Frankenstein, on the Stage and the Page

In 2011 Danny Boyle, best known to geeks as the director of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, directed a stage production of Frankenstein at the Royal National Theatre that ran from February 5th to May 2. It was broadcast in movie cinemas by National Theatre Live in March 2011 and, in case you missed, there will be encore showings in the United States on Wednesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 7, 2012. You can check out the trailer here. It stars Benedict "Sherlock" Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee "Sick Boy" Miller from Danny Boyle's earlier movie Trainspotting, who alternate playing the roles of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster.

USA Today has a preview of Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson's new comic book miniseries, Frankenstein Alive, Alive! from IDW, which I'll be picking up this week as soon as I can make it over to Paper Heroes.

This is an awesome creative combination, written by Niles, creator of 30 Days of Night, and illustrated by the legendary Wrightson, co-creator of Swamp Thing.

(If you click that link to Wrightson's Wikipedia entry, you'll see they're using the picture I took of him at the 2006 Dallas Comic Con, where he signed my copy of Treehouse of Horror #11. And that he was wearing a Frankenstein t-shirt).

Frankenstein Alive, Alive! picks up the story where Wrightson's 1983 adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein novel left off.

Also arriving in comic shops this week is DC's Frankenstein:Agent of SHADE #9. I can't help but think that this series is what Steve Niles is referring to in the USA Today article when he says:

"Whenever I see people doing Frankenstein comics, nine times out of 10 he's riding a horse and has a Thompson submachine gun. There's this leap from the Mary Shelley (character) to a superhero. Bernie and I, we talked a lot about it and we are trying to follow the bread crumbs of the past laid out by Mary Shelley and try to see it through to some sort of logical conclusion."

Left to right: Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #11, Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #9. Click to enlarge.

While I've been collecting Agent of SHADE, I have yet to read an issue, so I can't give my opinion on it yet. When I get to around to checking it out you'll be the first to know.