Title: Frankenstein’s Womb
Author: Warren Ellis
Date of First Publication: August 11, 2009
Place of Publication: Avatar Press (Print)
Type: Graphic Novel
Characters: Victor Frankenstein; The Creature; Mary Shelley; Lord Byron; Percy Shelley
Themes: BYRONIC HERO; POSTHUMAN; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; QUEER; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: Warren Ellis’s version of Frankenstein blends together aspects of Mary Shelley’s real life and about 200 years’ worth of Frankenstein related mythos to create a fresh take on the classic gothic tale. The novel opens with Mary Shelley en route through Germany to Switzerland along with her future husband Percy Shelley and her stepsister Clair Clairmont. Mary decides to visit Castle Frankenstein alone, where previously it had been the home of Johann Conrad Dippel, whose experiments included the invention of nitroglycerin, a distillation of the elixir of life, and the transfer of a live soul into a collection of body parts…
The graphic novel describes her journey in the castle, which reveals her encounter with the Creature. They meet and feel an instant connection to one another, even though they have never seen each other before. The Creature invites her to tour the castle with him, where he begins to share aspects of his life which intertwine with Mary’s, including the death of her mother in childbirth. In this section, Ellis uses a series of flashbacks and visions that Mary is somehow able to empathetically share with the Creature. They come to realize that they’re interconnected, even though it’s never really explained how. Ellis uses this mutual understanding as the bridge between author and creation, highlighting the relationship between Victor and the Creature, but using Mary as the nurturing, loving mother figure the Creature never had.
Ellis’s graphic novel expresses a real attempt at understanding both the Creature and Mary Shelley, and their unique relationship to one another. It’s the only graphic novel so far in which both characters exchange dialogue and interact with one another as if they were parts of the same whole. There’s a section later, told in a series of indistinguishable dreams and flashbacks that show Victor and Mary bringing the Creature to life together, which blends the relationship they all share.
The illustrations for this novel are done in black and white, which contribute to the gothic, memory driven flashback effect that Ellis is trying to convey. The illustrations, along with the fresh take on the story, blend together the themes of the android, the Byronic hero, and the post-human. The multiple scenes of childbirth through Mary’s own mother and the creation of the Creature also encapsulate the theme of the post-human and the notion of the scientist gone mad. The most interesting aspect of this graphic novel is by far the way that Victor Frankenstein feels about motherhood, conception, and childbearing—which could provide a queer reading of the novel—and the way that Mary Shelley interacts with other characters as a primary character.
Administrative Notes: Annette Morrison, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner, CSUF (editing)