Dick Briefer's Frankenstein

Biblioteca de cómics de terror de los años 50 #2

by Dick Briefer, Craig Yoe (Editor), Clizia Gussoni (Producer)

The first volume in Yoe Book's thrilling new series, The Horror Comic Book Masters Library fittingly features the first and foremost maniacal monster of all time -- Frankenstein! Dick Briefer is one of the seminal artists who worked with Will Eisner on some of the very first comic books. Briefer created a bizarre, twisted version of the classic Frankenstein that is legend among comic book aficionados. This large format book lovingly reproduces a monstrous number of stories from the original 1940s and '50s comic books. The stories are fascinatingly supplemented by an insightful introduction with rare photos of the artist, original art, letters from Dick Briefer, drawings by Alex Toth inspired by Briefer's Frankenstein, and much more!
As with the entire line of Yoe Books, the reproduction techniques employed strive to preserve the look and feel of expensive vintage comics. Painstakingly remastered, enjoy the closest possible recreation of reading these comics when first released.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Victor Frankenstein, Humor

148 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 2006

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a very interesting collection of Golden Age Horror comics, specifically the Frankenstein series by Dick Briefer. You also get to see the evolution of an artist in Dick Briefer. Basically the story starts out as a horror comic featuring Frankenstein. Not an accurate retelling of the Mary Shelley story, but a new origin for the character. Then you see the comic shift to a humor comic, and Briefer switches his art style to a more fitting style for the new funny tales. Then, you see the comic shift back to horror again, and once again Briefer style changes back to a more serious horror style, but still very different from the early issues.

Now you have to realize Golden Age comics as a rule weren't literature, so you won't find deep stories here. However, they are still entertaining. I especially enjoyed the later horror issues.

If you are a fan of Golden Age Comics, especially horror comics, you should check this volume out. Also, if you are a big Frankenstein fan, you'd probably enjoy this one as well.

[Bob Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Yoe restored and printed this selection of classic stories in the most perfect way possible.
PS Artbooks also did a nice reprint and it's complete! Video review here :

https://youtu.be/FjDWXMvluG4

[Rodrigo Tello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pura Historia del Comic, con mayúsculas. Es interesante ver cómo con el tiempo el dibujo de Briefer va evolucionando

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads (and Amazon) have the various collections of Briefer's Frankenstein work listed as different editions of the same book but they are not and each is a very different collection. So for each review I'm dropping in this note which will hopefully help folks.

THIS VOLUME is IDW's The Chilling Archive of Horror Comics: Dick Briefer's Frankenstein gives the best over view of Briefer's humorous and horrific takes on the Monster, with selections of both. All selections are in color, printed on flat comic paper. Features: Amply-illustrated multi-page introduction by Craig Yoe. (Each volume of The Chilling Archive of Horror Comics is top-notch and is highly recommended.)

Dark Horse's Frankenstein: The Mad Science of Dick Briefer is a collection of the complete first seven issues Briefer's humorous take on the Monster. All stories are in color, printed on flat paper but not comic paper. Features: One-page forward by John Arcudi.

Idea Man Production's The Monster of Frankenstein: Dick Breifer's 1950s Horror Comic Epic is a collection of Briefer's 1949-1952 all-horror take on the Monster . All stories are printed in black and white. Features: Three-page introduction by David Jacobs and Afterwords by E.J. Robinson and Alicia Jo Rabins.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is essentially a sampler of the three different eras of Briefer's take on the Frankenstein monster. The first was a crude Horror take. The second version was a comedic take on ol' Frank. The emphasis was still on the macabre. The third, and final incarnation of Briefer's Frankenstein was an intense, Horror-laden take.

This was my favorite of the three, although I would love to see a comprehensive collection of all eras of the character. I had read all of this era before in Idea Men Production's 2006 black and white trade paperback. While it collects this era in its entirety, it is dark and muddy, whereas this book is incomplete but in full color.

The paper used in this book is thick, uncoated stock with an off-white, creamy color similar to pulp paper prior to aging. The restoration is high resolution scans of the original comic books, with no additional work done. You can see every imperfection in the original printing process, for better or for worse. The book has sewn binding, but the paper is so thick and tight in the spine that it doesn't lay flat until the middle of the book. I can't really call foul at the book's price point of MSRP $21.99, though. This book is a bargain.

