Marvel Comics' Frankenstein Monster #15.

Mere weeks ago, I looked at that legendary day when Frankenstein's Monster, "teamed up," with the Phantom Stranger to tackle a pair of naughty demons who'd got out of control in a house that didn't belong to them.

But so awesome is Frankenstein's Monster that he can't be contained by one comic.

In fact, he's so awesome, he can't even be contained by one comics company and, so, just as, in the 1970s, DC gave us his adventures, Marvel did likewise.

But how did the Marvel version compare to the DC one? And who was best?

It's the present day and the creature's hanging around with a former gang member called Ralph Caccone and a private detective called Eric Prawn, the latter of which, we're told, sees himself as the new Sherlock Holmes.

Sadly for the trio, things are not currently elementary, because a man called Cardinal's just appeared with his henchman Zandor, looking to abduct the comic's star.

Frankie's clearly perfectly capable of sorting out the situation and is happily killing Zandor when Cardinal tells him that, if he doesn't cooperate, Ralph'll be shot.

Clearly, he's a monster with a conscience because he decides to go along with Cardinal's demands and he and Ralph are taken to a secret lab where it's revealed an organisation called ICON wants to create an army of resuscitated corpses.

The only problem is that the corpses ICON reanimates are almost totally mindless. Therefore, the organisation needs the secret of Frankie's intelligence and, to get that, it's going to have to remove his brain.

But, wouldn't you know it, before Cardinal gets the chance to do the deed, a man-pig mutant-thing bursts in, looking for revenge for its last encounter with Frankie.

Needless to say, it doesn't get that revenge and our hero gives it the good smacking it's asking for.

And that's it. The lab's been trashed, the bad guys have fled, the man-pig mutant-thing's been disposed of in the river and everything's done and dusted.

Except it's not.

Because that's when Prawn points his gun at the creature and Ralph and informs them they're going to Switzerland with him, whether they like it or not.

To be continued!

The truth is I can't properly compare Marvel's version of the monster to DC's because I've only read two tales featuring DC's version and, in each of those two tales, it felt like a different character from the other one. In Phantom Stranger #26's team-up, it was a primal force, driven by lust for vengeance, while, in Phantom Stranger #28's back-up strip, it was a pathetic wretch, blundering around feebly, only wanting to be left alone.

What is obvious is this tale has a far more contemporary and sci-fi feel than either of those DC stories, with the central character being a far more enigmatic creature.

It's also a much more inert creature, only acting when put in a position where it has no choice. The version in the Phantom Stranger crossover was a far more driven character. It was also, therefore, a much more dangerous one. You get the feeling that if you threatened to kill Ralph to get its cooperation, it'd just kill Ralph for you and save you the trouble. On the other hand, the version in Phantom Stranger #28 would have fallen into helpless despair and anguish.

So, I'm going to have to declare Marvel's version to be far less interesting and compelling than the Phantom Stranger #26 version but far more impressive than the Phantom Stranger #28 version.

Overall, with its secret organisations, schemes and plotting, this feels very like the Werewolf by Night and Man-Wolf stories Marvel were doing at the time, where other characters drove the story along, while the central character was basically just being present as bigger stories were being acted out around it. Obviously, as those strips were also produced by Marvel, that shouldn't be a surprise.

It's not what could be called an outstanding issue, feeling very much like a prelude to more significant events but it's perfectly readable and Val Mayerik's art does its job, with noticeable similarities to the work of Neal Adams, in places. As Mayerik's art's never struck me as being at all Adamsesque elsewhere, I can only put it down to Klaus Janson's inks.

But that's not all this issue has in store for us because it also includes a back-up strip of its very own.

It's a, clearly, ancient tale about a stage magician who, when he's fired because the audience has a tendency to boo his act, decides to get even with his former manager by setting his shadow on him.

Like all vengeance-driven magicians in such tales, this one's a total wally and quickly becomes the architect of his own downfall.

It's a somewhat insubstantial tale and is clearly only there because the main strip's come in short. It will not, I suspect, live long in the memory of anyone who reads it.