Essential Marvel Horror volume 2

Essential Marvel Horror volume 2 is another example of the anthology Essential, this time collecting tales of a diverse set of characters and presenting them by character instead of chronology. We get the adventures of the Living Mummy, Brother Voodoo, Gabriel the Devil-Hunter, Golem, Mordred the Mystic and the Scarecrow. These come from Supernatural Thrillers #5 & #7-15, Strange Tales #169-174 & #176-177, Tales of the Zombie #2, #6 & #10, Marvel Team-Up #24, Haunt of Horror #2-5, Monsters Unleashed #11, Marvel Two-in-One #11, #18 & #33, Marvel Chillers #1-2, Dead of Night #11 and Marvel Spotlight #26. That's a lot of issues with a lot of characters and lots of creators so given the anthology nature of this volume I'll list the creators for each character individually. And there are labels posts for characters and creators 1 and 2.

The volume kicks off with the Living Mummy from Supernatural Thrillers #5 & 7-15. The writing is initially by Steve Gerber and then Tony Isabella before being finished off by John Warner, with plot contributions by Len Wein and Val Mayerik. Mayerik is the main artist on the feature with individual issues drawn by Rich Buckler and Tom Sutton. Supernatural Thrillers had initially adapted various famous horror stories but also ran a one-off original piece featuring an immortal mummy and overall only lasted six issues. It was then revived nearly a year later starring the Mummy with the cover of issue #7 proclaiming that he was back by popular demand. However it's very clear that there was no initial plan for the character who is originally introduced mainly in Egypt (although the opening scene is in the Gaza Strip, then under Israeli occupation) but then transported to New York when the feature becomes ongoing, only to almost immediately be returned to Egypt for the rest of the run. One side effect is that any plan to have guest appearances by the wider Marvel universe is set aside, bar a single appearance by the Living Pharaoh.

However there's a strong sense of history to the lead, established upfront as we learn he was N'Kantu, the chieftain of an African tribe known as the Swarili in ancient times. They were conquered and enslaved by the Egyptians under forgotten Pharaoh Aram-Set, but N'Kantu led a rebellion that freed the slaves and killed N'Kantu. However he was captured by the priest Nephrus who used a potion to paralyse him and then performed a transfusion that replaced his blood with a fluid that made him immortal. N'Kantu then spent three thousand years entombed until the paralysing potion wore off. This origin is quite dark for the time but gives a strong sense of history and tragedy as N'Kantu slowly comes to terms with being exiled from his home by the millenniums and completely unable to return home. In the present day he is drawn to Egyptologist Alexi Skarab, a descendent of Nephrus, who shares a psychic bond with the mummy enabling the two to communicate. Skarab, his two assistants, Janice Carr and Ron McAllister, and thieves Dan "the Asp" Harper and Miles Olddan form a small supporting cast for an epic involving a search for and struggle over a Ruby Scarab of immense power sought by the Elementals - four beings Magnum, Zephyr, Hellfire and Hydron with powers based on earth, air, fire and water respectively. Zephyr initially takes control of the Mummy to find the Scarab but when N'Kantu breaks free the other Elementals turn on her, leading to a prolonged struggle in which modern day Egypt is conquered. It's easy to see the roots of this story - the lead character seems to have been inspired by the contemporary fad for zombies since the end result is once again a living corpse wandering the Earth, unable to communicate substantially with other people and for a period being controlled by the magic of a woman. However the main elements are drawn from Egyptian history and mythology, with some brief acknowledgement of the modern day political turmoil in the Middle East, and the result is a good little epic that doesn't feel too forced or take the lead out of his natural environment. N'Kantu may be one of many horror characters who is unable to converse with those around him but he is able to think, understand and recall and the result is a noble being both in flashbacks and the present day.

