23 January 2019

Frankenstein: Homecoming

As we saw last time, Dick Briefer turned the reformed Frankenstein into a Nazi fighter for a bit.


Ever wonder why there are relatively so few copies of comics from back in those days when they were frequently printed in the millions? This might offer up a clue, eh?


The tale also ended by urging the readers to recycle every scrap of paper, including the one in their hands.

The following issue introduced a pair who would become ongoing cast members for a while with the pronouncement "Trouble Starts Right Here!" -


The next issue brought Frankie back to the USA, along with his new companions. They spent the following few issues settling in to city life...





Then came issue #49, in which we've not only fully embraced the comedy nature of the series, but also looped back to the beginning with reference to his days as the villain of a superhero comic -


As noted previously, the comedy era is the most famous phase of Dick Briefer's Frankenstein comics, and it was at this point that he spawned his own title. The book was a bit irregular getting started. Two issues in '45, then 3 more in late '46 before settling into a bimonthly schedule with the March/April issue in '47.

Since beginning this series, i discovered that Dark Horse released a collection featuring the stories from the first seven issues of the title -


We haven't really touched upon those issues here, nor likely will we, if you looking for more of the series to read. We will look a bit more at the comedy years now that we've caught back up.

But, of course, in time the series evolved again...

page art by Dick Briefer for Prize Comics #s 42-49 (1944, 1945)

3 comments:

  1. IDW and Craig Yoe also published a collection as part of their "Chilling Archives of Horror Comics" series nine years ago.

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  2. Based on the series title, i'm guessing they didn't focus on the comedy years. Any idea what they did cover?

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    1. It covers all three eras: The mid-Forties' humorous version, as well as the more horrific one from the early Forties and early Fifties. You get a little taste of everything in chronological order. I own a copy, and I enjoyed it. Would have preferred more content from the comedy years, though.

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