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FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1

It’s Frankenstein as you’ve never seen him before, in a dark new series from acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH) and artist Alberto Ponticelli (UNKNOWN SOLDIER)!

Frankenstein is part of a network of strange beings who work for an even stranger government organization: The Super Human Advanced Defense Executive! But can he protect the world from threats even more horrifying than himself? And since he’s vilified for who and what he is, will he even want to take on this mission?

Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by ALBERTO PONTICELLI
Cover by J.G. JONES

Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 4.3%
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Avg Rating: 4.0
 
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Comments

  1. Alright, iFanboy crew! We chose well, last week. Let’s bump Frankenstein to the top pick slot!

  2. I’m really hoping this is good. Cause with Animal Man disappointing me I’d really hate to say I dropped two Lemire books in one month.

    This should be a crazy book because of the premise and characters. I expect it to be insanely crazy.

    • Huh? Animal Man disappointed you? So you’re the one. 😉

      Actually, I am pulling this because of Animal Man. I was not blown away by the Frankenstein Flashpoint mini. It started strong, but by the end, I felt like it was mostly a set-up for this series.

      However, because I really enjoyed Animal Man, I am going to give Lemire another shot this week. Fingers crossed!

    • don’t worry ctrosejr, nextchampion hates everything as far as I can tell

  3. O man. If this ends up having the most pulls that would make me happy. I can’t wait to read this after Animal man last week.

    • Yup. I never thought I’d say this, but Frankenstein is my most anticipated book of the week. I’ll read this BEFORE Batman and Robin, and I’m a huge Batman fan.

  4. I love Lemire, I love Ponticelli … wow. This will be awesome. Ponticelli draws awesome monsters

  5. I wasn’t going to get this, but then Animal Man happened…

  6. I’ll check this one out, see how it fares. The premise looks interesting and uber crazy!

  7. Same for me as some others, but Animal Man made me interested in reading more Lemire. I might check out Sweet Tooth too at some point. To be honest the idea of Frankenstein doesn’t really appeal to me, but I’ll give it a try, because that’s exactly what I did with AM and it’s my favourite of the new52 so far.

  8. Animal Man was my favorite DC book last week. This book looks really fun. I’m not familiar with Alberto Ponticelli, but I like the colored stuff we’ve seen so far.

  9. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    I will read this because I miss the monster mash that was Frankencastle. Sigh, it won’t be the same though. Marvel had a plucky Moloid in a Devo T-shirt.

  10. This is a maybe for me…I wasn’t planning on getting it, but I hadn’t planned on getting Animal Man & Swamp Thing last week, and I love both of those…I should probably just get it, right?

  11. The Animal Man thing seems more like Lemire’s strength since it is Family related. This book is really going to show his ability to write since Frankenstein’s recent writer, Grant Morrison (anyone else know of someone I’m missing?), is such a well read and poetic writer. I didn’t like the voice of the character Lemire had for Frankenstein in that mini and didn’t read issue 2. This is the only DC relaunch I’m trying since I don’t want to read new takes on the other characters I already love (I have problems, I know) and I’d rather wait for a trade of Action Comics and Justice League. So I have high hopes. The art is going to be great though, the few preview pages shown for this, seem to be amazing.

    • Scott kolins wrote him kind of boring in Solomon Grundy and Batman/Superman. Bride had some great cameos as an agent of shade in the Uncle Sam mini.

  12. Didn’t think Animal Man was as great as everyone else but enjoyed it enough that I’ll check this out. The ending reminded me of a bad guy from Ex Machina.

  13. So excited! Other than his Superboy run, I love Lemire! And i’m gonna type the phrase Animal Man so I don’t break the combo.

  14. This should be a fun team book. What I like is that I have no idea what to expect from this.

  15. Lemire = gold

  16. Lemire is awesome….i’m really looking forward to what he can do with this.

  17. Can’t wait to read this!

    Also, I feel like JG Jones is back on his game. He’s been in a slump the last couple years, but these covers look gorgeous.

  18. This is the book I’ve been waiting for!
    Totally fell for the Flashpoint series of Ol’ Frank and crew. After ‘Animal Man’ last week, Lemire is my favorite writer (followed closely by Scott Snyder!)