Next we have the tales of Brother Voodoo (who gets the cover) from Strange Tales #169-173, Tales of the Zombie #6 & #10 plus an introductory text feature from issue #2, and Marvel Team-Up #24. The Strange Tales and Marvel Team-Up issues are all written by Len Wein who also plots the first Tales of the Zombie story which is scripted by Doug Moench who writes the second. The art on Strange Tales and the first Tales of the Zombie is by Gene Colan, the second by Tony DeZuniga and the Marvel Team-Up by Jim Mooney. The introduction feature is written by Tony Isabella and drawn by John Romita. It's clear Marvel had big hopes for this series, launching it in a monthly series and even reviving the "Strange Tales" name. (Though it's slightly odd to see "Fantastic First Issue!" on issue #169.) But the insurance policy of being able to keep the title and replace the strip proved wise as by issue #171 it was bimonthly and then Brother Voodoo was dropped after only five issues. It's possible the strip ended prematurely for non-sales reasons. Issue #173 ends on a cliffhanger with a caption stating that the story will be concluded in Tales of the Zombie and its place here will be taken by the Man-Wolf. As we'll see the slot was in fact filled by the Golem, which was so rushed issue #175 had to be a general reprint issue and the Man-Wolf instead appeared in Creatures on the Loose. The fact the Brother Voodoo story was concluded in a magazine suggests that there were problems with the Comics Code Authority over the portrayal of some of the voodoo elements in the series.

When I first encountered Brother Voodoo in the pages of Marvel Team-Up I did a double take as the character seemed rather stereotyped. His solo adventures show a more rounded character with a determination to avoid stock tropes so we get Jericho Drumm, a psychiatrist, who returns to Haiti and has to take on the role of his dead brother Daniel - with Daniel's spirit co-inhabiting him. Brother Voodoo shows some efforts to get away from being a black Doctor Strange - he may have a manservant, Bambu, and a mansion but he's a much more physical character. He faces a string of foes, all voodoo inspired but with some superhero twists, including a man claiming to be Damballah the Serpent God who has killed Daniel, and another impersonating Baron Samedi but actually an agent working with AIM. Baron Samedi is an understandably popular villain in voodoo fiction but to find him with a secret layer beneath a cemetery on a Caribbean island just a few months after the release of Live and Let Die does show a degree of unoriginality. A fight with the Cult of Dark Lord introduces potential romantic interest Loralee Tate, a nurse, and her father, local police chief Samuel Tate, but once again the foe is illusionary with the "Black Talon" another man in a suit, here being manipulated by his mother, Mama Limbo. The final solo story is more overtly magical, with Dramabu the Death-Lord raising the dead as "zuvembies" on Haiti, including Brother Voodoo's mentor, Papa Jambo. The team-up with Spider-Man brings a different twist on foe types as they tackle Moondog the Malicious, a spirit currently possessing the body of an accountant.

Overall this strip is a bit hit and miss. It would be churlish to pick on Brother Voodoo for being a product of riding on the latest cultural fad even though this one is now more forgotten than most. And there's a clear attempt to establish a status quo for ongoing adventures in and around New Orleans but it never quite gets there. The problem is there are a lot of overt voodoo concepts in these tales, whether set in Haiti or New Orleans or even a pursuit to New York, and at times it can be a little hard to following if terms like "loa" and "houngan" aren't fully explained - the Marvel Team-Up does a good job at this but the solo stories less so. Otherwise the stories feel rather run of the mill and not as spectacular as they were built up to be.

Third up in this volume is Gabriel the Devil-Hunter from Haunt of Horror #2-5 and Monsters Unleashed #11. Everything is written by Dough Moench with the art handled by Billy Graham, Pablo Marcos and Sonny Trinidad. This is another character whose creation rode the wave of a fad - in this case The Exorcist movie. Information about Gabriel is only slowly revealed and it's not even clear if that is his first or last name. The final story - presumably rescued when the original series was cancelled - fleshes out the background of how a scholar found his wife Andrea dead, seemingly at her own hand, and turned to the priesthood only to be subject to a possession but he drove the demon out with force of will, burning a crucifix mark onto his own chest. Now working as an exorcist from the thirteenth floor of the Empire State Building and accompanied by his mysterious assistant Desaida, Gabriel faces a succession of possessions and drives out the demons, with repeated signs this is part of a greater struggle as the demons know Gabriel. The Devil-Hunter is no pure priest, having turned his back on the Roman Catholic Church and at times turns to drink. Desaida is another source of mystery until it's revealed she is possessed by the spirit of Andrea. At the end Andrea's death certificate spontaneously combusts and Gabriel accepts Desaida as his wife. All in all this is a rather slight series, with the mysterious elements cleared up rapidly when Marvel's black and white horror magazines started ending in close succession though it's good to see a creator getting a chance to control the revelations in time. The settings are mixed with exorcisms in homes, churches, cemeteries and even at Stonehenge (although Sonny Trinidad clearly had no idea what it looks like). But the whole genre just isn't one that appeals much and this strip doesn't reach too well beyond it.

