Filed under: Comic Reviews, IDW Comics | Tags: Damien Worm, Frankenstein's Monster, IDW, Monster and Madman, Steve Niles
After being suitably impressed by issue #1 of this title from creative team of Steve Niles and Damien Worm I was eager to get my hands on this second issue and see what they had in store for the unlikely pairing of Frankenstein’s Monster and Jack the Ripper.
While issue #1’s ending left us with the meeting of our 2 characters it’s this second issues that develops their relationship and still in the same gloomy style and tone of the first…..so there’s no complaints from me on any of that. The Monster finds himself holed up in strange surrounds with the hustle and bustle of London buzzing on outside. Out of his depth and far too close to civilization for his appearance and conscience to take he soon tries to make his escape albeit partly because he’s drawn to the company of strangers in his quest to learn more about his human side. The maze of streets soon has him back where he started after a run-in with one of the local “ladies of the night” has screams of “monster” ringing through the cramped surroundings.
Saved from his attackers by Dr John Moore, Jack to his friends, we get to see the first real interaction between the two as a shared level of intrigue in each other becomes obvious. The Monster likes the company and Jack is keen to know more about the Monster’s physiology and the scars that hold him together. A deal is struck between them….the Dr will study and examine the Monster to learn as much as he can about him and in return he will provide him with a companion…..one that he’ll create just for the Monster.
With hands shaken the Dr. heads off for the night, disappearing into the London streets and finding a companion for himself or perhaps a victim is a more likely label – although we never find out for sure in this issue…..I’m inclined to let my imagination run wild on that one. So here we are two issues in and with one to go and it’s just a glorious story to experience…..the sombre character of the Monster mixed with the similarly gloomy character of Jack….although from the basic standpoint you would expect – hatred for Jack for his potential to kill….and almost pity for the Monster in his desire to be like the humans that are so flawed.
Steve Niles is the main cause for that as he balances these characters well and the polar opposites they represent seem to be a fairly obvious pairing to examine…..and yet it’s Niles that’s pushed them together in his typically horror mixed with heartache way. Damian Worm yet AGAIN brings us the gloomy pages of darkness that fit with the whole feel of the release…..you can almost hear the crackle of a black and white movie as you read and scan the artwork through the issues. It’s just beautiful which is a fairly bizarre concept to consider given the monster/killer mash-up we have in this title. One thing that disappoints me……is that there’s only one issue to go…..when I want SOOO much more of this title to be on its way……but I’m sure that third issue will be a doozy.
9/10
G-Man
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