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The Modern Frankenstein
A twisted horror/romance that walks a fine line between attraction and fear.
Discover the next thing in horror from award-winning writer of television and comics Paul Cornell.
Discover the next thing in horror from award-winning writer of television and comics Paul Cornell ( Doctor Who, Saucer State, Wolverine ) and acclaimed artist/writer Emma Vieceli ( Doctor Who, Life is Strange ), along with color artist Pippa Bowland and letterer Simon Bowland !
Elizabeth Cleve is a brilliant young medical student, attracted to the waspish, charismatic surgeon James Frankenstein. He wants to further medical science... by all means necessary. So how far is Elizabeth prepared to go?
A twisted horror/romance that walks a fine line between attraction and fear.
Discover the next thing in horror from award-winning writer of television and comics Paul Cornell.
Discover the next thing in horror from award-winning writer of television and comics Paul Cornell ( Doctor Who, Saucer State, Wolverine ) and acclaimed artist/writer Emma Vieceli ( Doctor Who, Life is Strange ), along with color artist Pippa Bowland and letterer Simon Bowland !
Elizabeth Cleve is a brilliant young medical student, attracted to the waspish, charismatic surgeon James Frankenstein. He wants to further medical science... by all means necessary. So how far is Elizabeth prepared to go?
A twisted horror/romance that walks a fine line between attraction and fear.
128 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2021
About the author
Paul Cornell
622 books1,517 followersPaul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.
via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...
via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 28, 2021
Interesting premise, but very poor execution. Our black female lead is willing to commit all sorts of ethical violations and possibly risk jail time for... a roll in the proverbial hay with a conventionally attractive white male with a personality disorder... Mmmkay.
Really hoped the story was going somewhere good because black female leads aren't that common in the graphic novel / comic space. It was not. And maybe this shouldn't matter but it doesn't seem like one single person working on this was a POC. She was drawn beautifully and her style / hair were on point, but the white male worship was peak cringe.
Really hoped the story was going somewhere good because black female leads aren't that common in the graphic novel / comic space. It was not. And maybe this shouldn't matter but it doesn't seem like one single person working on this was a POC. She was drawn beautifully and her style / hair were on point, but the white male worship was peak cringe.
June 30, 2022
This retelling missed it's mark with me. I felt it could have been more clear on the warning of science and morality or it could have gone into the relationship and the humanity side of things. The art is colorful and had a sense of chilling ambiance for the pages. The dialogue felt heavy handed in the last third.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2024
3.5 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌗
This comic is a new and interesting take on Frankenstein. I really like the artwork, it looks stunning. The story was smooth. I also like that the authors attach notes and extra stuff at the end. They helped me understand more the story if I missed something during reading.
However, I felt that the story lack a punch. There were so many things to develop but the story fell flat. Everything was predictable. The ending was confusing.
All in all, it was a good and enjoyable read but the story won't stay in my mind for long.
🌕🌕🌕🌗
This comic is a new and interesting take on Frankenstein. I really like the artwork, it looks stunning. The story was smooth. I also like that the authors attach notes and extra stuff at the end. They helped me understand more the story if I missed something during reading.
However, I felt that the story lack a punch. There were so many things to develop but the story fell flat. Everything was predictable. The ending was confusing.
All in all, it was a good and enjoyable read but the story won't stay in my mind for long.
September 29, 2022
There were bits I did enjoy, but for the most part it missed the mark. I don't think the crossing genres was successful. It seemed to struggle to decide whether it was horror, or steamy romance, or thriller instead of blending them well together.
While I found the premise intriguing, it was not the best execution. I was left wanting more from a plot and characters that ultimately didn't deliver.
While I found the premise intriguing, it was not the best execution. I was left wanting more from a plot and characters that ultimately didn't deliver.
September 3, 2022
A new spin on the Frankenstein story. Modern medical science demands pushing boundaries--but what if they're pushed too far? A young med student falls in love with a dangerous man--and the consequences are deadly. Fun but ironically, I felt like it needed to push the envelope even further.