The fourth lead character is the Golem from Strange Tales #174 & #176-177 and Marvel Two-in-One #11. The first Strange Tales issue is written by Len Wein and drawn by John Buscema, and the other two are by Mike Friedrich and Tony DeZuniga with the Marvel Two-in-One by Bill Mantlo and Bob Brown. The Golem is a creature taken from Jewish folklore with this particular representative being the one created by Judah Loew Ben Bezalel in 16th century Prague. The stone monster saved many people from oppression and tyranny before going immobile in the desert. In the present day he is rediscovered by archaeologist Abraham Adamson, his nephew Jason, niece Rebecca and Rebecca's fiancé Wayne Logan. When a group of bandits steal from the campaign, killing Abraham in the process, the Goldman comes to life, seemingly animated by Abraham's spirit. The rest of the strip sees the Golem accompanying the three survivors back to New York, saving them from danger and facing off a series of demons sent by Kaballa the Unclean who desires the Golem's power. The strip soon came to an end with the story becoming one of many to be wrapped up in a team-up with the Thing. All in all there's not much to this strip or character at all. There's an attempt to flesh out the mythology of the stone creatures and show how they can be killed, but the main character has neither the ability to converse with others nor the stature and charisma of other silent monsters and so isn't that interesting. Nor are the supporting cast. This leaves the piece as a curiosity that fortunately doesn't outstay it's welcome.

The penultimate strip in the volume is Mordred the Mystic from Marvel Chillers #1-2 and Marvel Two-in-One #33. The two Marvel Chillers issues are written by Bill Mantlo and the sole Marvel Two-in-One by Marv Wolfman with art by Yong Montano & Ed Hannigan, Sonny Trinidad & John Byrne and Ron Wilson respectively. This is a very slight series, telling how a sorcerer’s apprentice at the time of Camelot had rejected being assigned to the unseen Merlin, who had reportedly turned bad, and instead sought dark magic to overthrow the wizard. However it threw him into suspended animation until found in the twentieth century. The rest of the series is a mixture of fights with various magic and demonic beings including the strange "the Other" and four representatives of the elements, and a culture clash battle with a stereotyped cliché pretending to be the Metropolitan police in some Hollywood executive's idea of London. There's clear potential for this character, and also a sub-plot laid of a romantic triangle involving him and the two archaeologists who found him, but the strip is over before it's really begun and the practical implementation is nothing to write home about. Yong Monano's art is particularly fine though, with the lengthy flashback to the days of Camelot having a real olde worlde feel. The story is nominally wrapped up in Marvel Two-in-One in what is also the conclusion of the first Spider-Woman epic, but all we get is a battle with the elemental demons sent by the wicked Merlin rather than an actual showdown.

The final character highlighted is the Scarecrow from Dead of Night #11, Marvel Spotlight #26 and Marvel Two-in-One #18. The first two are written by Scott Edelman and the third by Bill Mantlo with Edelman co-plotting. The art on the three issues is by Rico Rival, Ruben Yandoc and Ron Wilson respectively. The letters page for Dead of Night #11 is reproduced and it's an essay by Scott Edelman outlining early ideas for the character and the various titles he was considered for. This is frankly a highly confusing series with key mysteries never resolved. The Scarecrow seems to inhabit a painting and comes to life when attempts are made to steal said painting by agents of the demon Kalumai. The painting is obtained by collector Jess Duncan, with multiple hints of a connection between the Scarecrow and Duncan's brother Dave Monroe. Beyond that we have multiple fights, an attempt to sacrifice Duncan's romantic interest art critic Harmony Maxwell, and no actual origin. The Marvel Two-in-One issue reveals that the painting is an portal to a dimension where Kalumai is trapped with the Scarecrow as gatekeeper but the other questions are left unresolved and the painting seemingly destroyed. All in all this is easily the worst of the six different characters' appearances collected here but fortunately it doesn't outstay its welcome.