I can't believe that I forgot to mention the die-cut cover. Frankenstein's eyes are cut out, and when you open the book there is a second-phase, comedic Frankenstein picture. A nice, and completely unnecessary, touch. Also worth mentioning is that there is no dustjacket and that the images are screen printed on the cover itself. There is no wax coating on the cover and it is fairly easy to scuff. I'm not sure if I like this recent trend in hardcovers.

[Vircenguetorix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uno de los artistas de la Edad de Oro del Cómic norteamericano más desconocidos en España es Dick Briefer. El hecho de que tuviera un carácter más independiente en cuanto a las grandes editoriales, sumado a que los superhéroes no eran lo que más le interesaba, hace que haya quedado algo postergado.

Y sin embargo, es francamente bueno. Quizá su obra maestra es su Frankenstein de los años 40, y que fue clausurada a principios de los 50, con toda la persecución del Comics Code Authority, que se cebó sobre todo en los policíacos y de terror.

El estilo de Briefer es muy de su época, incluso a veces, hasta para su época, pero hace lo hace más entrañable. Lo más especial es como funciona la mezcla terror-humor, que no es fácil, y las historias son mejores en el sketch que en la narrativa. Aún así, estamos ante una obra clásica, que bebe mucho de fuentes cinematográficas, el Frankenstein de James Whale está presente, pero al mismo tiempo también se reivindica aquellas tiras cómicas de los años 20 y 30 de Félix el Gato con su humor socarrón y surrealista, aquí hay mucho de eso. También es muy interesante ver la evolución artística de Briefer durante las casi 200 hojas.

Buen tebeo, pero recomendable únicamente a conocedores del mundillo del cómic clásico. No creo que gente muy joven pueda apreciar como se debe a estos pioneros de las historias gráficas.

[David Macpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this, this is crazed outsider comic work for the 40s. What is so fascinating is that it started as a monster movie strip. Then it turned a goofy comic. Finally it turned into a dire horror story. All written and drawn by the same guy. The changes are amazing and the work is good in all three iterations. A very cool look at old comics. I loved the humorous version and wished there was more of those stories.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool, but very primitive. And this isn't a criticism of Briefer, this is just what comics written at this time looked like. Sloppy lines and inks; literally no more than six different colors used; very basic storytelling. I can appreciate how much better Briefer's work got in later years. But to see that you would need a much thicker book.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read. A cool look into Dick Briefer's take on the Frankenstein Monster. If your into '30's and '40's comics or '50's horror comics, you'll enjoy the heck out of this.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing the early 21st century trend of repackaging largely forgotten comic book classics in affordable handsome editions, historian Craig Yoe re-introduces Dick Briefer's horror-cum-comedy-cum-horror-again Frankenstein. Briefer's tale of a monster's revenge against his maker initially appeared in Prize #7 (1940), spawning the first ongoing series of horror comics. This incarnation of Shelley's creation proved to be very popular, largely thanks to Briefer's intelligent scripts and ghastly illustrations. In Prize #45 (1945), Briefer re-imagined the series as a humor strip. Proving he was as adapt at comedy as terror, Briefer hilariously lampooned popular culture, horror, and social conventions. Following an editorial edict, the stories returned to their spooky roots three years later in Frankenstein #18. With the advent of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, the long running series ended. In Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, Yoe collects the finest Frankenstein tales from all three epochs. Yoe's introduction recounts the creator and series history alongside rare art including an example of Briefer's Daily Worker strip Pinky Rankin (someone needs to collect those Communist action hero's stories) and Alex Toth fan doodles.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Briefer had an ongoing relationship with the Frankenstein creature across his career. This volume selecte stories from three distinct periods--if you dind't know it was all one guy, you'd swear each set of stories was by different hands. The earliest stories are relatively crude and follow most closely (which still isn't very closely) the Frankenstein mythos. They're fiarly macabre horror, with an ongoing motif of the creature committing evil acts to torture Frankenstein. The second phase offers stories of Frankenstein (as the creature is now named) as basically light humour, in a totally different style, perhaps somewhat reminiscent of Davis's Mad work. Then, in the 1950s, we're back to the creature as horror monster, but now voiceless, and with no creator to motivate him, he's basically simply a prop on which to hang some not bad but decidedly oddball stories. There's a certain consistency of design to the creature but totally different overall styles and tones. Fascinating, really.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of comics featuring the Frankenstein monster, written and drawn by Dick Briefer and originally published in the 1940s and 1950s.

