Weird Science
The Frankenstein Monster + Jen Ferguson's Monkey's
Frankenstein is on my mind. Probably because I’ve been writing a script about Zombies versus Artificial Intelligence and the craziest crush in the world.
The Frankenstein Monster might be my favorite literary antihero. The core concept of creating life from death has been the source material for countless iterations in every medium.
I watched Guillermo Del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN and I need to see it again because I’m not sure I liked it. It’s great to look at and the Bernie Wrightson inspired Frankenstein monster design is cool. But I didn’t feel anything for the monster and I loathed Dr. Frankenstein. The movie spends a lot of time building character, which is the correct instinct, but I liked them more when I knew them less.
The greatest trick Michael Myers, Boba Fett, and Clint Eastwood’s “The Man with No Name” pulled off was to know almost nothing about them but rumors. The minute you started to learn their origin, the more they were humanized, the less interesting they became. Their enigmatic mystery recommended them.
I’ve always felt the opposite about the Frankenstein Monster. I craved to know more about the monster. What’s it like to be made from multiple people? What’s it like to be resurrected, given a second chance at life? To be automatically shunned and feared? What kind of conversations would you have with the person who made you?
Frank Whale and Boris Karloff’s version is probably the best. Especially “Bride of Frankenstein.” I love Rory Kinnear’s portrayal of “the Creature,” a creation Dr. Frankenstein abandoned in John Logan’s PENNY DREADFUL television show. I have a soft spot for “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein,” and the Hammer Horror movies. I liked Emma Stone in Yorgos Lanthimos “Poor Things.”
Years ago, I wrote and drew a short story for Marvel Comics called “Another Bad Night,” featuring the Frankenstein Monster versus Werewolf by Night. Later on, I wrote and drew a story featuring The Bride of Frankenstein’s monster for Heavy Metal magazine called “Frankenstein Unrequited.” A story I’ve been meaning to expand.
One of my favorite variations of Mary Shelley’s “Modern Prometheus” is John Hughes’ WEIRD SCIENCE of which I wrote a piece for HiLobrow last year (reprinted below):
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As a native New Yorker, John Hughes’ high-school movies were foreign films to me, teenage angst by way of the Chicago suburbs. I never went to a mall or a football game. At the Music & Art High School in Harlem, instead of navigating jocks and nerds, I faced street gangs like The Five Percenters and The Ball Busters. Afrika Bambaattaa and The Soul Sonic Force, Run-DMC, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna were my soundtrack — not Simple Minds or OMD.
Still, at 18 I was the prime age for a story about adolescent boys inventing the perfect woman, a New Wave Frankenstein’s monster synthesizing Playboy centerfolds with Einstein’s genius into a sexy, savvy brunette bombshell in aerobic spandex… as activated by a NASA-powered home desktop computer connected to a Barbie doll.
The concept is twelve kinds of wrong, but the movie doesn’t apologize — not for one cinematic second. Everything cringeworthy could have been left on the editing room floor. But instead, writer/director John Hughes and his cast doubled down on the movie’s premise. Actress/goddess Kelly LeBrock took Phoebe Cates’ Fast Times At Ridgemont High swimming pool scene and extended it into an hour and thirty-four minutes of psycho-sexual edging.
Weird Science isn’t content to be merely a modern twist on the Frankenstein story. Hughes adds superpowers, a nuclear missile, and a post-apocalyptic motorcycle sequence parodying The Road Warrior. The movie culminates with a transformative blob of talking feces. Did these bombastic additions flex phallic fantasy and machismo? You bet your blue balls they did. However, remove all the aggro and you’re left with an honest, raw story celebrating the authenticity of hormonal urgency.
Bill Paxton portrays Chet’s pig-headed misogyny with poopy aplomb. And Anthony Michael Hall’s soulful turn as a heartbroken drunk in a jazz club are sights and sounds to cherish. As our horny protagonists learn to become “men,” there is an important exchange between Hall’s Gary and the comet he’s been too shy to chase, Suzanne Snyder’s Deb:
DEB: So, I mean, what would I be compared to her?
GARY: Deb, Lisa is everything I ever wanted in a girl — before I knew what I wanted. I know that if I could do it again, I’d make her just like you. Honest.
AIDS was right around the corner, fomenting fear and chastity in every genital on Earth. The future — our present — is more like Terminator than Weird Science. But before the internet, before social media could bring out the worst in people, before Artificial Intelligence could copy anything we ever did or said, our desires were simpler. All we wanted was a non-judgmental Kelly LeBrock, who knew exactly what to do with the assignment.
Jen Ferguson just released a few Original Monkey Watercolors for Sale on her website! And, she’s showing and selling a new series of paintings during DUMBO’s “shop the studios” on Saturday Dec 6th from 1-6pm. Located at 55 Washington Street in DUMBO, BKNY, Suite #317. Plus items that make for some great Xmas gifts!
See sneak peaks and learn more about Jen’s exhibition HERE — and subscribe to her free newsletter HERE.
Vito Delsante and I are still recording robust comix adjacent parlays weekly via the VITO x DINO podcast.
We did our first live recording with episode #42 where we talked about comic book lettering, sandwiches, and ANTIMATTER!
In episode #43. Vito and I discussed the difficult math of crowdfunding. The Steve Ditko murals in Johnstown, PA, and ask why there isn’t one for Jack Kirby in NYC (altho, check out this cool Kirby event). And Vito REALLY takes a once admired creator to task.
In episode #44, we discuss the Silver Age of comics and how we modern readers perceive it, and spark a Versus “battle” of Image Comics founders!
In episode #45, we recorded another live session and welcomed writer and publisher, Charlie McElvy to the show. Charlie talks about the genesis of Xion Studios and Blind Squirrel Comics, the now-funded A MONSTER HUNTER NAMED CLAYMORE Kickstarter, and the idea of being “glocal.”
As mentioned previously, Late Pledges have been activated on my Kickstarter for ANTIMATTER, my one -man comix anthology. If you were on the fence — now is the time to make your pledge. ANTIMATTER boasts brand new stories featuring The Red Hook, Covid Cop, Billy Dogma + Jane Legit, Chest Face, and AI Joe -- never before published under my “Deep Cuts” concern.
PLEASE PLEDGE HERE
Happy Thanksgiving!
And THANK YOU for all your cheer and support.
love, Dean
Instagram / Etsy / VITO x DINO
Korloff is the GOAT and the Abbott/Costello movie an all-time classic, as well as, one of my faves too! Only ever saw the Hammer films on TV after censorship. Need to find the unfiltered versions somewhere on the interwebs. (I imagine one of the streaming services has them.) Nice post and Happy Thanksgiving!
The take on Shelly's seminal work that most grabbed me was The Bride scripted by Lloyd Fonvielle and helmed by Franc Roddam. At the time I was only into original stuff, so the idea of shelling out duckets for something based on something else wasn't too intriguing, but it had Sting in it, so...
It was a surprise to fall in love with this film since flashy fanboy fodder was my typical nectar. It's definitely one of the films that had me slow down and put some thought into the stories I wanted to read, watch, or even create. The scene between Viktor and the injured Rinaldo is one that remains a cinematic triumph imho.
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.