Of the different characters it's the Living Mummy which works the best, having a clearly defined character and soon finding a strong direction. The Brother Voodoo tales are so-so but the rest of the volume is really a demonstration as to why these characters never took off and I wonder how Marvel Two-in-One readers felt about that series being so often used to wrap-up such obscure properties. However the general concept of this book is a good idea. There have been many short-lived characters and series that are too short to collect in a standard continuous run edition and here is a way to rescue them. The idea could be carried forward to other features - there have probably been enough short-lived series and limited series featuring various Avengers that would allow for multiple volumes bringing them altogether. However it's unfortunate that the title "Essential Marvel Horror" had previously been used for what was really "Essential Children of Satan" as there's no real direct connection between the two volumes and separate titles would have been better, though this one is far more deserving of the general "Marvel Horror" label.

Essential Man-Thing volume 1

Hoh boy. This is the one that brings out all the sniggering.

So let's take this slowly. Essential Man-Thing volume 1 contains material from multiple titles including issues of Giant-Size Man-Thing.

Let's just pause for a moment to let everyone get the sniggering out of their system.

[Lengthy pause.]

All done? Because there won't be another break.

(But on an aside, did the term "man-thing" actually have such connotations in early 1970s America, or are the sniggers all down to latter-day use of the term or even transatlantic differences? A quick Google search is unhelpful, being dominated by the comic character, but then the term is far from the most common name for the... well you know.)

Now down to business.

Essential Man-Thing volume 1 contains the eponymous creature's earliest appearances and issues, consisting of material from Savage Tales #1, Ka-Zar's feature in Astonishing Tales #12-13, Adventure into Fear #10-19, Man-Thing #1-14, Giant-Size Man-Thing #1-2 and Monsters Unleashed #5 & #8-9. Most of these series were anthologies in either comic or magazine format, the latter not falling under the Comics Code Authority and allowing for less censored material. Adventures into Fear was previously a reprint series and then became another long-run try-out title before successful characters received a title in their own right. Bonus material includes Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entries for both the Man-Thing and Jennifer Kale. One notable omission is the cover to Savage Tales #1 but on investigation it seems that this is because the cover spotlights Conan the Barbarian and so presumably having lost the Conan licence Marvel are unable to reprint it even when accompanying a non-Conan story.

The Man-Thing's debut in the magazine Savage Tales is written by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway and drawn by Gray Morrow. All contribute to subsequent tales which are written mainly by Steve Gerber, with contributions by Len Wein and Tony Isabella. The art is mostly by Val Mayerik and Mike Ploog with contributions by John Buscema, Neal Adams, Rich Buckler, Howard Chaykin, Jim Starlin, Alfredo Alcala, Vincente Alcazar and Pat Broderick. As this produces many labels, some have been placed in a separate post.

Reading through this volume I've felt as though I was stuck in a swamp myself. It has been a very long and slow read and, although a variety of real world events have intervened to contribute to that, the series itself has not proved very inspiring at times. At the heart of it the series suffers two major problems. One is the complete mindlessness of the title creature, resulting in no dialogue or character development at all and making it hard to get interested in what happens to him. The other is the swamp environment not lending itself to many obvious story types and the ones that are do get used fall into a mixture of stiltedness or just plain weirdness.

