The Modern Frankenstein #3

The Modern Frankenstein #3

Heavy Metal Presents/Magma Comix

Written by Paul Cornell

Illustrated by Emma Vieceli

Coloured by Pippa Bowland

Lettered by Simon Bowland

When one of James and Elizabeth's experiments spirals out of control, will they be able to contain the damage? And will it drive them apart, or closer together?

The opening here is so bloody fantastic! I automatically hated Adrian, I mean reading his opinions and who wouldn’t, wait what sane educated person wouldn’t. So seeing what we do makes this interesting and intriguing moral questioning. Attraction and sex can change a person and the fact that these two can’t seem to keep their hands off one another for long is something that makes me wonder. I’m fully engaged here because what Paul does is make the reader think about what we’re seeing, the circumstances of why and how they are going about it and the overall should they be doing this and what kind of ramifications for the actions await them? This really is as entertaining as all get out and it’s very intellectual or cerebral in nature and it works on those levels and so much more.

I am gobsmacked by the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter. And oh there are some spectacular encounters here and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and like an iceberg it’s so much larger underneath. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we see just how complicated everything her truly is.

I am really enjoying seeing the way that this is structured and how the layers continue to grow, evolve and emerge anew all depending on the avenues that open up or are taken. The layers contain some of the more interesting bits and the interruption before sex time, these and more add such depth and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are bloody brilliant. The linework is clean, crisp, sharp and with the varying weights and techniques being utilised to bring out this level & quality of detail work is staggering in how gorgeous it comes across. The utilisation of backgrounds is nicely done and then to see them work within the composition of the panels to show depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as brilliant. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully rendered. I do like that we see the aftermath of a killing spree without the gore but with equally impressive visuals. The creativity and imagination is stupendous and how it can look so delicate yet so strong at the same time takes some massive amount of skill and talent.

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There are some truly fabulous moments that happen throughout this book and then leave us with something of a cliffhanger ending. This really is something special and that it’s as much cerebral as it is a monstrous display of power and amorality on display making it feel like that modern Frankenstein monster. The monster was never really evil it’s always been the doctor who thinks he can play god that is the scarier creature. This books shows that and then some and it really is brilliantly written along with some stellar artwork bringing it to life.