Frankenstein 3
From Barbelith
Categories: Seven Soldiers Issues
"The Water"
Barbelith thread: One. Two. Duh? (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/22291/from/140)
| Table of contents |
Background and General Commentary
Synopsis:
In the once-peaceful town of Salvation Valley, there's something in The Water... Something that turns cows into carnivores and commandos into cowards. Welcome to a world where the canary hunts the cat and the fly stalks the spider. Whatever you do, ...Don't Drink The Water! A loner by nature, Frankenstein is forced to work with the mysterious government agency known as S.H.A.D.E. and is reunited with the only creature he ever looked to for companionship, the long-lost Bride. Even if he succeeds in his mission, will Frankenstein ever be truly comfortable in this modern world where his super-human nature makes him, not a monstrosity to be feared, but rather a resource to be exploited?
General Commentary:
For the first time, we see some change come over Frankenstein as circumstances force him to deviate from his role as an unwavering tool of vengeance. In the scenes when Frankenstein is alone with the Bride, his facial expression softens noticeably, making him look less like a hideous, angry monster and more like a handsome, lonely schoolboy. Frank is thrown into a situation where an unthinking spree of violence is not the answer. Father Time treats Frankenstein as a resource to be exploited and discarded, which is the same way he treats Replika and The Water itself. Like The Water, Frankenstein was created by Man, but has no desire to be His slave. Father Time, who "can always find work for a strong, dead pair of shoulders," admits that he used Frankenstein as a tool to clean up his own mess. When Frank turns down Time's offer of a ride at the end of the issue, he rejects in disgust S.H.A.D.E.'s methods of casual exploitation and the death and destruction they've caused in Salvation Valley.
Annotations
| Featured Characters | Featured Locations |
|---|---|
|
Page 7
PANELS 2-3: "Who's there?"
"Who does it look like to you?"
This is the Bride of Frankenstein's Monster. Her appearance, including the dinstinctive, backward-swept behive hair style with a white streak on either side is borrowed from the 1935 film, The Bride of Frankenstein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_of_Frankenstein), in which the role of The Bride was played by Elsa Lancaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Lanchester). The original inspiration for the bride comes from chapters 17-20 of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/index.html), in which the Monster begs Frankenstein to create a mate to assuage his lonely exile. In the novel, however, Dr. Frankenstein repents of his decision when the task is only half completed, and destroys his second creation before it ever comes to life, tearing it to pieces and sinking the remains in the ocean.
Page 11
PANEL 4: "Hurricane Gloria's tearing up the east coast on what appears to be a... a pre-programmed path, sir."
We first heard about Hurricane Gloria in Manhattan Guardian #3. Then, it was off the coast of Hondoras. It hit Florida in Mister Miracle #3. Now it's over Philadelphia.
"The whole world's in Crisis."
An oblique reference to Infinite Crisis #1-7, the events of which are sweeping through the DC Universe.
Page 13
PANEL 3-4: "You were made to be my companion."
"I know, and it's nothing personal. But you were never my type."
"Your type?"
"Alive."
The Bride's rejection of the Monster reflects the fears expressed by her creator in the original novel:
"They might even hate each other; the creature who already lived loathed his own deformity,
and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in the
female form? She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man;
she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation of being
deserted by one of his own species."
-- Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Chapter 20 (http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/chapter-20.html)
Page 16
PANEL 2: "Says here it's a Wetform A.I. based on a prototype by professor Ramsay Norton.
Mario - "Ramsey (not Ramsay) Norton was the creator of Chemo (http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1375525), a similar-looking walking bag of toxic waste that was recently dropped on Bludhaven."
PANEL 3: "Our job is to retrieve Pilot Zbigniew X. Leader of the X-Hawks."
"Pilot Z-X
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (born March 28, 1928, Warsaw, Poland) is a
Polish-American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman for the Carter Administration.
Richard Dare became the British wartime hero Captain X, also known as the Aviator,
to protect his country from the Nazi menace.
It seems like Captain Z-X is a combination of these two people: A strategist and a superhero."
-- garyancheta
For more on the real-world history of Zbigniew Brzezinski, go here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski).
For more on the comic-book adventures of Richard Dare, a.k.a. Captain X, go here (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Labyrinth/7393/wwcaptxraf.html).
Since in the comic Zbigniew X is referred to only as a Pilot not as a Captain, a connnection to DC war hero Captain X may be difficult to substantiate. The only known reference to a Pilot X comes from the 1936 black-and-white movie "Pilot X: Murder in the Sky", described here (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808530035/info).
"X-Hawk
The X-Hawk is a "rotorless vertical take off and landing" (VTOL) vehicle. Unlike a helicopter,
the X-Hawk's propellers are not extended, but incorporated into the body of the aircraft,
enabling it to pull up close to the windows of tall buildings without danger of collision.
Those unique characteristics make the X-Hawk perfect for rescue and law enforcement work:
evacuating injured people from high-rise buildings, high speed pursuit and other daring
police activities. The X-Hawk is expected to be able to achieve a maximum speed of
200 KPH and to remain airborne for up to an hour and a half (like small helicopters)."
-- garyancheta
For more on the X-Hawk, check out the product description (http://www.urbanaero.com/Xhawk_vehicle.htm) on the website of Urban Aeronautics Ltd (http://www.urbanaero.com/company_main.htm).
Page 20
PANEL 1: "How do you feel about hunting down a Time Monster in Tibet after this, Frankenstein?"
Tibet is the location of the Gorias, the lost city where Zatanna sent Misty Kilgore for safe-keeping in Zatanna #4. According to the testimony of Ramon Solomano in Bulleteer #2, Nebula Man is searching "for a lost citadel in the Himalayas, for some forgotten tribe of winged horses from before the flood." Ramon describes the Nebula Man as someone who can "ride through the dimensions of time the way you and I walk through a door." It sounds as if Neh-Buh-Loh is the Time Monster that Father Time and the Bride head off to confront at the end of this issue. Will the intervention of S.H.A.D.E. be the factor that inadvertently allows Misty, Vanguard, and the winged horses to escape Neh-Buh-Loh's attack?
Tibet is also the location of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of Victory, who fell fighting the Nebula Man "deep in the Himalayas", as first revealed in Justice League of America #100. More will be revealed about all this stuff next issue.
PANEL 2: "Haven't you heard? Bad things are starting to happen out there: They're saying a lot of the superheroes are dead. We're on Planetary Crisis Alert."
In case you haven't heard: Infinite Crisis #1-7, in stores now.
PANEL 3: "I'll leave you with the story of Masaru Emoto and the Memory of Water."
Dr. Masaru Emoto is the author of Messages from Water 1 and 2, and The Hidden Messages in Water. His website can be found here (http://www.masaru-emoto.net/). For more on Dr. Emoto's theories on the response of water crystals to positive and negative emotions, check out this link (http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/).
Back to Frankenstein
Back to Seven Soldiers Annotations
![[Main Page]](/faq/stylesheets/images/wiki.png)