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Mike Mignola, the writer/artist who created Hellboy, paired up his demon hero with Frankenstein’s Monster in 2011 with the graphic novel “Hellboy: House of the Living Dead” (drawn by Richard Corben). In 2015, Mignola penned a spin-off for the Creature, “Frankenstein Underground,” penciled by Ben Stenbeck and colored by Dave Stewart. (The pair pull off a strong impression of Mignola’s gothic style.)
Mignola’s Monster looks like Boris Karloff with Hellboy’s physique and pale gray, not reptile green, colored skin. Victor Frankenstein, briefly glimpsed in flashbacks, is drawn resembling Peter Cushing from the Hammer “Frankenstein” films. The comic briefly mentions the roots of “Frankenstein” in the writings of ancient alchemists; fitting since Mignola himself is an alchemist of pulp fiction. “Hellboy” is a delicious blend of Jack Kirby, H.P. Lovecraft, and Robert E. Howard, while “Frankenstein Underground” puts the Creature on an adventure right out of its parent comic.
By 1956, the Creature is in South America, having spent over a century traveling the world and meeting nothing but scorn. He carries not only the weight of rejection but the guilt of the lives he took in his crusade against his creator. “Frankenstein Underground” is about the Creature finally falling into Hell — or rather, a subterranean hollow Earth filled with dinosaurs, warrior tribes, and malicious sorcerers.
Mignola is not a religious man, but he was raised Catholic and has said he’s more than comfortable using that faith as material in his stories. That shines through in “Frankenstein Underground.” #2 reveals that, in 1855, the monster’s guilt and suffering became so unbearable he sought refuge in a church, kneeling before a statue of The Virgin Mary and pleading for peace.
The church’s minister then attacked him and accused him of being a demon. Mother Mary (colored in golden white, standing out like a light among the comic’s dark shading) remains a symbol of hope throughout the rest of the story. If Frankenstein’s Monster was not truly born, can he still be one of God’s children? If not, then perhaps he can only find peace underground, away from God’s eyes.
“Frankenstein Underground” is available as both a print and digital collected edition. Mignola also co-wrote a sequel, “Frankenstein: New World,” in 2022.
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