There's a long tradition of swamp monsters and it's now unknown just whether the inspiration for the Man-Thing or the Swamp Thing came first. But it takes more than just a walking mound of slime to create excitement. For the Man-Thing there's an attempt to create some tragedy through his origin as we see scientist Ted Sallis betrayed to spies by his assistant/girlfriend and having to take a serum to survive, only for it to interact with the swamp and turn him into a shambling monster. As origins go it's nice and self-contained but with openings that could be used to spin off multiple further adventures. Unfortunately not too much is done in this volume with that. The monster seemingly has no coherent thoughts or memories so can neither embark on a quest for vengeance nor try to find a cure for his condition. Ellen appears again only in a special story from Monsters Unleashed as she recovers from her burns and returns to the swamp to deal with the memories. In doing so she comes face to face with what Ted has become, leading to a memorable moment as she demonstrates no fear, but in the regular series she is forgotten. The organisation Ellen works for, later revealed as AIM, don't catch on to what has really happened to Ted and come after the monster again and again. And so all we're left with is the stumbling monster wandering the swamps and influenced by the emotions of those around it.

That said the Man-Thing does demonstrate some interesting ideas such as the ability to literally ooze through any small opening and a touch that burns whenever the recipient demonstrates fear. Visually he's also a good design, even in black and white, and so makes for a series of strong images though I generally prefer Val Mayerik's depiction to Mike Ploog's. However I'm not sure how he displayed in colour - the front cover shows some very similar shades of green being used for both the monster himself and the background swamp. Fortunately the back cover has found some more distinguishing variations of green.

The character took a while to take off, not helped by Savage Tales only publishing one issue for some years. But the following year, after an appearance in Ka-Zar's strip in Astonishing Tales, which isn't particularly memorable in its own right but which does serve to thrash out some of the details of the character, the Man-Thing soon got an ongoing title in the pre-existing Fear, albeit with the title expanded to Adventure into Fear. This series had previously reprinted many monster stories from Marvel's pre-superheroes era, and the choice of this title helped to place the Man-Thing within the sense of a restoration of the non-superhero monsters. This is also reflected in the guest stars that appear or rather don't.

Once we get past the guest appearance in Ka-Zar's strip, there are no further substantial guest appearances included in this volume (although there are some cameos). This is despite the period covering guest appearances in Avengers, Daredevil and Marvel Two-in-One which show that the Man-Thing wasn't completely isolated from the wider Marvel universe. Such a limited interaction as presented here can allow a character to strive and thrive on their own two feet without interruptions, but it can also leave their deficiencies heavily exposed with precious little to fall back on. It's very much the latter effect here and I feel the series could have seriously benefited from either some appearances by familiar faces or else a fully developed supporting cast who actually hang around long enough to make a big enough impact.

The swamp is located in the Everglades in Florida and comes with all the traditional contents of a swamp from fierce crocodiles to hillbillies, as well as being the site for a proposed airport. But it also contains some decidedly fantastical elements. There is a hidden civilisation based around a Fountain of Youth. And the swamp is the site of the Nexus of All Realities, a gateway that links it to many dimensions containing all manner of weird oddities. The Man-Thing has become the guardian of the Nexus, offering the ironic spectacle of such a great responsibility falling upon such a mindless beast.

There's a tendency for the supporting cast to only appear briefly before disappearing. The first notable case is Jennifer Kale, a young amateur witch who develops a psychic link with the Man-Thing but it is subsequently broken. Her brother Andy and their grandfather Joshua, the head of a cult that seek to defend the Earth from the demons found in the Nexus, also appear, as does Jennifer's boyfriend Jaxon, offering some broader mythology but it's not really developed here. However the Kale family would go on to be tied into the continuity of another of Marvel's horror heroes but when I last tried to read a summary of the family history all I could grasp was just how much my head hurt. Elsewhere are two distinctly strange beings who come through the Nexus - Korrek, a barbarian who arrives through a jar of peanut butter, and Howard the Duck. To my surprise Howard is killed off early on and doesn't come back within this volume but his popularity would take him to great heights elsewhere. Later on we meet Richard Rory, a perpetual loser who repeatedly finds himself in the swamp. More than once he seems to hit it off with a woman who is also lost there, only for things to go wrong. However he does land a spot as a night-time radio DJ. The first such woman is Ruth Hart, on the run from a gang, and it at first seems as though she may have staying power but it comes to nothing.

