My Rating
“A Cold And Lasting Tomb!”
Reader Note: A significant portion of this story takes place in Monsters Unleashed No.02, 04, and 06.
The lifeless body of the monster sank deeper and deeper into the Arctic waters. Within seconds, memories began to fade as the frigid temperature overwhelmed any vitality remaining left inside of him. The blood, that precious liquid which revived dead tissue decades prior, now seeped from a gunshot wound inflicted by the great-grandson of Victor Von Frankenstein. Then blackness.
New York City – 1974 AD, Derek McDowell and Dr. Owen Wallach stepped back from the operating table as the heavy eyelids of their patient began fluttering. The electric stimulation treatment the two men developed at Empire State University had worked on the grizzly cadaver. It…was alive! But, for how long?
McDowell and Wallach had rescued the specimen from a nefarious carnival upstate. The owners claimed two things: this was the Frankenstein Monster of legend, and it was definitely “not…for…sale!”. A scientific wonder of such magnitude must be delivered into the hands of those with the skills to learn from it. At 3:00 AM that morning, a mysterious cargo van was seen driving away from the midway grounds at high speed.
“Witch Hunt”
Salem, Massachusetts, conducted many witch trials in the founding years. Now a young maiden named Sarah had been dragged in front of the magistrate for judgement. Could anyone claim defense for this sobbing woman? Ben believed he could, with little doubt.
Review
Wow, what a disappointment this turned out to be. When a comic book cover heralds the dawning of a new age for a character, then the publisher releases a large chunk of the storyline in three completely separate magazine-sized supplements; well, that sucks blue whale. I’m sure this would have been less of an issue back in 1974, but copies of Monsters Unleashed are a hard series to find in 2025.
I’m not a huge fan of crossover events. Especially coming from the kings of string-along storytelling, namely Marvel Comics. This sales tactic has left Frankenstein #12 feeling very empty and disjointed. The backup story written by Stan Lee and penciled by Steve Ditko wasn’t enough to fill the void. Unfortunately, I have to give this issue two out of five stars.
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