Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Andy Smith (penciller), Keith Champagne (inker), Pete Pantazis (colorist)

The Story: It’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, monster style.

The Review: One of the oldest tales in storytelling history is the journey to the Promised Land, the place which holds all the answers the questers seek.  Though some may argue the journey itself offers the greatest spirit of adventure and the most relatable value, at times the destination winds up the real climax of the story.  Many characters discover upon arrival that their struggles up to that point were only a prelude to their greatest conflict yet.

And so it goes with Frankenstein’s team when they reach Romania, where many questions that have dogged them all along finally do clear up.  But as with any good mystery, the revelations come with some significant fallout, leaving none of the Creature Commandos untouched in its life-altering consequences.

For Frankie and Bride, their futures pose the most uncertainty, but wherever they end up, you can take a lot of comfort in that they’ll be together.  Despite their ruthless vocations, the couple has a surprisingly potent, albeit low-key, chemistry.  Frank, being the strong, silent type, doesn’t exactly cuddle his wife, and she won’t wins any awards for cutesiness (“Holy #$&*!!”), but they nonetheless have an endearing devotion to each other, even when the chips come down.

Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Ibraim Roberson (artist), Pete Pantazis (colorist)

The Story: Avoid playing “Monster Mash” around this Frankenstein.  He’s not the party type.

The Review: With an Elseworlds tale, the better known and established the characters, the more enjoyable it is to see all the changes to their personality and history.  But with Frankenstein, you have not the original monster from Mary Shelley’s novel, but Grant Morrison’s adaptation of the character from his Seven Soldiers maxi-series, which itself had only a tenuous connection to the DCU proper.  Spin a character like that fresh, and you may as well consider him brand-new.

And on those terms, this tie-in stands incredibly well on its own.  Like Flashpoint: Secret Seven, you don’t really get to see the altered world at large—at least, not yet—as most of the plot stays close to the characters without really linking to the significant events of Flashpoint.  That said, most of the issue takes place in the past, and some of the actions the team takes (especially a doozy by Frankenstein in Nazi Germany) almost certainly led to some of the world’s changes.

With this combination of horror/sci-fi-type characters, a WWII setting, and old-school superhero conventions (like team names: Creatures of the Unknown channels the spirit of the Challengers of the Unknown, in my mind one of the most awesome team names ever), the title has a distinct Silver Age flavor.  This is exactly the kind of material Lemire takes to, and with his attention to detail and dialogue, the story feels credible and modern underneath its retro tradition.