ROY THOMAS PRESENTS FRANKENSTEIN IN PRIZE COMICS Volume 1

Lengthy illustrated essay on the history of the monster from book to stage to films, by Don Glut. Dick Briefer's Frankenstein for Prize Comics is widely regarded as being America's first ongoing horror series. And it was pure horror, with Dr. Frankenstein desperately trying to kill his own creation, who's out creating mayhem and murder. Then a new character comes along to track the monster. And The Black Owl, Yank and Doodle, Dr. Frost and other heroes of Prize Comics cross over in a rare instance of blending strips. These are the very rarest episodes and this volume was long delayed while the publisher located copies to use. It was Briefer's work that may have caused the creature to be actually named as Frankenstein instead of the nameless monstrosity from Shelley's novel. Stories are split between the twin stools of humor and horror, (these early ones in this volume are pretty much straight horror until just the last couple episodes). Briefer's tales are absorbing and unsettling in equal parts. Most of the humorous material has already been reprinted, though not necessarily in order nor in total. And then when the horror comics craze began at the end of the 1940s, Briefer again changed the character back to a horror strip, albeit with him mostly doing good (by wiping out extremely bad people, who deserved their fate, with no judge or jury in sight). Those are great stories also. The interview with Briefer is a hoot, he's a character himself. These issues of Prize Comics are today incredibly rare and sell for multiples of guide. I find it very interesting that the Prize characters like the Black Owl, who was drawn by Jack Kirby in a couple issues, crossed over into the Frankenstein strip. That's very unusual in the early days of comics.