When DC created the first wave of what they called the “The New 52!”, they mined the more obscure corners of their character archives to find properties interesting enough to be worthy of their own title. Now I’ll admit that the more cynical followers of DC, of which there were legions, suggested that the Powers That Be in the editorial offices at DC were just trying to stop these characters from following into public domain, but that really doesn’t apply for most of these characters, as they’ve been used in various ways since their initial appearance.
(When this title was announced, many DC critics proclaimed that the Creature Commandos were created during WW II. Errr, no.)
One of those characters was Frankenstein, one of the Creature Commandos. They were originally created in Weird War Tales in 1980 and have been rebooted several times, of which this short lived series was the latest version. (The character himself has been nicely used after the end of his series, mostly notably assisting Batman in one storyline.) This riff on the Creature Commandos includes the possibly ex-wife of Frankie (as she calls him) who’s remarkably like Lady Shiva with four arms and blue skin, an Egyptian mummy, a werewolf, and a vampire created by use of a modified Langstrom serum. (Langstrom was the original Man Bat, created for the <em>Batman: The Animated Series</em>. I should note that Frankie’s ex isn’t actually part of the team now, though she was, but does show up several times in this series. And is always quite pissed at Frankie and Father Time for getting her involved in S.H.A.D.E. business.
This team works for Father Time, an apparently immortal being who shifts both body type and gender at will. Father Time is the Director of S.H.A.D.E., which stands for Super Human Advance Defense Executive. (Like Marvel Comic’s S.H.I.E.LD., I suspect that acronym came first and the longer name made to fit it.) S.H.A.D.E. exists within a nigh indestructible sphere that is accessed by a teleportation device that also miniaturizes the agents as well. If you’re a DC fan, you’ll recognize the scientific adviser for this group, Dr. Ray Palmer, The Atom.
The stories here are a mix of fantasy and science fiction, none really believable but rather fun to read. They take on monsters that have wiped out an entire world and follow them to the planet of their origin; Frankenstein by himself takes on O.M.A.C., Jack Kirby’s One Man Army Corps; He and his ex are tasked by Father Time to find their test-tube-created son, who’s more of a monster than either of them is; the golems that are the workforce of S.H.A.D.E. HQ rebel and the Creature Corps has to, errr, dispose of them; Frankenstein takes on his creator; and several other entertaining stories.
Usually I skip talking about the artwork as I’m fairly tolerant about the art in a graphic novel so long as it’s reasonably good. Alberto Ponticelli’s artwork is far more than that and makes the story work very well. Same holds for the work done by the various colorists and inkers.
Unfortunately Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. lasted a mere sixteen issues before being canceled in the first purge of “New 52!” titles.
(DC, 2011-2012)
