Believe it or not, there are parts of Gotham City beyond even Batman's ability to navigate let alone protect. Now those forgotten inhabitants of the darkest and most unnatural neighborhoods have a new, even darker knight to watch over them. He is Frankenstein, returning to the spotlight thanks to DC's new Gotham City Monsters.
It's been some time since fans have seen Frankenstein fighting the forces of darkness, and even longer since the Night of the Monster Men event saw monstrous kaiju smashing through city streets and buildings. The Batman Family won the day, but writer Steve Orlando is returning to the scene of that event to show the horrors are far from over. The bones of the kaiju remain, making the entire neighborhood a quarantine zone--now referred to by locals as Monstertown. It's there that Frankenstein's new mission has taken him, and where the unholy rituals being practiced will demand a new kind of team. An alliance of monsters (with as much baggage as their green-skinned leader).
Screen Rant had the chance to talk with Orlando about the launch of Gotham City Monsters #1, arriving in comic book shops on September 11th. Just in case anybody needs to be sold on Frankenstein, former agent of SHADE, we've also got a preview of the first issue below:
It happened that, similar to what brings the characters together in the book, we finally found this moment where we can thread the needle of all these big happenings in the DC Universe. Whether it's City of Bane, whether it's Event Leviathan, whether it's what's going on in Justice League, use that as a giant on-ramp to bring these characters together, and bring Frankenstein back into the DC Universe. He's been lingering with SHADE for a while but now that SHADE is gone as part of Event Leviathan, he's back to being the undead ronin.
There's not a creator I have met that hasn't been excited for Frankenstein to be back. And honestly there's not a lot of artists I've met that haven't said, 'Oh I gotta do a cover for that! Just let me know!' There are things that are just fun to draw and inspire creative energy. He's one of those characters, and I think it comes through on the page every time someone gets to work with him.
The events that bring the likes of the former King of Vampires Andrew Bennett, the reformed Suicide Squaddie Killer Croc, the amphibious Orca, and the tragic Lady Clay together is one the series itself will reveal. For now, sit back and enjoy a glimpse of the wandering, monster-policing gunslinger has become now that SHADE has been erased--along with every other intelligence organization--as part of DC's Event Leviathan.
The undead ronin makes his style known in just the first pages of Gotham City Monsters #1, setting a high bar for the rest of this offbeat team-up to match. Interested readers can check out the full solicitation details and plot synopsis below, and be sure to read our full interview with Steve Orlando and Amancay Nahuelpan on release day:
- GOTHAM CITY MONSTERS #1 (2019)
- Released on: September 11th, 2019
- Written by: Steve Orlando
- Art by: Amancay Nahuelpan
- Cover Art by: Philip Tan
- Variant Cover by: Frank Cho
- Leviathan has dismantled S.H.A.D.E.-and that means Frankenstein is once again a free agent! Now he can set his sights on his former mentor, Melmoth, the one evil that got away. With bad things happening all across the Multiverse, this may be Frankenstein's last shot at setting things right. Of course, Melmoth has his own agenda, and it's going to take more than a lone monster to take him down. So Frankenstein heads to Gotham City in search of allies and recruits Killer Croc, Lady Clayface, Orca and vampire Andrew Bennett. But will even these dread creatures be enough to save humanity before the entire cosmos collapses in on itself?
Gotham City Monsters #1 arrives at your local comic book shop on September 11th, or direct from DC Comics.