Classic horror fans, your new favorite comic is only months away.

Coming just in time for Free Comic Book Day, a modern retelling of Frankenstein will be appearing on your local comic book shelves. I guess you could say that it’s being brought back to life.

Arriving at your LCS on May 6, Prometheus in Chains #1 introduces the world to a fresh take on Mary Shelley’s renowned tale of man tampering with the laws of nature. While the story stays true to the original themes from Shelly’s novel, author Rich Davis takes Victor Frankenstein into World War II and ensuing Cold War to discover the man behind the deeply troubled genius. 

Davis is one of the hottest names on the independent horror comic scene especially after news broke that his first hit, Cult of Dracula, is on the fast track for a feature film

In this version, Victor and his wife, Elizabeth, are Jewish scientists who fled their native Germany at the outset of the Nazi Third Reich’s rise to power. Joining the Allies’ cause, the two become involved in the infamous Manhattan Project, the top-secret experiment that gave birth to the atomic bomb. While Victor’s efforts are instrumental to bringing about the end of WWII, he also carries the guilt of his creation having killed thousands of innocent civilians. On a much more personal level, the radiation from his experiments kills Elizabeth. 

“So many other adaptations have focused so much on the genius that they miss out on the humanistic parts of his personality. It’s a deep exploration of his struggles with PTSD and the stages that you go through,” he explained. “The way we see his genius is through the consequences of him creating [the monster].” And in Prometheus in Chains, Frankenstein’s monster is Elizabeth, resurrected by her grieving, guilt-ridden husband.

“Everything you love about Frankenstein and the creature’s creation, you’re going to find that here, but it’s going to be packaged in an atomic age type of thing. It’s man versus nature and man’s mastering nature, and Victor resurrecting the dead. In this case, the creature is his deceased wife, Elizabeth. Instead of dropping electric eels into a pool of water, he’s using an improvised nuclear reactor, which is called I.G.O.R., which stands for Ionized Gamma Radiation Oscillating Reactor. It’s really cool.”

For Davis, this is a much more personal story than Cult of Dracula. Like Victor, Davis suffered through the loss of his wife, Amber. Channeling his grief into Prometheus in Chains, he said it was the hardest yet most therapeutic of writing experiences. It’s that trauma he shares with this version of Victor that drives the story. “[Elizabeth] dies from cancer developed from radiation exposure, and Victor blames himself. We’ll quickly see that mirrors my wife’s passing in 2020. She had a chronic kidney disease. She received a transplant, but there were complications with the surgery, and she didn’t make it.” 

As difficult as it was to relive those final moments with his wife, Davis hopes his journey through grief and depression as told through Victor will help others process their own pain. “I wanted to explore my own journey with PTSD and major depression out in the open in an environment so other people with mental health challenges could see someone else they can relate to.”

This being the second iconic monster Davis has dusted off, he said that utilizing an established, well-known character is both a help and a hindrance. On one hand, the property comes with a ready-made audience, but that comes at the price of creative control, to a degree. “Those legacy expectations from legacy fans can stifle your ability as a storyteller if you focus too much on those. The goal is to defy your audience’s expectations—to push it to another level and show the story from a different perspective that readers may have not considered before.”

Davis arrived on the indy scene with the surprise hit, Cult of Dracula. Interconnecting his world of classic monsters reborn, readers first met an older Victor Frankenstein in Rise of Dracula #3. Branching from that brief appearance, Prometheus in Chains tells the backstory of what happened to Victor in the decades leading to the events of Rise

With the Cult of Dracula movie in the works, it begs the question, could we see Victor in the upcoming film? “I would say that’s a strong possibility,” Davis replied. 

Prometheus in Chains #1, written by Davis with Jordan DiRenzo illustrating the interior pencils and inks while Les Lendin Garner credited with the cover art, will be available on May 6.

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