Comic books|Green Lama]], and the like, except for this one aberration".</ref> the feature, set in [[New York City]] circa 1930, starred a guttural, rampaging creature actually dubbed "Frankenstein" (unlike Shelley's nameless original monster).

In ''Prize Comics'' #11 (June 1941), Briefer dropped the "Frank N. Stein" pen name of the previous three stories and introduced the doctor's adopted son Denny "Bulldog" Dunsan as Frankenstein's ongoing [[antagonist]].<ref name=Chronicles>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |pages=98, 161, 211, 262}}</ref> ''Prize Comics'' #24 (Oct. 1942) pitted the monster against Bulldog and publisher Prize Comics' [[superheroes]] the [[Black Owl]], the [[Green Lama#Comic books|Green Lama]], and Dr. Frost; the non-superpowered teens [[Yank and Doodle]] ("America's Fighting Twins"); and the namesake characters from the [[humor]] feature "General and the Corporal".<ref>[http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=2462 ''Prize Comics'' #24 (Oct. 1942)] at the Grand Comics Database</ref> In some stories, the monster also teamed up with two other occult menaces, the Witch and the Mummy.<ref name=Chronicles/>

As with many comics characters of the time, the monster found himself in the [[European theater of World War II]] fighting [[Nazis]]. In 1942, scientist Dr. Ullrich offers a bride for Frankenstein, in exchange for the monster resolving to aid humans instead of fighting them, but an angry mob burns down the lab, killing both Ullrich and the bride.<ref name=Chronicles/>

===Horror to humor===
''Prize Comics'' #33 (Aug 1943) brought an abrupt change to the strip. Another scientist, Professor Carroll, performs another experiment that makes Frankenstein look and act more human.<ref name=Glut>{{cite book |last1=Glut |first1=Donald F. |title=The Frankenstein Archive: Essays on the Monster, the Myth, the Movies, and More |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9780786480692 |pages=172–175 |chapter=Frankenstein in Four Colors}}</ref> A caption explains, "Frankenstein has left behind him a trail of wrecks, disaster, tragedy and murder – but, as we said, he has left it behind him, for thanks to the miraculous work of a great scientist, Frankenstein is a changed person! With a new suit of clothes, a haircut and a facial, he goes out to become a part of human society!" The humanized monster spends a few issues helping with national defense, and then enrolls in grade school.<ref name=Chronicles/>

The character shifted back to horror for a brief period in 1944, beginning with February's ''Prize Comics'' #39. The monster was brainwashed by the Nazis to destroy the resistance in occupied territory. The character managed to break free of his conditioning and destroy the Germans' hypnosis machine, but then rampaged through Europe for a while with a female vampire, Zora, and a male zombie, Rollo. After a while, the three characters moved to [[New York City]] and opened a hotel for monsters.<ref name=Chronicles/>

Eight-page Frankenstein stories by Briefer appeared in every issue of ''Prize Comics'' from #7-68 a.k.a. vol. 7, #1 (Dec. 1940 - March 1948), with the exception of issues #10 and #55.<ref>[https://www.comics.org/series/205/ ''Prize Comics''] at the [[Grand Comics Database]].</ref>

===Solo comic===
Briefer's better-known version of the Frankenstein monster, however, developed upon the monster's return from the war. The character was so popular at that point that they gave him his own series, with ''Frankenstein'' #1 (1945).<ref>[http://www.comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=428 ''Frankenstein Comics''] at the Grand Comics Database. Note: Series title per its postal [[Indicia (publishing)|indicia]] and all covers except that of #1 is simply ''Frankenstein''.</ref>

