Number 20


Frankenstein Friday: Frankenstein's Creation by Dick Briefer

Dick Briefer has become a cult artist over the years, like Basil Wolverton, or Boody (Sparky Watts) Rogers. His individual and funny cartooning style made him stand out, even in an era of individual and standout artists.

Frankenstein's Creation is the first story from Frankenstein #1, from 1945. The Frankenstein feature had been one of the more popular in Prize Comics for some time, and continued on for 17 issues in this solo series. In 1952 the series was picked up again with #18, but in a horror comics vein, a real departure for such a cartoonist as Briefer. It lasted until issue #33, in 1954.

Briefer, who was born in 1915 and died in 1982, quit comics just as the Comics Code came in, and his career paralleled almost exactly the Golden Age of Comics, from 1936 to 1954.

On upcoming Frankenstein Fridays I'll be showing the rest of Frankenstein #1, and then Frankenstein#2 and some subsequent issues that I own, including from the 1950s horror-era series.

As a side note, even in 1945 horror movie fans knew that the monster's name was not Frankenstein. This is made clear in this origin story, as Frankenstein's unnamed creator (just called The Mad Scientist) says that Frankenstein is not his name, but he endowed that name on the creature. Since most people called the monster "Frankenstein" anyway, it was a good way to get around that little factoid in Frankenstein lore.

You can find some more Briefer Frankenstein stories on this website. I don't have these stories and they make a good companion to this series. 

Next week: Frankenstein And The Ghouls And Vampires