Title: Frankenstein, Alive, Alive!
Author: Steve Niles
Date of First Publication: 2012
Place of Publication: IDW Publishing (Print)
Type: Graphic Novel
Characters: The Creature
Themes: BYRONIC HERO; POSTHUMAN; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: Frankenstein Alive, Alive! is written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Bernie Wrightson. The story imagines what has become of the Creature after his last confrontation with Victor Frankenstein as described in Mary Shelley’s original text. The graphic novel is done in black and white, and evokes a post-Victorian feel since we first meet the Creature in his new home, which is ironically, the circus.
Niles follows in the footsteps of Shelley by keeping the Creature’s character in her vein of being. The Creature that the readers gets in Niles’s interpretation is still bent on an existential quest to understand what his creation means, and how he fits in to human consciousness and thinking. Wrightson’s illustrations are dark and somber as Niles’s Creature ponders what his continuing existence means, especially in the context of being a form of entertainment for a human audience. Along the lines of Shelley’s writing, Niles chooses to expand upon the Creature by having most of the text in the graphic novel be monologues or a sort of internal dialogue that the Creature has with himself. Though there are some instances of conversation, most of the text is internal, personal, and belongs directly to the Creature, giving the reader an inside look to his feelings and psyche.
The theme of the posthuman comes up in the character of Victor Frankenstein, who appears in the graphic novel as a dream or a vision from beyond the grave. Victor haunts the Creature in the form of nightmares and comes up often in the form of flashbacks. These imagined, post-death conversations accentuate a conversation of the posthuman in that Victor is dead and he is talking to a creation that is not necessarily human. It’s an interesting take on grief, loss, and the theme of closure, which we as the reader do not get in Shelley’s novel.
The reader also gets an inside investigate the theme of the Sympathetic Monster. In the graphic novel, the Creature expresses a sort of resign to living his life quietly and unobtrusively. He treats his job at the circus to make a living without causing too much effect or harm to others. There is a certain detachment to the way that he lives, which is heavily relatable in a somber way. Rather than live in solitude, he would rather be considered a “freak show” and live among human beings for the time being until he can wrap his head around what he means for humanity. Though he eventually does embark on a journey of solitude and self-discovery, the Creature first creates a relatable internal world.
Administrative Notes: Annette Morrison, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner, CSUF (editing)