From January 1973 to September 1975 American comic book publisher Marvel ran an (abruptly cancelled) 18-issue Frankenstein series entitled The Frankenstein Monster. Together with Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing and Tomb of Dracula, The Frankenstein Monster marked a change for Marvel Comics, which in the 1960s had become the leading publisher of comic books. This new line of comics moved away from Marvel's superhero themes and introduced a touch of horror and fantasy to the Marvel Universe, which up to then had only been populated by the likes of Spiderman and the X-Men.

Despite its short run, The Frankenstein Monster (edited by Swamp Thing writer Len Wein) featured several talents, many of whom have become well known artists in the field of comics. Issues 1 - 11 were written by Gary Friedrich, no. 12 - 17 by Doug Moench, and the final issue by Bill Mantlo. Pencils and inks were done by John Buscema, John Verpoorten, Bob Brown, Jil Kane and Val Mayerik. Perhaps the best-known of them is Mike Ploog, who created the artwork for issues 1 - 6.

Just recently Marvel published a paperback collection of the complete series entitled Essential Monster of Frankenstein. Unfortunately the reprints are in black and white only, and real fans will still have to hunt down the original comic books in order to see the story in full color.

Collected Editions

• The Monster of Frankenstein
• Decades: Marvel In The '70s - Legion of Monsters (#1)
• The Tomb of Dracula: The Complete Collection Volume 2 (#7-9)