Joe Frankenstein #1 Review

Story by: Graham Nolan & Chuck Dixon
Art by: Graham Nolan
Published by: IDW Publishing

 

Joe Frankenstein #1 is one of those books that got you into comics as a kid, it’s fun, it has oodles of charm and features some pointy toothed vamps and Frankenstein’s monster! It’s a schlock horror comedy, which works brilliantly in the medium of comic books. The basic elements of this story are fantastical, the appearance of Frankenstein’s monster as he enters the fray is superb and antagonists are worthwhile to the story.

From the first panel you know this is going to be good. The mood is set, the character of Joe Pratt is quickly established and Nolan and Dixon don’t waste any time before getting into the action. In terms of character development, there is time enough amongst the frenetic energy of the pace, for us to grasp the essence of young Joe – he’s not exactly got the greatest luck in life but there’s more to him than meets the eye!

JoeFrank#1Int

Graham Nolan, as well as co-writing the story, also provides the art for the book. So far, with the first issue done, I am impressed by the quality of the art. Frankenstein’s Monster is well rendered, the sexy vampires are hot and our young hero is authentic. Graham really sets the scenes out nicely, the layouts work well and the background work is solid too.
In terms of the writing there isn’t a bum note in the whole of this issue. The pace is well judged from the frenetic opening scene to the closing panels. Joe does come across as a weak kid, a loser, but the way the story develops he is brought on and there’s depth to his character. As for the monster… well, lets just say he is a man of many parts and his back story is as interesting as his creation.
In Joe Frankenstein IDW have managed to lay out a quality introductory issue, in the space of this issue we are well acquainted with the setting, characters and plot; there is enough quality in this book to suggest that IDW have a very tidy, high quality book on their hands.