Villains range from the earthly to the fantastic. At the grounded level the Man-Thing's most persistent nemesis is F. A. Schist, an industrialist intent on building an airport in the swamp, which brings him into recurrent conflict with the Man-Thing, including bringing in the scientist Professor Slaughter. Eventually Schist's greed consumes him when he finds the Fountain of Youth and is destroyed by the Man-Thing, but his vengeance seeking widow later comes after the monster. Elsewhere is the first appearance of the serial killer called the Foolkiller, who is seemingly killed off in his first appearance but would later come back. There are also a string of one-off criminals who pass through the swamp and usually come to grief at the hands of the Man-Thing, though things aren't always great for the victims. There's an especially nasty case of this in a two-part text story from Monsters Unleashed where an unsuccessful writer flees after his girlfriend was killed by a mugger only to get caught between a mad father trying to kill his daughter. But things are not always as they seem, as shown early on when the Man-Thing encounters a black man on the run from a racist and jealous sheriff, only to discover disputing claims between them. The more fantastical foes include various magical beings from the Nexus such as Thog the Nether-Spawn, Dakimh the Enchanter and various one-off named and unnamed demons. Or there's the first appearance of the alien Wundarr, a parody of Superman and his origin. A rare trip away from the swamp bring an encounter with ghost pirates led by Captain Fate, doomed to never reach port due to a curse inflicted by a crewmember they abandoned.

Giant-Size Man-Thing may have a title that everyone laughs at, but the first two issues are straightforward serious content, with the only change from the regular series being an increased use of characters from the wider Marvel universe. The first issue sees the Man-Thing battle the Glob, previously seen in the Incredible Hulk, due to the influence of the Cult of Entropy. The second sees a bunch of cameos, most notably from Mister Fantastic, as the Man-Thing gets briefly transported to New York in a partial parody of King Kong. But otherwise these bigger issues are just expanded versions of the normal sort of story for the series, which has now settled into a pattern of some edginess and social commentary wrapped up around monster and magic tales.

Overall this volume may have some imagination to it but it's the execution that is the problem. Ultimately the central character just isn't sufficiently exciting and there's not enough going on around him to make this compelling stuff. Steve Gerber's issues do include a degree of commentary and satire, but this approach can either date all too easily or else sink if the reader does not have the cultural background to spot the targets. What we're left with is a title that begins as a latter-day monster story in the vein of an earlier generation of Marvel that gets crossed with fantasy and absurdity in the hope that something in this mix will congeal. But the result just doesn't work for me.

Essential Monster of Frankenstein volume 1

Essential Monster of Frankenstein volume 1 contains Monster of Frankenstein #1-5 then under the title Frankenstein Monster #6-18, plus Giant-Size Werewolf #2 and material from the magazines Monsters Unleashed #2 & #4-10 and Legion of Monsters #1. It also includes the Monster's entry from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. The writing on all the series is mainly split between Gary Friedrich and Doug Moench, with Bill Mantlo contributing the final issue of Frankenstein Monster. The art is by a mixture of mainly Mike Ploog, John Buscema and Val Mayerik, with individual issues by Bob Brown and Don Perlin.

The series opens with a three part adaptation of the original novel combined with a framing sequence set in 1898 as Robert Walton, the great-grandson of the captain of the same name from the novel, leads an expedition to the Arctic locate the Monster's body. However it soon becomes clear the Monster is far from dead. As with the Tomb of Dracula, Monster of Frankenstein takes the famous novel as its starting point, treats it as an account of real events (although unlike Dracula the book itself is never actually mentioned in the comics) and introduces the descendants of some of the characters in it. Indeed the idea goes back even earlier to the original Silver Surfer series where the Surfer clashed with the descendant of Frankenstein himself. The Monster himself is notably different from the classic Universal Pictures Boris Karloff appearance, being closer to the deformed creature of Mary Shelley's text. However as the series and character develop there's an increasing drift towards the Hollywood image of a monster called "Frankenstein" lumbering through fellow monsters and other wild situations. Issue #6 sees the series' title change to Frankenstein Monster, a word order that can satisfy the popular use of "Frankenstein" for the Monster rather than the creator but without upsetting those who are aware of the distinction. And although it varies a bit with the different artists, there are times when the depiction of the Monster gets much closer to the traditional Hollywood portrayal.