February 15, 2022
Enjoyable story , well worked and great artwork
March 1, 2022
Medical ethics, violence, and smart girl behaves stupidly. Who is the monster?
Did Not Finish
October 26, 2022Got through 2 chapters before having to drop it. Really not my cup of tea.
March 23, 2024
Why did she have the baby anyway? Of all the choices Elizabeth made, this is the one I understood the least. But perhaps she's right and a baby is just a baby.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2023
Someone once observed to the effect that a myth is a story that never gets old. Frankenstein, Mary Shelly's incredible creation has endured for two centuries for that very reason. And, as this collected edition of the comic from Paul Cornell and Emma Vieceli shows, it won't be going away anytime soon with their creation, The Modern Frankenstein.
Updating the basic story and tropes for our current age isn't a new idea, as Jed Mercurio's 2007 TV version showed. And, like Mercurio, Cornell and Vieceli explore the power of science and the fallibility of the human's behind it. But, in the first of those twists, they do so by shifting the POV character. In this case, through Elizabeth Cleve, a young scientist and her growing entanglement with the titular scientist. It's a good twist on an old tale, particularly how Cornell initially brings the two together. Rarely has the saying about how the road to hell comes paved with good intentions rung quite so true. And, in an age of multi-national corporations, how this Frankenstein and his assistant work feels all too plausible. As is how we get the version of the most essential of Frankenstein elements: the creature, presented by Cornell and Vieceli in their writing and artwork, respectively, as something beyond another man with bolts in his neck. It's a Frankenstein for our times, to be sure, and a most readable one.
Yet that shift in POV, or rather how it's presented, has its flaws. Fair play to Cornell for both not going with a new version of the good doctor and for highlighting a woman in STEM. Both are admirable things and help the comic stand out among a sea of Frankenstein adaptations. But there's something about the dynamic between her and Frankenstein that feels off, bordering on the icky. True, intelligent and rational human beings are still capable of making illogical decisions and bad emotional choices (as the world around us will attest). But there are moments when Elizabeth's thought processes and decisions feel less like extensions of the character than necessities of the plot. Which is a shame, as it does take away from the tale as a whole.
Even so, for those looking for a new take on an old tale, or fans of the creators other works, this is a worthwhile read. It's a Frankenstein story for our times, one that would have worked even better on-screen. But, in this collected form, it's a good read, indeed.
Updating the basic story and tropes for our current age isn't a new idea, as Jed Mercurio's 2007 TV version showed. And, like Mercurio, Cornell and Vieceli explore the power of science and the fallibility of the human's behind it. But, in the first of those twists, they do so by shifting the POV character. In this case, through Elizabeth Cleve, a young scientist and her growing entanglement with the titular scientist. It's a good twist on an old tale, particularly how Cornell initially brings the two together. Rarely has the saying about how the road to hell comes paved with good intentions rung quite so true. And, in an age of multi-national corporations, how this Frankenstein and his assistant work feels all too plausible. As is how we get the version of the most essential of Frankenstein elements: the creature, presented by Cornell and Vieceli in their writing and artwork, respectively, as something beyond another man with bolts in his neck. It's a Frankenstein for our times, to be sure, and a most readable one.
Yet that shift in POV, or rather how it's presented, has its flaws. Fair play to Cornell for both not going with a new version of the good doctor and for highlighting a woman in STEM. Both are admirable things and help the comic stand out among a sea of Frankenstein adaptations. But there's something about the dynamic between her and Frankenstein that feels off, bordering on the icky. True, intelligent and rational human beings are still capable of making illogical decisions and bad emotional choices (as the world around us will attest). But there are moments when Elizabeth's thought processes and decisions feel less like extensions of the character than necessities of the plot. Which is a shame, as it does take away from the tale as a whole.
Even so, for those looking for a new take on an old tale, or fans of the creators other works, this is a worthwhile read. It's a Frankenstein story for our times, one that would have worked even better on-screen. But, in this collected form, it's a good read, indeed.
April 8, 2023
This is a munch complex I can’t even respect girl😭
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews