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There are few novels more impactful than Frankenstein.
That movie was the first of a whole franchise of Franken-films at Universal Pictures.
Now, with Skybound successfully bringingthe wider Universal Monsters franchiseto comics, Frankenstein’s monster is alive once more.
Newsarama: So Michael, let’s start with your own history with Frankenstein.
Are you a long-time fan?
Michael Walsh:I’m a huge fan.
But even before that I think that Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinis one of the greatest horror novels of all time.
The original novel is over 200 years old and the first Universal Frankenstein is almost 100.
Why has this story remained so resonant?
I just think that the themes are really timeless.
I mean there’s a lot going on in the book and in the movies.
I think that these themes will always be timeless.
What can you tease about this telling of the story?
How would you describe your take on Frankenstein?
It allowed me to have a little bit of creative freedom and to create a sense of tension.
Having some new characters let’s there be some stakes and some unpredictability to the storytelling.
So that was one of the important things to me.
The series has a distinct format.
Each issue is themed around a different body part.
What can you tell us about that?
And finally the last issue focuses on the eyes of a monster.
So the second issue we’re going to see a lot of Fritz.
And then the third issue is a lot of Elizabeth, who is Frankenstein’s fiance from the movie.
What were some of the unique challenges with this series?
This isn’t an adaptation of the movie it’s more of a companion piece to the film.
You could watch the movie and then read the comic and I think it would enrich both.
You’re working with Toni-Marie Griffin on this book.
What does her coloring bring to your work?
For Frankenstein she really went above and beyond what she’s done so far.
They all feel different depending on the body part that that we’re getting into the history of.
What was your research process for this?
And did you look to any previous Frankenstein comics at all?
I stayed far away from other comic book adaptations.
But I didn’t want that to taint what I was doing with the book going in.
I really wanted to try and do something a little bit different and not be subconsciously influenced by it.
But I did watch a bunch of the film adaptations, and obviously re-read the book.
Are there any other classic monsters that you’d like to tackle, Universal or otherwise?
I mean all of them are really interesting.
There are so many classics there’s Wolf Man, there’s the Invisible Man…
I feel like there’s so much fruit that is ripe for the picking.
I just love making horror comics and I’d be happy to try and tackle some other characters.
It would be cool to make a comic almost as if therehadbeen one.
Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #1 is out now from Skybound.
Get spooky with our picks forthe best horror comic artists of all time.