    Hope to see Lemire get top book of the week again with this one!

  19. I have been a Frankenstein fan since like forever it seems, I wore a Frankenstein costume for Halloween for like four years straight when I was a kid. Which; was because I wanted to not because I was made too. I read the Flashpoint mini and I agree it started very good and then ended very badly… I will be giving this title my undivided attention.

    Just sayin’,

    K

  20. Is Dr. Frankenstein in this? He’s my main man, especially Peter Cushing style.

  21. If you asked me a few weeks ago about this book, I would have scoffed and simply said no

    Then I read Animal Man

    Now it’s my most anticipated book this week.

  22. Im picking this up later, intrigued, enjoyed reading the flashpoint mini series about Frankenstein

  23. This was just about everything I wad looking for…crazy science, crazy monsters, crazy situations, and some crazy sick artwork.

    It’s going to be a hard one to top this week!

  24. Of all the the new DC titles I bought this week, this would be my pick, with GL a close second. But Ult Spider-Man made me literally say “Whoa!” at the very end.

    But yes, this is my new DC 52 pick of the week this week for sure. Lemire is showing some major versatility in story creation. Animal Man, like a lot of people said, was right up his alley due to the everyman/family angle of it. With Franky, he shows us how he can still maintain those horror roots while delivering a satisfying first entry into an action based story. He even manages to poke fun at how in team books, the team magically knows to work together and make jokes. Really excited to see where this book goes!

  25. I wasn’t sure about the art in this one, but it really grew on me. This should be a fun ride.

  26. Just finished read it so much fun I love the fact that Father Time is a little girl!

  27. In complete agreement with everyone that thought it was great fun and I loved the art.
    It did feel a lot like Hellboy.

  28. I was so satisfied with this! DC Dark is everything I hoped for and more.

  29. Pert damn near perfect!

  30. What was the point of the Frankenstein Flashpoint book? Lemire introduced the Creature Commandos and set up their origins (at least to me. These particular characters may have been around before without me knowing about them) only to completely rewrite their origins 3 months later. Just seems like a waste of time to have even done the mini, because all it basically did was set up these characters and now it’s all completely redone. I get the new DCU is different than the old DCU (and the Flashpoint verse) and that makes sense with older, established characters, but with 3 month old characters? Not so much.

  31. This was one of my most anticipated books among the entire relaunch but I am at odds with everyone who has posted thus far. I have loved Frankenstein since the first issue of Seven Soldiers. I loved almost every appearance of S.H.A.D.E., Father Time, and Bride it just wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. It had a lot to like (Ray Palmer and little girl Father Time) and I will continue to pick it up, but just thought this book was going to be the funnest book ever and it wasn’t.

  32. The art rarely bothers me in a book, but it was noticeable. Not my cup of tea, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the art was bad.

    Solid story. Loved the mini; so this was an insta–pull from the moment Lemire was announced on the book.

  33. My track record with Lemire has been mixed, and the Flashpoint series left me disappointed, so I hadn’t planned to buy this series. However, I did get Animal Man last week, due to my fondness for the character, and was impressed. Thus, I read the first couple pages of Frankenstein at the store today, and ended up adding it to my stack. Glad that I did — I thought that the whole issue was quite strong. The series had a greater feeling of a distinct voice than the mini, and I enjoyed all the set-up. The appearence by Ray Palmer (pre-Atom?) was quite intriguing; it’ll be neat if he becomes a series regular. While, not my tentative pick of the week (see Demon Knights) I’m definately on board for at least the first arc . . .

    I liked the art for the most part, feeling that it matched the mood of the story well. I particularly enjoyed the doors gradually openning for Frankenstein and buddies as they waited to enter combat . . .

    Also, glad to see so many of the Dark titles working so well. DC took a gamble here, which appears to have paid off . . .