But despite these drifts the series broadly remains faithful to Shelley's vision, with the original novel adapted quite well and even adhering to the narrative structure of telling it in flashback, with the narrators here consisting of the younger Captain Walton and the Monster himself. We get an additional tale of the creature's final exploits around the start of the nineteenth century and overall we get a rather sympathetic portrayal of the poor creature brought to life in a world that hates and fears him, rejected from birth by his "father" and cursed to wander the world, not even dying but entering suspended animation twice, once after the events of Shelley's novel and another time in issue #12 when the creature is moved from 1898 to the present day. The series doesn't pull its punches about the grittiness of the situation, with the Monster killing a number of people and animals in the course of his wanderings, and almost everybody he befriends soon comes to grief.

A recurring theme is the Monster's relations with the Frankenstein family. Having failed to kill Victor Frankenstein with his own hands, he seeks vengeance upon the heirs. In 1898 he eventually meets Vincent Frankenstein, a great-great nephew of his creator, but is denied his chance when a maid kills her master for neglecting his wife. Unknown to the Monster, Vincent is not the last of the Frankensteins as his wife has died giving birth to a boy. In the present day we meet Veronica Frankenstein, a descendant, who helps the Monster by repairing his larynx, thus restoring his power of speech. It seems as though nearly two centuries of hate and bitterness have come to an end with this reconciliation. However the very last page of the comic series (though not the volume) sees the introduction of Baroness Victoria von Frankenstein, who states she is the great-granddaughter of his creator. How she can be a direct descendant when the Monster killed Victor's only wife on their wedding night isn't explained here (and let's not get into the quagmire of counting generations). The Official Handbook entry for the Monster states she is heiress to the family title but not a direct descendant so it remains to be seen what her connection is or why Vincent and Veronica were seemingly unaware of her line, believing themselves to be the last of the Frankensteins.

This isn't the only sign where the series's continuity lapses a bit. This is particularly noticeable around issue #12 when the Monster is taken to Vincent Frankenstein's London townhouse in 1898 but leaves what looks like an eastern European castle but appears to be located in northern Europe (although a later issue establishes the Monster had re-entered the ocean in Switzerland - a landlocked country). The Monster falls into suspended animation for many decades, during which what appears to be the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, or an even earlier conflict, is fought. When the Monster is revived in the present day, the details of his resurrection are glossed over in the pages of his own series, with readers directed to issues of the magazine Monsters Unleashed, and the placement order of in the volume keeps those tales back until the end. Meanwhile the 1898 encounter with Dracula in issues #7-9 is at variance with the vampire's early continuity, and may have contributed to considerable confusion in his series about just how long he had been inactive for. And up until this encounter the Monster is able to speak but then his larynx is torn. Yet ten issues later Veronica Frankenstein performs an operation to allow him to speak and he's treated as though this is the first time he's been able to do this.

The X-Men had briefly encountered an alien android who was presented as having been the basis for the Monster. The Official Handbook entry mentions the android only for long enough to establish it as a separate character without going into detail now that the novel had been accepted as a real account. Otherwise the volume contains no mention of any other appearances of either Frankensteins or beings like the Monster. But this doesn't mean the series exists in isolation from the rest of Marvel's output. But despite spending some time in New York City there are no appearances by the most familiar superheroes. Instead the Monster crosses over with other characters from the horror output. The trinity of Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster and the Werewolf have become commonplace not just in Marvel but across the horror genre in general and so it's entirely appropriate that the Monster encounters Dracula here, even if it is at the expense of understanding the vampire's continuity, and goes on to meet with the Werewolf. The fight with Dracula is by far the more significant as a gypsy girl who has befriended the Monster is transformed into a vampire and tears his larynx, ending his ability to speak and so altering the dynamic of subsequent encounters. The story is slightly reminiscent of an earlier issue in which a young woman befriends the Monster only to turn out to be a werewolf, a fact he doesn't realise until after he has slain the beast.

