By Dustin Cabeal
I don’t know why, but I thought this would be a humorous book. Just to clarify, it is not. The story takes place in modern day Transylvania. Here vampires, werewolves, and witches co-exist, but not equally. The werewolves are treated like second class citizens and often killed for the smallest crimes or wrongfully killed for other crimes. One werewolf looks to change all that by waking up Frankenstein and asking him for help in getting some real political power over the vampires. Also, Dracula is the Mayor in case you were wondering.
The writing has a bit too much exposition. The opening is very slow moving, and you kind of have to wonder what any importance the opening has; sure, it’s to wake up Frankenstein, but do we need all the random one-off facts about witches and such? Especially when the few vital details given to us are then covered again later in the issue? Probably not. That’s the thing though, this issue is all about getting Frankenstein up to date, and so it does become challenging to do it without it being exposition. It does a fairly good job considering that, but it was still a lot of reading and more on the “tell” side of the show don’t tell mantra.
The artwork is decent. The style is consistent, but it’s not one that is particularly good looking. It’s a style, whether anyone will admit it or not, that I see in a lot of indie comics and even big publishers, but it’s never been a style that I gravitate towards as a reader. The art does what it can but again, the story is telling you more than showing you, and so it ends up being a lot of talking heads, walking and Frankenstein in different colored track suits.
Here’s the main thing about the book, it’s very political. It is inspired by things that have been going on in real life and therein lies the problem. Are we not indoctrinated with politics every single day thanks to President Dip Shit? While the message here is relatable, in this issue, it's not offering anything to the conversation just yet as only one side has been presented. That and it took a lot of exposition to get it out and clear making me wonder if the politics in this comic are going to work much the same in future issues? If so, that’s a lot of reading and whether you agree with the message or not, becomes a bit preachy. It’s like talking politics with that one friend that doesn’t care; they’re never going to.
For me, I’m currently reading comics to escape politics because when I’m not reading comics, I’m reading news stories, constantly. For others, this might be an interesting take, but the fact that monsters are being used and there’s no real humor in the story it’s a strangely serious political story, but not an entertaining one. At least not yet.
I should also note that I didn’t get the completed book, but rather a sampling of it. I do feel that I was given enough to give it a score because it’s unlikely that my feelings would change upon reading the rest of it. Though it is unfortunate that I wasn’t given the completed story.
You can decide for yourself as the book is not readily available for purchase but will be coming to Kickstarter. If you do want some politics in your comics, then, by all means, check this title out. It might just be for you, but if you’re burnt out, there’s a strong chance this will keep you burnt out.
Score: 3/5
Frankenstein For Mayor
Disposable Fiction Comics