Recently in Monster of Frankenstein Category

What would a Marvel monster version of the Defenders look like?  If Mike Ploog were drawing it, something like this nifty commission done for Leo Chuah on comicartfans.

Ghost Rider, Frankenstein, and Werewolf by Night on a moonlit night.  Greatness!  Nuff said.

Mike Ploog brought his artistic talent to shed light on Marvel's version of the Monster of Frankenstein in 1972.  Here are some of the best covers, with the original black and white art versions for comparison.

Monster of Frankenstein #2 is one of my top 10 favorite Marvel covers of all time, and perhaps my favorite Ploog cover as well.  You can really feel the Monster's pain as he carries his Bride (snuffed out after a horrific rebirth by Victor Frankenstein) away from the castle.  I loved this cover so much, I put a piece of light paper over it, traced it, and inked it in junior high school.  There was a girl in my class who was really impressed by this:  You drew that?  I nodded my head.  What the heck, was she gonna know who Ploog was?

There is one negative thing about the cover: that logo is one of the worst designs for a title that I've ever seen!

The original art to this piece is even more stunning, the textures and shadows are wonderful.  Who is the lucky sonofagun who owns this piece?  John Butler from comicartfans, unless it was sold to another person.

After Victor crushed his dream of friendship and love, the Monster gets revenge in issue #3 by murdering Elizabeth Frankenstein on her wedding night.  The cover is just classic horror to the max: the Monster's rage with the full moon in the background, Elizabeth's décolletage, her expression of surprise, and the candles getting snuffed out by the sudden gush of wind.  Just as Elizabeth herself will be snuffed out.

The original art to Monster of Frankenstein #3.  From the collection of John Scarpone at comicartfans.

Issue #4 featured a departure from the general story of Mary Shelley's novel.  The Monster winds up meeting a tribe of native aborigines who adopt him.  The creature finds a home for a while--until a war with a neighboring tribe kills all of his friends.

The original art to Monster of Frankenstein #4 looks a lot more striking in black and white.  If this scan is correct, Marvel flipped the cover.  Notice the mountain and sky in the background--completely erased in the printed cover.  Once again from John Butler's gallery.  I am getting really envious of that dude.

Now here's an interesting behind the scenes look at the design of Marvel's Frankenstein Monster.  This character design sketch was done by John Romita Sr.  There is a note written in ink by Roy Thomas to Ploog.

Mike --

This is (the) version Stan wants to see.  Please call me to discuss.

Roy

Ploog then created this Frankenstein conceptual drawing based on Romita's sketch and Roy Thomas' comments.  I think I first saw this in the Essential Monster of Frankenstein a few years ago.  Both of these character design pieces are from Doug Edelman on comicartfans.

Many thanks to all of the Mike Ploog fans on comicartfans for these scans.  It's nice to know that many people love Ploog!

You can also view Ploog's recreation of Frankenstein Monster #6 from a post I did in Jan 2009.  Nuff said.

Marvel Comics started producing calendars in 1975.  For the very first calendar (which I've been able to acquire recently, thanks to eBay), they tapped the best artists of that year...including Mike Ploog, who they unleashed in the month of October.

The October illustration featured the trio of monsters that Ploog had drawn in their own comics: Frankenstein, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night!  The big bad daddy of all supernatural characters, Dracula, lorded over all of them--Ploog had drawn this character as well, when he teamed up with Jack Russell in Werewolf by Night #15.

The month of October itself is ridden with monster-sized jokes by Marvel staffers. 

Oct. 4th: Man-Thing with the caption: Save the Everglades--Or Else!  That scares me into taking care of the environment.

Oct. 8th-9th:  Son of Satan asks pop for the hell-horse drawn chariot, but sister Santana asked for it first.

Oct. 13-15: Three nights of the full moon with Werewolf by Night.  Jack Russell's eyes go left, middle, right.

Oct. 19th: Jim Starlin's birthday.  Which is today, Happy Birthday Jim!

Oct. 28th-29th: Two creatures called IT!  The first one was featured in Supernatural Thrillers #1, the second one was a hero who appeared briefly in Astonishing Tales.

Oct. 30th: The Halloween party in Rutland Vermont, which was featured by Roy Thomas in both Avengers and Defenders (Marvel Feature #2).  Several comics creators made the trek to this party.  If only we could go back in a time machine! 

Many thanks to Sanctum Sanctorum Comix for providing the scans of the Marvel Calendars!  Nuff said.

I recently discovered this cover recreation by Mike Ploog on Romitaman:

It's a recreation of Frankenstein Monster #6, the last issue of the series that Ploog illustrated, before moving over to Man-Thing.  This is a big improvement over the original cover:

Published in 1973, it looks to me like the original cover was penciled by Ploog and retouched/inked by Romita.  My guess would be that Romita wanted to portray that monster as being much more fierce and upset over his captivity.  It just doesn't jibe with the rest of the cover, which is clearly drawn in Ploog's style.

The story inside is pretty decent as well--the Monster has survived 100 years after his creation and discovered Frankenstein's ancestor still lives in the area.  Ploog plotted this tale in addition to providing full pencils and inks.  Pure Ploog!  Nuff said.