Creative Staff:
Story: Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Thomas Sniegoski
Art: Peter Bergting
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letterer: Clem Robins
What They Say:
As Lilja and Frankenstein explore the vibrant world around them, they rescue someone who introduces them to the new race of man. But unbeknownst to them, evil lurks within the shadows, tracking our heroes while sowing seeds of death and destruction.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having dipped my toes in some other Mignola books recently, the start of a new series from him with the team of Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski putting it together intrigued me. I have no familiarity with past stories for this character in this form so I went into the first issue without any real ideas but it was very accessible and a lot of fun in its worldbuilding. Peter Bergting is handling the art duties on this and it’s a great-looking book with so much detail and interesting creativity from what we see here. The designs are neat and I love the details while Michelle Madsen’s color design really shines. The down below elements provide the right kind of look at the start but you see everything come to life on the surface really well.
With Lilja and Frankenstein on their journey now, we know there’s some threat in the future to deal with but there’s also something coming from behind as well. We see this creature, called Murk, that crawled from down below and is slowly hunting after the pair as its mission. It’s a rough sequence in some ways because it’s largely without dialogue but we get narration for some of its movements. We do see it dealing with some local creatures to kill and presumably consume but it’s mostly just setting up for what’s to come while showing the way the world works when it comes to what seems to be an unnatural predator within it. That’s something that Frankenstein learns later about this part of the world that they’re in that while there are predators about, there aren’t enemies, at least for some. Murk right now is a mixture of both but what he’s unknowingly working for is likely to reveal itself to be an enemy.
For Lilja and Frankenstein, their journey is fun in general as we see her getting closer to him and trying to get him to open up in ways he doesn’t expect. But we also have them coming across another humanoid species which is like evolved frogs. Lilja gets Frankenstein to help one that’s being accosted by some predators and that lets them visit the village itself, which is well-protected but not fearful. It’s good stuff here as we see Lilja enjoying time with other kids of this race her age while the elders talk with Frankenstein upon learning he’s from the old world. This has them wanting to know more of the possible truth of it while relating their tories of how the world changed and their introduction to it. It’s a great bit of world-building and religion that comes through here and is exactly the kind of meat and potatoes that readers want from this kind of property and setting.
In Summary:
The lack of preconceptions about this by not having read the prior material has likely been helpful to a degree because what we get here is a really good low-key (for now) exploration of a new world to the characters and the reader. I do expect things to get more problematic as it goes on as all the pieces are there but just spending the time to dig into it is really great. Lilja and Frankenstein are a good odd couple to watch play out and this first new culture we get to see is really interesting with its history. With solid scripting and fantastic artwork, this is a really strong under-the-radar title to sink your teeth into.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 21st, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