  34. Enjoyed the story but can’t get past the art. Not for me.

  35. Tons of fun. Lemire is such a good writer!

  36. Action and this book have been my favorites of the New 52 so far. An imaginative scifi horror book set on Earth. 4/5

  37. I loved this book and I feel bad for those who didn’t love the art because this dude was born to draw monsters.

  38. Loved this, particularly the Umbrella Academy-esque version of Father Time! Jeff Lemire is 2 for 2!

  39. p.s. Paul Cornell (a la Demon Knights) should take lessons from Lemire on how to introduce characters/concepts without overusing the verb “to be”

  40. Did someone say Hellboy rip-off?

  41. Absolutely loved this. So much fun…great writing, killer art. 5/5 POW for me.

  42. I dropped the Flashpoint mini-series after the 1st issue. For whatever reason, it didn’t do it for me. But this issue was MUCH better. Lemire’s going to have to his work cut out to make this book different from Hellboy/Proof/Mystery Society/etc. But I liked this as a first issue, and am willing to see where it goes.

    • I agree with you. I wasn’t as enamored with the miniseries as most folks appeared to be (aside from issue #1 which was good). Based on that, I almost skipped this book. It was the last book I added to my stack before paying. I’m happy to say I am so glad I didn’t skip it. Lemire too what was good about the mini, threw out what was bad, and added a bunch of new stuff (including a certain DCU scientist!) to make this a great read. The art was… different, rather sloppy in places. Not enough to ruin the fun, but I think cleaner art would really kick this up a notch. Had the art been better, I would have given this 5 stars, but as it stands I give 4. I will read #2 for sure.

  43. I like Jeff Lemire and what he’s done with Sweet Tooth and more recently Animal Man, but honestly this was one of the worst comics I’ve read in a while. The artwork was mediocre as well.

  44. I was looking forward to this and I was not disappointed!
    To me, the art goes perfectly with the subject matter. Non-conventional with a touch of unpredictability. What a fun read!
    Can’t wait for #2.

  45. this was great, i loved the story and the art but the coloring was just wrong for Ponticelli’s art.

  46. BAD ASS STORY! BAD ASS COVER!! and then we got a 2 year old to draw the book. I don’t know where they got this artist from, but they better return him to his preschool class before the teacher starts to freak out!! Seriously this art was pure SHIT! You know who would have taken this book by its undead balls and made it fangasmic?? Mike Allred of the Mad Man Comics!!! that would have made this book f’n biblical!!!! instead, with this so called artist drawing, i will pass on further issues until they can find a decent artist.

  47. This was a decent book but nothing great. Lemire actually keeps the story together and it pretty entertaining. But the art really did nothing for me and the monster threat are some of the most poorly drawn, generic monsters I have seen.

  48. I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed. This was the book I was most looking forward to and I think my expectations may have been a tad unrealistic and have colored the end result for me. The story was pretty good if a little generic for my tastes. The art was distracting and a little ugly.

  49. I wanted this to be great, the writing was very good but the art just does not work for me. Bummer

  50. loved everythig about this book. full on mental non stop fun:)

  51. I’m going to have to make sure I get this one when I go back next week as I passed over it this week. Not much of a Frankenstein fan in the past, but I gotta see what they do with Ray Palmer!

    Perhaps it shouldn’t, but it really surprises me this is getting more pulls than Daredevil (though just by a few) or Ultimate Spider-Man.

  52. Liked the story, a little wordy but a good story. I thought the art was kind of sloppy. I’ll keep reading this arc at least.

  53. Picked this up today on a whim…Holy Shit!

  54. I loved this! Lemire is on a roll.

    The art struck me as more stylized than sloppy. I think it fits the tone of the book like a condom.

    This would be my POTW if Batwoman weren’t so goddamn beautiful.

    Bring on #2!!

  55. This sucked!! Thats it; bad art, dumb story, and well the characters are just not working. Father Time? Who the fuck is that and where does he come in?? No, no, no… I really don’t care this book is done alongside Static Shock!!!!

    Just sayin’,

    K

  56. I loved this! So very fun! This is the kind of wild ride I’m looking for.

  57. Wow. What a great book. I loved every bit of the imagination of this book. The characters, the headquaters, the old boss in the body of a young girl who for some reason wears a mask. LOL. I’m ok with the art. A few profiles and faces where indeed just downright horrible but the overall feel was good to me. Not my favorite type of art but I’m on board for more and have no real complaints only niggles.

    Will I be back for issue 2? You can bet your sweet bippy.

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