Like many returning veterans, Frankenstein settled into small-town life, becoming a genial neighbor who "began having delightful adventures with [[Dracula]], the Wolfman and other horrific creatures.<ref name=Glut/> The only two times he was featured on the ''Prize Comics'' cover (both in 1947), he was referred to as 'The Merry Monster'".<ref name=don /> Briefer, with his trademark "loose and smooth ink and brush skills" began telling stories that would "straddle some amorphous line between pure children's humor and adventure and an adult sensibility about the world".<ref name=weems>{{cite news|last=Weems |first=Erik |url=http://www.eeweems.com/artandartifice/dick_briefer.html |title=Dick Briefer |publisher=Art & Artifice / EEWeems.com |year=2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903070018/http://www.eeweems.com/artandartifice/dick_briefer.html |archive-date=September 3, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In his book ''Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries 1900-1969'', author Dan Nadel described Briefer as
{{blockquote|...one of the few guys in the 1940s who had that loose, gestural art style that's funny. The drawing is inherently funny. Which is really unusual for humor comics of the time ... [in that] it's tight drawing. It's self-contained and beautiful. But Briefer is all over the place. When he does these swooping pratfalls that Frankenstein takes, the lines actually reflect the gag. It's nice. [...] And they're funny as comics. They read well and are beautifully drawn; they're full of unforgettable images, like the wizard eating Frankenstein on a hot dog. You'll never forget it, for better or for worse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/commentary/5040/ |title=Preview: Art Out Of Time, Dan Nadel |publisher=[[Tom Spurgeon|TheComicsReporter.com]] |date=May 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924032139/http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/commentary/5040/ |archive-date=September 24, 2010 |url-status=live}} quoting {{cite book|first=Dan|last=Nadel|title=Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries 1900-1969|publisher=[[Harry N. Abrams]]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8109-5838-8|url=https://archive.org/details/artoutoftimeunkn00nade}}</ref>}}

Briefer's humorous Frankenstein ran through ''Prize Comics'' #68 (March 1948), and his humorous ''Frankenstein'' ran through issue #17 (Feb. 1949). Three years later, Briefer (1915–1980) revived the series with his original, horrific Frankenstein from #18-33 (March 1952 - Nov. 1954).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schelly |first1=William |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s |date=2013 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781605490540 |page=55}}</ref>

Following the cancellation of ''Frankenstein'' during an era that put much pressure on [[horror comics]] and other violent comic books, leading to the creation of the [[Comics Code]],<ref>Hajdu, David. ''The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America'' ([[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]], 2008) {{ISBN|0-374-18767-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-374-18767-5}}</ref> Briefer left the comic industry for [[commercial art|commercial advertising art]].<ref name=lam>[http://lambiek.net/artists/b/briefer_dick.htm Dick Briefer] at the [[Lambiek Comiclopedia]]. Source erroneously lists death date as 1982.</ref>

==Reprint collections==
* Briefer, Dick. ''The Monster of Frankenstein'' (Idea Men Productions, 2006) {{ISBN|1-4196-4017-8}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4196-4017-9}}
* Briefer, Dick. ''Dick Briefer's Frankenstein'' (Library of Horror Comics' Masters, IDW/Yoe Books, 2010) {{ISBN|1-60010-722-2}}

==See also==
* [[Frankenstein (comics)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Frankenstein (Prize Comics)}}
*[http://www.chancefiveash.com/frankenstein32cover.htm ''Frankenstein'' #32 (vol. 5, #4 per indicia): "The Battle of the Monsters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080712183952/http://www.chancefiveash.com/frankenstein32cover.htm |date=2008-07-12 }} and [http://www.chancefiveash.com/frankenstein32p11.htm "The Beautiful Dead"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309175907/http://www.chancefiveash.com/frankenstein32p11.htm |date=2008-03-09 }} (reprinted stories)
*{{cite web|url=http://briefers_frankenstein.webs.com |title=Dick Briefer's Frankenstein |publisher=(fan site) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430005007/http://briefers_frankenstein.webs.com/ |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |url-status=dead}}

{{Prize Comics}}
{{Frankenstein}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankenstein (Prize Comics)}}
[[Category:1940 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1954 comics endings]]
[[Category:American comics]]
[[Category:American comics characters]]
[[Category:Comics based on Frankenstein]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1940]]
[[Category:Horror comics]]
[[Category:Humor comics]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Undead characters in comics]]
[[Category:Public domain comics]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Frankenstein (Prize Comics)|access_date=2026-03-03}}