I don't know how universal it is any more, but a lot of us comics readers probably have read "Classics Illustrated" at one point or another. For those who haven't, "Classics Illustrated" was basically classic literature like Moby Dick or Crime and Punishment abridged and translated into comic book format to provide illustrated Cliff's Notes or a children's first introduction to these well-respected stories. I bring it up because that is exactly what Little Book of Horror reminds me of. It's a primer for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, dumbed down to a great degree for the widest possible audience, losing a lot of the poetry of Shelley's language to replace it with a clearer, point-by-point rundown of the story. Honestly, it's the kind of thing that I'd generally turn my nose up at, if not for a couple of factors, one being the gorgeous painted illustrations of scenes from the novel by Morse and another being that Niles actually has some nifty turns of phrase in adapting Shelley's work.
The biggest selling point of Little Book of Horror: Frankenstein for me is the visually pleasing side of things, and there can be no denying that the book looks terrific. Done in a small hardcover format reminiscent of Dark Horse's recent books (like Witching and Haunting), the book lives up to IDW's reputation for high production values. It's a perfect venue for Morse's artwork, as he brings his distinctive design sense and use of color to the tale and presents a visually memorable rendition of Frankenstein, his monster and all the other players in this tale. Morse's approach here emphasizes mood and moment more than detailing the intricate Victorian technology of Frankenstein's lab or showing the visceral horror of the monster's appearance or actions. He suggests more than specifies, and the approach is pretty true to the gothic nature of Shelley's work.
I only wish that the text translation had been quite as true. Niles has a tough job here, taking admittedly flowery language and telling the story in a much quicker and shorter format. However, the way the story is told has the feel of a father telling his children a story, careful not to use overly big words or introduce too much in the way of shades of emotion or motivation. It's not as boring as this kind of plot summary can be, thanks to occasional flashes of narrative imagery like "Organ by organ, he built a man that never was out of pieces of people who once were," but I guess I was hoping for more direct excerpts from Shelley's novel than we got.
Adapting such a storied tale of course comes with a lot of questions. How closely do you hew to the original, how much influence do you take from other adaptations, what is truly Frankenstein and what misses the point? The Little Book of Horror series, while clearly written so that it can be read by fairly young readers, is also clearly aiming for more of a purist approach. This is not the Universal Monsters Frankenstein, the Frankenstein's Monster of Marvel Comics or the same version seen in Branagh's 1994 film. This is definitely Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in intent and execution, presenting the monster as much more of a tragic (yet dangerous) figure and Victor Frankenstein as more sympathetic (yet broken) than his mad scientist portrayal in so many other Frankenstein adaptations.
As someone who read and really enjoyed Mary Shelley's original novel as well as having enjoyed some of the other, less true adaptations of the work (like the hilarious Young Frankenstein), I came at Little Book of Horror: Frankenstein with plenty of love for the concept and an open mind about adaptations. Because I have seen the story in so many versions, it isn't as important to me how well the story gets across as what is new that the creators bring to it. As an introduction to the story of Frankenstein, this is a great book, the art providing the mood and the text providing the explanation. As another iteration of the story, it scores big points visually but loses some of the majesty where the words are concerned in the name of expediency, an almost unavoidable problem when turning a larger project into a smaller one like this. 8/10