Briefer took different approaches to the monster at various times in his career. The earliest comics are played straight story-wise, yet have touches of humor plus cartoonish looking artwork. The middle period is played strictly as comedy and I must admit this is my favorite period; Briefer came up with some wonderfully goofy stories!

The last period is rather grim. I read that the publishers wanted Briefer to do a more serious Frankenstein comic series, somewhat in the style of the EC horror comics which were quite popular at the time.

Whether the stories were serious or funny, it's obvious that Briefer understood the misunderstood monster and had a lot of affection for him as a character. This collection of comics is fun in a way that so few comics are anymore. Highly recommended!

[David J Corwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before horror comics were banned in the mid-1950's, Richard (Dick) Briefer produced the first continuing series of horror comics based on Frankenstein's monster. Sometimes horrific and sometimes comedic, both versions of Briefer's incarnation are brilliant and memorable. The introduction provides an informative overview of the life of a master craftsman and his work and then the rest of the book reprints a selection of tales that appeared in various issues of Prize Comics and Frankenstein, dating from December 1940 until July 1954. While the production quality leaves a little to be desired (particularly with regard to the sharpness of the text), the artwork and color values are pretty spot on, and the stories themselves are thrilling fun.

Edited and designed by Craig Yoe, Dick Briefer's Frankenstein is the first book in a new series entitled The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics. Based on this debut volume, I'm very much looking forward to future additions in the series.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three star review is me being generous, but I don't know how to give two and a half. Editor Craig Yoe claims these are the best of Dick Briefer's Frankenstein stories. They are not.

The best are all in the first 17 (I think) issues of his own title when Briefer make the character a wacky innocent trying to have a good life. These stories are just wonderful. I can well understand why it was hard to resist reprinting the first story, the origin story, from the early horror period of the character in PRIZE COMICS, but the three early stories are far inferior to everything else in the book. One was enough. The four stories from FRANKENSTEIN 20 -31, the latter horror period, are much superior to these, but not special and not Briefer's best work, which are the goofy humor stories. So, of the 12 stories in this book, only 5 represent Briefer's best work. What a let down.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compilation of Forties and Fifties comics, the Frankenstein legend told with more gusto and verve than anyone by Dick Briefer. There are three different incarnations of The Monster told here: the first where Dr. Frankenstein hunts his creature through the streets of Manhattan, one showdown taking place at The Statue of Liberty and one in Coney Island! The second version is a Jack Cole-styled wacky version, unanimously touted as the best and most original, and the third as an EC-comics styled bully. The sexual undercurrent in some of the stories has a surprising wisdom inits point of view. Briefer's versatility in illustrative rendering and storytelling never fails to impress.

[Christophe Murdock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was too short for me, but everything that was in it was perfect, it just left me wanting more. Collecting some of Briefer's best Frankenstein strips from the 40's & 50's. Full color and including both the horror strips and comedy strips. I wish they would have reproduced the covers as well though. I grew up reading Dick Briefer's Frankenstein from a few old comics and the strips that ran in Cracked Magazine. It had an influence on me. I think every drawing I ever did of Frankenstein's monster was modeled after Briefer's Monster.

[Steve Banes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Craig Yoe does it again! A great sampling of Dick Briefer's fantastic Golden Age comic book tales of Frankenstein (focus on the monster's adventures) from the gruesome early 40's version, to the kid friendly funny version, and then back again to the vicious horrors of the later 50's version. Gorgeously designed with eyes cut out of the cover and doubling as a mask. A highly recommended introduction to Frankenstein, Dick Briefer (and even Craig Yoe) for those who could somehow still remain unaware.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

La obra más celebrada de Dick Briefer da fe no tanto de su destreza artística como de su gran versatilidad, donde lleva al personaje desde el horror más violento a la comedia macabra y finalmente de vuelta al terror (levemente aleccionador) con resultados igualmente notorios. Un magnífico testimonio de su trabajo, así como de la historieta que germinó fuera de los superhéroes y aquella resistente al nefasto Comics Code Authority.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two types of stories in here. Some of the issues are played for laughs and some are played for scares. Briefer's writing for both works pretty well, as does his art. When he transitions from horror to comedy and back again, Frankenstein's body structure and face change to fit the mood. Much more enjoyable than I expected.