The Monster wanders afar with a sense of nobility, often willing to help others in danger in the hope that he can find fiends and a sense of identity, but invariably with tragic consequences. Some of the people he saves reject him in terror. Others turn out to be, or are turned into, dangerous beings that have to be stopped. Others still become friends but are soon killed. The Monster is a truly tragic figure, lacking a clear identity and made up of various bits and pieces. Unfortunately the series becomes the same.

The early issues show a coherency as the Monster is revived and sets out to find the last remaining Frankenstein, with the late nineteenth century setting helping to contribute to a neo-Gothic feeling. However there are some strange individual moments, such the giant spider that feeds on souls and resides in the German Castle Frankenstein. Vincent Frankenstein is a creation much closer to the Hollywood legend version of his great-great uncle rather than the literary portrayal, complete with a laboratory in a castle (also named "Castle Frankenstein" though it's in the United Kingdom) and a deformed hunchback servant who doesn't always agree with what his master is up to. Once in the present day the situations become more random as the Monster encounters and fights, variously, a Satanic cult, a bizarre creature formed by an accident in genetic engineering, the shady International Crime Organization Nexus (ICON) and the Beserker android.

A major flaw in the presentation of the series, reproduced in this volume, is the holding back of the details of the Monster's revival in the present day for the series Monsters Unleashed. As a result this volume leaps forward and backwards within the Monster's chronology, and the revival tale doesn't feel strong enough to justify using it in a separate and non-Code series. We get a rambling tale (which, on its original publication, skipped an issue and so took many months to tell) in which a neuroscientist has invented a means of transplanting brains between bodies in order to survive but gets transferred into the Monster's body when his student assistant foolishly assumes this is the solution to dying of cancer. An accident results in the scientist's brain being eventually transferred into the body of a mouse, with the mouse's brain temporarily controlling the Monster and accidentally crushing the scientist. Throw in the scientist killing the assistant, a bit of zombie magic thrown in to allow the assistant to fight the scientist even after death and a trapeze artist whose brain and body also get transferred around, and the whole thing just becomes one chaotic mess. There's a few elements that would have been barred from appearing in a Code approved comic such as the assistant coming back as a zombie and possibly the basics of transferring brains, but the story is so weak the use of such elements just doesn't justify taking a key part of the Monster's story away from his own series. The rest of the Monsters Unleashed stories are better with one tale of a man who believes himself to be ugly after he was rejected by a woman and so donned an ugly mask and recruited other "freak" outcasts for his revenge. However the revelation of his real face causes the outcasts to turn on him. The Monster saves the woman and hopes she might become his friend as he carries her unconscious form home, protecting her on multiple occasions, but when she regains consciousness she rejects him and flees.

The final two stories in the volume offer a glimmer of hope of a better approach. The last in Monsters Unleashed sees the Monster sneak aboard a train where he is befriended by a female hobo. They discover the train is a decoy for a Presidential trip and get caught up in assassination attempts. Tragically the girl is killed when the train is blown up, leaving the Monster once more all alone. The story from the sole issue of Legion of Monsters sees the Monster stumble into a costume party where he is accepted by all and falls for a beautiful woman, but he is tricked into following one man whilst another kills the girl and frames the Monster. He deals with the killer but once more he is left alone and friendless with others assuming the worst of him.

The Monster is an unfortunate creature who was created with great hopes but was assembled from bits and pieces drawn from a wide variety of sources and wandering about in search of an end to its agony and in search of a purpose in life. Unfortunately some of that description also applies to the series in general. It starts off amazingly well but gradually loses its way. Perhaps the turning point is the encounter with Dracula which shows the problems of the Monster interacting with the wider Marvel universe in 1898, but most of the stories set in the present day feel somewhat aimless. The Monster lacks a name but has a strong identity and a nobility that deserved stronger material than this.