Review: Mary Shelley Monster Hunter #1

I’m not sure when this happened, but there seems to be a market for stories that recast historical figures in fictional stories.Â Â Following in the footsteps of titles like Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is Mary Shelley Monster Hunter by Adam Glass (Suicide Squad, Deadpool) and Olivia Cuartero-Briggs.

I want to be up front here, I have nothing against these types of stories.Â However, these types of stories are not my forte.Â In most cases I think that the actual history of these individuals is just as interesting and worthy of transcription as these fictional accounts.Â Also, it concerns me that so often the actual history of these people is pushed aside or interwoven with these entertaining, fictional accounts of their life.Â So, with that away lets establish some facts about the life of Mary Shelley that are indeed in this first issue.Â She did indeed have a love affair with Percy Bysshe Shelley and did marry him in 1816 after Percy’s then wife committed suicide in that same year.Â Also in 1816, Mary, Percy and his friend Lord Byron among others spent the summer in Switzerland.Â At that time Mary was pregnant with a child that would ultimately die young after being born premature.

So, with that out-of-the-way let’s get into this book.Â This first issue is set in 1815.Â Shelley and company have rented a house in Romania and are evicted after a guest at one of their parties dies in a drunken accident.Â The owner of the home is also reluctant to continue renting to them because of the personal conduct of the group.Â Some of that conduct, marital infidelity, is well documented in real life while other aspects, various fetishes and swinging, have often been rumored but I don’t think they have ever been verified.Â Either way, they are forced out of the house and a mysterious stranger offers them residence in the Castle Frankenstein.Â If you aren’t already aware, Mary Shelley is probably most famous for being the author of the novel Frankenstein.Â Trapped in the home by encroaching winter, the group grow increasingly restless.Â Also, although they are treated well and spared no luxury, the continued absence of their host unnerves them and small incidents around the castle make them anxious to leave.Â As this first issue comes to an end, Shelley encounters their host and the writers set the stage for the future of the series.

I’m not sure I should be telling you all this but I’m also not sure how to feel about this book.Â I’m fairly certain I know where it is going but I don’t know why they felt it necessary to drag Mary Shelley into it beyond the obvious plot hook wherein she pens Frankenstein as a fictional account of her actual experiences.Â That is part of my problem with the title, this plot line is a trope that has been overused in books and movies in my opinion.Â Perhaps I am wrong and that is not the direction this series intends to take.Â Additionally, I think the actual life of Mary Shelley is so full of intrigue and drama that her story on its own is worthy of telling.Â Indeed, there are plans to make her life into a motion picture.Â However, I don’t know that it is the stuff of comic books per se.Â Additionally, the art is staid and rather old-fashioned.Â I understand the art team intended to give the book a period feel but at no time did the art, or story for that matter, convey any sense of real tension or danger.Â Instead, the book felt flat and plodding, with a final panel that was intended to shock but instead elicited a yawn.Â I had expected the panel at one point and the twist was hardly novel while the execution was ho-hum like the rest of the book.Â I can’t tell you not to pick up this book as you might enjoy it.Â However, for me, it is one I won’t be following in the future.

Writing – 2 of 5 Stars
Art – 2 of 5 Stars

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Writing – Adam Glass,Â Olivia Cuartero-Briggs
Art – Hayden Sherman

Author Profile

Nemesis

Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.