DC Relaunch: Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE

The thing that's kind of cool about characters in the public domain (aside from the fact that you can really do anything you want with them) is that somewhere, there's a story for you featuring that character. Whether it be the original, or the comic book version, there's an option for you. What's even better is when it's not just a cool reimagining, but a REALLY cool remimagining that takes the character to whole new levels. And then there's when Grant Morrison does that and totally blows us all out of the water.

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE comes fully loaded with a supporting cast that may not have been plugged in at first, but in the end just makes sense. First with Frankenstein's monster, who has taken his creator's name, you have this amazing, badass agent that rivals Hellboy, with a swagger that'd make the hardest of men cry. While a leader, he's reluctant in what he does, but he knows it must be done. It's notable when you can somehow make Frankenstein stand out from how he's appeared before, and on top of that look just plain awesome without trying.

Frankenstein is joined by the Creature Commandos, who are looking a bit different these days than they used to. As always, his partner in SHADE is The Bride, who looks very much like the classic Bride of Frankenstein, except for being loaded down with both guns and extra arms. Rounding it out are a number of monsters similar to the classic Universal monster line, and a little girl who I think may be Black Alice? Unconfirmed of course, that's just me trying to figure stuff out from the images that have been released.



Jeff Lemire seems to have lucked out and is writing this as well, and you can already read his take on Frankenstein and the team in Flashpoint: Frankenstein & the Creatures of the Unknown. On art will be Albert Ponticelli, who is currently handling art for John Layman on Godzilla: Mobsters & Monsters, and is best known to most readers for his work on Joshua Dysart's Unknown Soldier.

As far as collections, go check out Seven Soldiers vols. 1-4 (they may have recollected it. The art in it is handled by JH Williams III, Cameron Stewart, Ryan Sook, Frazier Irving, Pasqual Ferry, Freddie Williams II, Yanick Paquette, Simone Bianchi, and Doug Mahnke handling Frankenstein.

Tommorow, Resurrection Man is... resurrected. 12 pm, yes.