Frankenstein Agent of Shade #10

Ignore the Jeff Lemire credit on the cover. DC fucked up again. This issue is written by Matt Kindt.

DC Comics fucks up another cover! I noticed some adverts which had been declaring that Matt Kindt would be taking over Frankenstein at Issue #10. But then this cover had Lemire's name on it, so I thought DC fucked up the adverts (like they did when they declared Mr. Freeze's first appearance would be Batman Annual #1). But I was wrong. I should have realized that the cover was wrong since DC seems to have no communication between whoever is designing the covers and the entire rest of the company.

Matt Kindt is an experienced comic writer. He wrote nearly the only interesting story in Men of War which appeared in Issue #5. And since I had good things to say about that back-up story, I'm optimistic about this issue of Frankenstein.

Frankenstein begins inside S.H.A.D.E.'s North Library. I think that means it's in Canada. If it were on the Ant Farm, it couldn't be called North unless the Ant Farm never actually spins and maintains a fixed alignment within the Earth's magnetic field. Anyway, Frank is busy reading some Lord Byron (I looked it up. Fuck if I remember anything from Don Joo-on. Which wouldn't help since this quote is from "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage").

Before I looked this up, I figured it was a sonnet. Turns out the poem uses "Spenserian Stanzas." Like The Faerie Queene. Now that I remember. I don't want to remember it but I do. I remember.

Either Lord Byron's poetry is so sexy that it makes hot, sexy librarians go blind, or else this is a dream scene, or else Frankenstein's monsters are the new Vampires, because this librarian is struggling hard to get into Franky's pants when a multitude of bugs attack. A couple of times during this encounter, Frank seems to have a flashback to his life (or one of his lives?) as a living man where he strangled a beautiful young blonde woman.

The insects attacking Frank are called Scare-ebs. Ha ha. How very droll. I applaud you, sir. Tally pip ho forth and all that. Frank kills these things rather easily even though SHADE.net tells him they're very hard to kill. SHADE.net also tells him that they're assassin bugs that usually ally with SHADE. They also eat living flesh so Frank doesn't mind that bit of information. You know, because he's dead. Afterward, Frank reports to Father Time to find out what the hell's going on.

Oh, I see what Matt Kindt is doing. Just seed the ground with as much weird shit as you can think of and future storylines will just begin to sprout.

Untropolis is a world turned upside down. The buildings are built from the clouds down yet everyone still goes about downside up. Or something. They land at the base of a building by the penthouse suites and leave their interdimensional jet-packs.

Um. I don't think you need to worry about blending in since the citizens of Untropolis look like humans and you all look like fucking monsters!

Frank and Griffith Werewolf begin tailing the suspected SHADE traitor Crowly while a Scare-eb begins tailing them. Back at base camp, Nina from the Black Lagoon sends Velcoro Vampire to help out. But before he can get there, Griffith is attacked by the Scare-eb and knocked off of the pathway. He's out of the hunt for now.

Frank catches Crowly without Velcoro's help which is good because Velcoro got held up by an elevator shaft full of Scare-ebs.

Frank's quoting not just poetry but Lord Byron in particular probably indicates he's more of a lover than a fighter.

Crowly offers to show Frank the note telling her that he was the traitor but she never actually gets around to showing it to him.

I'm beginning to suspect she might not be telling the truth!

Frank drops through the manhole and out of the sewer to fall through the air. But Velcoro arrives having taken care of the Scare-ebs and he's ready to apprehend Crowly. Or suck her bloooood! Or maybe just do a little counting.

Frank is informed that he will be killed if he falls into the water below him because that will eject him from this dimension without any protection, ripping him apart atom by atom. He also continues to hallucinate images or have flashbacks of some other life. Perhaps the note given to Crowly was correct and Frankenstein will turn against SHADE because of these images that keep flashing through his mind. Maybe he's a sleeper agent and he's waking up.

Frankenstein Agent of Shade #10 Rating: No change. Nothing much else to say about this one.